From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

As oil prices soar, what happens if what goes up never comes down?

I'm Sarah Terry sitting in for Warren Olney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio

International, a daily look at the issues Americans care about most. The spiraling cost of gas

is hitting hard everywhere. Truckers and fishermen in Europe are protesting prices that have

reached $10 a gallon. General Motors announced today that it's closing four SUV plants and public transportation is booming.

But what kind of long-term changes are in store? Will America's suburban lifestyle become a thing of the past?

Is there a green lining in the cloud of this crisis? On reporter's notebook, food critics in Rome.

A major conference on hunger opens today.

First, the news.

Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica

and from the Public Radio International Program Fund,

whose contributors include the Ford Foundation

and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

I'm Sarah Terry, sitting in

for Warren Allney, back with To the Point from PRI. We'll be talking about skyrocketing oil prices,

taking a look beyond sticker price shock at the gas pump. The Senate is holding hearings on whether

oil prices are being manipulated by investors? Who gains from higher prices?

What kind of lifestyle changes will Americans be forced to make?

Will more people go green?

On reporter's notebook, think gas prices are high?

Imagine spending three quarters of your income on food.

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