In addition to editing and writing for NPT, I am a radio host on 1650 AM KHRO (11 a.m.-noon weekdays). About two weeks ago, I was talking about energy use, and Bill Addington called.

Addington is a true character, a native of West Texas and El Paso who is involved in political and environmental issues. He deeply loves the desert and the border, so much so that his life turned into a single-minded crusade against the low-level nuclear waste dump in Sierra Blanca in the 1990s. There were and are other issues involving clean air, soil and water.

Addington had a simple comment. Sito, he said, if you want to save energy, there is something very easy you can do.

Just drive 55.

The 55 mph speed limit was passed as a reaction to the havoc wreaked by the 1973 oil embargo. I don’t remember it – it was a generation or two ago, depending how you measure generations -- but I have seen the photos of cars lined up at gas stations. At its worst, people waited hours for a fill-up, which happened again in 1979. We haven’t had a similar energy crisis since.

There’s some dispute about how much fuel ultimately was saved. Traffic fatalities did go down. Congress passed fuel efficiency rules, small cars gained stature. But drivers chafed, and as oil flowed and the memory of 1973 faded, speed limits went up. Sammy Hagar hit it big in 1984 with “I Can’t Drive 55.” In 1987 the federal government raised the limit to 65 (Hagar did a remake of his song, “I Can’t Drive 65,” but it just didn’t seem right) and in the 1990s the federal government gave power back to the states to set speed limits.

Bill and I went back and forth a little bit. I drive a bit on the aggressive side – safe, but assertive – and I always seem to be a few minutes behind. And on road trips, forget it. But Bill was persuasive, especially when he pointed out that with an in-city commute, it really didn’t make much difference time-wise if you drive 55 or 70 mph.

Ok, I said, I’ll try it. Not on the open road, driving across the open Southwest. But in the city? Ok, I’ll try it.

But habits are habits. I gunned the engine as I pulled out of the lot onto Mesa after the show. They used to call that a “rabbit start.” Then I remembered the idea of driving 55; my hands loosened on the wheel, the tension in my face and shoulders eased slightly.

I might have pulled out the cell phone and started talking. I don’t remember, but I talk a lot while I’m driving, so it’s likely. Habits are habits, and when I turned right onto Executive and then left to the onramp toward Downtown, I gunned the engine again.

Before I knew it, I was rolling down the onramp and merging with traffic, already doing 60 and heading for the usual 65-70 mph. I remembered 55 again, and, with some effort, slowed down.

Some effort?

Here’s a quick game. It will sound a bit odd, but just do it. Then you’ll see what I mean.

Clench your fists as tight as you can. Do the same with your butt. Hold it for 10-20-30 seconds, if you can.

How do you feel?

See, I believe many of us, maybe even most of us, are driving around clenched, faces tight and bodies leaning forward. We’re breathing hard. We’re weaving in and out of traffic, trying to get one extra car length ahead of the other driver.

At 55, I relax a little. I stay to the right, and 55 is fast enough to be in the flow of traffic. I’m a little more alert to the traffic around me, as opposed to looking ahead at the next vehicle to pass.

And I noticed that the last tank of gas got 10-15 percent more mileage. I’m about halfway through the second tank since I started driving 55, and the increased mileage looks to be a trend.

We’re a sleep-deprived, drugged-up, caffeinated, fast-forward society that burns about a quarter of the world’s oil. One of the things we do most of is drive.

So if there is a little thing I can do to conserve a resource that fuels world conflict, creates pollution and powers the vehicles in which about 43,000 people died in 2006, and it helps me be a slightly better driver to boot, well, the question answers itself.

As it turns out, I can drive 55. I bet you can, too.