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Rising energy and fuel costs are putting extra financial pressure on the middle class across America. Even recently licensed teenage drivers are feeling the impact. Many of us need to drive to summer jobs, school and athletic activities and are on limited budgets. Every news station airs fuel-related complaints, while the public follows suit, mumbling curses and grievances with every $60 fill-up.

Politicians have unveiled several proposals: suspending the gas tax, passing legislation to force companies to use more efficient engines, even investing millions in tax dollars into programs researching new fuel technologies and putting diplomatic pressure on oil-exporting countries.

Would these measures be successful in lowering consumer prices? Perhaps. However, each of the above suggestions holds monetary consequences that would be passed on to the consumer.

Thankfully, capitalism provides its own solution to economic woes: the consumer vote. The principle behind the consumer vote is a simple one. If there is enough demand for a product and it is of good quality, then people will buy it.

Whenever people purchase something, they support that product. If any item does not meet the buyer’s standards, they will no longer support it in the future.

Now what happens when enough consumers refrain from buying a product? The companies making that product will be forced to either improve their product or lower their price in order to make a profit.

This concept directly relates to your purchase at the pump. If more and more of us decide that gas is not worth its current cost, then the companies that provide it will have no choice but to lower their prices in an attempt to regain lost customers and their profits. This is the foolproof way in which the free economy keeps prices low and quality high by putting everyday consumers in charge.

Not only that, but this method naturally occurs, requiring neither government interference to complicate things nor higher taxes. Indeed, recent declines in the price of oil could be contributed, in part, to more efficient and intelligent policies for gasoline use that are being adopted by an increasing number of Americans.

If we want to make a larger impact, then we must continue to tell Big Oil companies that we do not approve of their pricing by taking our hard-earned dollars elsewhere.

At the same time, these intelligent consumer practices will also help the environment, not only by decreasing pollutant emissions, but also because, by withholding our consumer votes, we economically push the market to search for cleaner energy sources.

Once again, this solution doesn’t involve harmful restrictions, since all that is necessary is a little free-market motivation. This is one solution for “going green” that we can all agree on, since it doesn’t rely on morality or extra spending: only smart consumer choices.

By using alternate transportation, making fewer trips and driving more efficiently, we as a nation can drastically cut the amount of petroleum we use. With every gallon that we no longer require, with every “vote” against providing Big Oil with billions in quarterly profits, we force them to make their product more financially appealing.

Alex Leslie is a junior at Onalaska High School.