It was only 18 months ago when The Citizen sent a team of staff members to gas stations throughout Cayuga County and beyond to collect data on rising fuel prices. Drivers expressed frustration with the situation - gasoline was becoming prohibitively expensive.

The highest price we found at the time? Try $1.89 for a gallon of regular unleaded.

Oh, for the good old days.

As prices eclipsed the $3-per-gallon mark last week throughout the area in the wake of Hurricane Katrina's crippling of the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico, we heard the same sentiments from station owners and drivers that we collected in March 2004.

This time, though, it seems like our leaders are finally listening. State legislators are now taking a look at the gasoline taxes, which they may repeal to bring some price relief.

We applaud the idea, but urge them not to see such a move as the final solution to this growing problem.

And that problem is, fundamentally, our skyrocketing use of oil.

Now more than ever, we need to fully embrace the development of alternative energy technology. Plenty of people have said it through the years: this country depends far too much on fossil fuels, particularly oil. But never has that addiction to petroleum been exposed like it was by Katrina.

Here is the good news: Auburn and Cayuga County are ahead of the energy technology curve. From the geothermal heating and cooling projects in the city to the county's methane digester plans to the sprouting of windmills on private lands, alternative energy is alive and well locally.

It's too bad Congress, which passed a disappointing energy bill earlier this year, does not have the same vision. Maybe the current situation will finally convince federal lawmakers that alternative energy is more than a liberal ideal.

Now it is clear. These types of energy solutions must be fully developed - and made affordable. When that happens, our reliance on oil will go down, along with our economic vulnerability.