No $4 gas this summer, but . . .

This post comes from Lynn Mucken at MSN Money.

In what passes for good news these days, the Energy Information Administration, a government agency, predicts that the average retail gasoline price through the end of the summer driving season on Sept. 30 will be $3.75 a gallon.

Make that "just $3.75." After all, gas averaged $3.91 nationwide in May, with a high of $3.988, at which point 16 states averaged over $4.

Try to contain your joy. Here's what $3.75 gas means to the typical two-vehicle American household over the next four months:

Using conservative assumptions -- two passenger cars that average 23 miles per gallon and are each driven 1,000 miles a month -- the cost would be $1,304, or $326 a month. A year ago, when gas averaged $2.76, summer driving would have cost $960, or $240 a month.

That's a big chunk of cash, so let's pause here while you curse the culprits of your choice: heartless Big Oil, a clueless Obama, greedy speculators, a burned-out light bulb in a refinery in Texas, gas-thirsty Asians, bribed legislators, nutty environmentalists, whatever.

You forgot one: you. Post continues after video.

According to EIA figures reported in The Wall Street Journal, while gas prices spun depressing upward in the first quarter of this year, your gas consumption dropped just 0.3% compared with a year earlier. Obviously, you did most of your whining while driving 75 mph on the freeways and going from zero to 60 between stoplights.

• MSN Autos:Find the cheapest gas near you

What's worse, you didn't learn from your mistakes. The EIA predicts that in the next four months, gas consumption will rise 0.4% over the same period in 2010. And, USA Today reports that sales of gas-chugging muscle cars -- Ford Mustangs, Dodge Challengers and Chevrolet Camaros -- outpaced hybrids 19,476 to 17,852 in May.

Yes, those figures were distorted by the unavailability of the most popular hybrids after the Japanese earthquake, but while sales of the popular Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado series pickups dropped 15% and 15.7% in May (possibly due to cutbacks in business purchases due to the still-troubled economy), the Chevy Malibu outsold the Hyundai Sonata in the family car category. The Malibu not only gets 7 mpg less than the Sonata, according to Consumer Reports, it also costs $2,000 more.

There are issues beyond your control when it comes to gasoline prices and consumption, but right now American consumers don't seem too interested in controlling the things they can.