The price of gasoline at the pump has slipped to the lowest level in five months. That's a welcome change.

The price of crude oil has fallen nearly $10 a barrel from its high, set about a year ago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. That's a good thing, too.

But it would be a mistake to allow these developments, plus last week's announcement of a huge crude oil discovery five miles below the Gulf of Mexico, to cause Americans to be less determined to push for the development of alternative, renewable fuels in order to dramatically reduce America's dependence on imported oil.

The new oil reserves, located 28,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, are thought to be comparable to the massive oil reserves discovered under Alaska's North Slope about four decades ago. This development, plus the generally stable — or even falling — energy prices could cause people to see less need for alternatives to oil. But that would be a mistake.

Around the world, the easy-to-pump oil has already been extracted. New oil finds will be harder — and, more expensive — to produce. Adding to the argument for alternatives to oil is the fact that much of the world's proven oil reserves are located in politically unstable countries or found in countries that are not friends of the United States.

To further complicate the global oil picture, the rapidly developing economies of China and India are demanding more energy, and that will guarantee that any softening of oil and gas prices is temporary.

Oil is a finite resource and new reserves, as well as related resources such as tar sands or oil shale that can be made into oil, will be more expensive to develop. So any lessening of resolve for developing alternative domestic energy sources, and increasing the fuel efficiency of the cars and trucks on U.S. highways, would be a mistake.

Even if the massive oil find deep below the Gulf of Mexico is as large as Chevron officials believe, it would have a minimal impact on the amount of oil needed to be imported from other countries to satisfy America's domestic demand. Even if the new reserves do rival the Alaska finds of the mid-1960s, the new reserves would only amount to about two years of U.S. consumption, at current rates.

The rapid spike in energy prices that occurred after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, temporarily shutting down offshore oil rigs and damaging refinery operations, was a shock to U.S. motorists, who have long enjoyed cheap gasoline. Seeing $3-a-gallon gasoline caused many Americans to start thinking seriously about the need for alteratives — or about buying a more fuel-efficient car or truck.

Now that a year has passed, most motorists have grudgingly accepted the higher gasoline prices. And despite those higher prices at the pump, American motorists have not reduced the miles they drive.

But acceptance and resignation of the status quo would be a mistake. Consumers — and voters — should continue to press for development of alternative fuels — particularly biofuels such as ethanol and bio-diesel.

Beyond that, car manufacturers should be expected to react to consumer demands by producing more fuel-efficient cars.

New technology can achieve some of those improvements in miles-per-gallon ratings. Another simple way to boost mileage averages is to embrace diesel-powered cars, similar to the cars that have been sold in Europe for the past decade. Simply switching to diesel engines of comparable power improves mileage figures by about 30 percent.

Because it is so important to dramatically reduce — or try to eliminate — America's dependence on imported oil, it is disturbing to see so many cars still advertised with the primary emphasis on miles-per-hour performance rather than on miles-per-gallon figures. This is even true of the advanced hybrid vehicles, which were intially developed for fuel efficiency. Lately, the hybrid technology seems to be tweaked for speed rather than fuel efficiency.

Though it might be seen as good news, slightly lower gasoline prices and new crude oil discoveries offer false hope, and should not sway Americans from the goal of freeing this country from dependence on imported oil. It must not be forgotten that energy independence and development of new technologies based on renewable sources and biofuels is critical to America's future.