People who are trying to conserve gasoline won't drive as much. That should mean fewer auto emissions and better air.

People also may decide not to move quite so far out into the suburbs in search of a bigger, newer house at a cheaper price. The cost of gasoline for a long commute may wipe out any savings a suburban house might afford. The consequent shorter commutes to work also equal reduced air pollution.

In addition, if gasoline prices stay high, more people will take the plunge to high-mileage cars, perhaps even hybrids or electrics, if they become available. More people also might try hopping mass transit to work in lieu of buying and operating a second car. Again, all of these things could add up to cleaner air.

This is cold comfort, of course. No one likes paying a fortune for gasoline, and the cost of fuel is driving the price of everything else up as well, from food to clothing to just about anything that must be transported by truck, train or plane.

As if this were not depressing enough, we were truly shocked to read statistics about the collapse of residential construction in Utah. For the first quarter of 2008, home-building permits have declined 58.5 percent compared to the same period the previous year. That's the most severe quarterly contraction ever reported, according to the University of Utah Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

Construction of new, single-family homes was off even more drastically than the sector as a whole, down 65.5 percent. That breaks a 28-year record for declines set in 1980.

Author James A. Woods further reports that compared to other states, Utah's first-quarter performance ranks fourth worst, behind only Rhode Island, Arizona and Illinois. Presumably the credit crunch created by the mortgage implosion is to blame.

Fortunately, oil prices and housing slumps are cyclical. The economy will dig its way out, though it may take some time. Meanwhile, breathe easier.