Cheap gas is real nice--if you have an income--a cheap commute only works if you have a job.
Now, let' look at some real numbers.
If you are driving 15,000 miles a year, in a vehicle that gets 25 MPG, your annual savings will be 15000/25 times the number of dollars per gallon you 'save'. If you are getting your fuel at two dollars cheaper, that's 1200 dollars a year, 100 dollars a month, or (roughly) 25 bucks a week. That will put a few burgers on the grille over the weekend, but not a heck of a lot more.
Now, I have lived so lean that would seem like a fortune, but that isn't going to buy any new cars. In fact, if the EPA (Obama and the ecowhackos) get their way, you'll need it to pay the light bill.
Ultimately, I'm not too worried about the oil patch. It has survived ups and downs before, as have all the folks who work there. some fat will be trimmed, incredibly efficient drilling and completion techniques will be made even more so, and life will go on.
What does concern me, is that these savings aren't going to open up a few million new jobs, aren't going to put the rest of America back on the track of creating wealth, and are just going to result in a modest binge of minor spending. There is already talk of taxing fuel even more, which will snatch the small savings from the very hands lauding cheaper fuel. Oil dropped and the Feds were first in line to suck the money out of your pocket.
That is the other 'growth' sector in the economy: more government, more regulation, and more ways to hand out Americans' hard earned dollars to people who have no business being here in the first place. Call it "paybacks" for European colonialism, 'reparations', or just screwing the taxpayer, but it is a redistribution of wealth on a scale never before seen, not just stopping with the current taxpayer, but amassing a non-serviceable debt that will be the downfall of our country.
Agree with you totally. Truly sad what is taking place in our country. Seems there is very little people can do. Even when there is victory at the ballot box, little change (for conservatives) takes place. Government regulations have turned in to a menance. The oil patch will most likely survive as you said. And in the meantime, several million Americans are getting some much-needed relief at the gas pump. Now, next step is conquering those high food prices...