Americans have unusually short memories. When we are in the midst of crisis, that's all we tend to focus on. But once the crisis ends, it is onto the next thing and what happened yesterday is little more than yesterday's news. Fuel prices represent one such example. In the 1970s we confronted our first fuel/oil crisis. You might remember that people paid car dealers above sticker price for certain very much in demand Japanese and German vehicles. The Honda Civic specifically comes to mind. And remember all of the business people who purchased motorcycles for their daily commute?

Then prices came back down and people discovered that some higher fuel efficient cars were not as comfortable as other cars and did not carry the same level of prestige. And motorcycles, it was discovered, were loud and exposed suits to the environment. A lot of used motorcycles were available for sale soon after prices started to come down. How long did anyone think that was going to last, anyway?

When the first gas crisis ended, so did our enthusiasm over the term "fuel efficiency." It wasn't long before high efficiency vehicles were out of vogue. If you need any further proof, look at the kinds of vehicles that people that we used to call yuppies (yes, labels quickly fall out of fashion as well) are now purchasing for their families.

Well, here we go again. Gas prices are high, and they may not be coming down anytime shortly. But, here is what I think is a great idea: This time, let's not have such a bad memory.

Let's always, as in all of the time, purchase vehicles that have better fuel efficiency. If we do so, much of the air pollution in our country will be reduced, the MTBE pollution problem will be helped, the reports of asthma may come down, and the attack on our ozone layer will be lessened. We will realize all of these benefits by continuing to purchase vehicles that are more fuel efficient, regardless of the current price of gasoline. Let's not be taken in by today's fads. Let's not remember only what we most recently hear. It is always a very good idea to purchase vehicles with better fuel efficiently. Doing so will make you a better citizen. That fact alone, plus the lesson it teaches our children, should illustrate why this is so important.

Detroit has certain legal obligations which will yield more fuel efficient vehicles. It is one thing, however, for an industry to do the minimum it must to satisfy a legal obligation; it is another to produce energy efficient vehicles because people want to buy them. Your interest will motivate the industry to keep on doing more and more.

The Environmental Protection Agency, along with the Department of Energy, have a website which provides valuable information concerning the fuel efficiency of current model year vehicles. The website, which can be found at www.fueleconomy.gov, not only ranks vehicles in terms of their fuel efficiency, but it also provides other valuable information which will help improve fuel efficiency regardless of the vehicle that you're driving. I highly recommend a visit to this site.

According to the government, the following 2001 model year compact cars are the most fuel efficient: Golf/Jetta (manual); Toyota Prius (manual) and the Toyota Echo (manual). In the midsize range, the most fuel efficient 2001 vehicles are the Madza 626, the Accord and the Saturn.

Here is one suggestion. While fuel efficiency should be our mantra, let's not abandon common sense. Such as, for example, the recent Arizona tax fiasco. It stated with a good idea: to reward people who purchase vehicles that use alternative fuels, such as natural gas and electricity, with a tax break. But the program was ill conceived. Too many people participated at the same time and the eligibility requirements were too loose. Now, Legislators are looking at a much higher than expected revenue reduction and are trying to figure out what to do next.

Common sense means always buying energy efficient vehicles. And common sense means that government incentives cannot break the bank.

The information provided in this column is written by Stuart Lieberman,a practicing environmental attorney, and is for general information purposes only. It is not legal advice and should not be used in place of legal advice.

Stuart Lieberman, Esq., and IRED.Com, Inc., will not accept any responsibilty for any reliance on the information in this column or any damages whatsoever resulting from reading this column.