The average price of regular is now $2.42 a gallon, according to the government's weekly survey (it's lower at many L.A. locations). Gas hasn't been cheaper since Nov. 6, 2006. But is that such a good thing? President-elect Obama struck the right note in last night's "60 Minutes" interview:

This has been our pattern. We go from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the prices go back down and suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again. And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break it.