They love their sport utility vehicles and their big pickup trucks.

High gas prices, however, have made driving the behemoths less than fun.

“This is ridiculous. Something is going to have to be done,” said Lawrence big-truck owner Mike Coffman, expressing his displeasure with rapidly rising gas prices. “It’s going to cripple a lot of people.”

Coffman is taking action by cutting back on the amount of time he spends behind the wheel of his four-wheel-drive extended cab Chevrolet 1500 Z71. Instead, he spends more time driving the streets of Lawrence in a 17-year-old Suzuki Sidekick, which gets about 10 miles per gallon more than the Z71.

Eric Clark isn’t happy with the 11 mpg his 1995 Explorer gets during city driving. He still remembers the day he took possession of the SUV: April 16, 1999. A gallon of gas cost only 99 cents then, he said.

The average price of a gallon of unleaded regular Tuesday in Lawrence was $2.80, according to AAA Kansas. But Clark doesn’t plan on trading for a more fuel-efficient vehicle anytime soon.

“I’m going to stick with it for now because my parents gave it to me,” said Clark, who works 20 to 30 hours a week while taking classes at Kansas University. “When I get out of school, I’m definitely getting a car. I’m not going to have another SUV until I’m older and independently wealthy.”

Mike Coffman, with his dog Agnes at his side, does a little work on his Suzuki Sidekick, converting his engine fan from motor driven to electric to help gas efficiency. Because of higher gas prices Coffman is switching from driving his usual vehicle, a Chevrolet 1500 4-wheel drive truck, visible in background, to the more fuel efficient Suzuki. Coffman says the Suzuki gets him about 8-10 miles per gallon more.

Mimi Kaehr is hanging on to her 2002 Chevrolet Suburban. Even though the Lawrence woman cringes when she has to spend $80 to fill up a nearly empty tank, she said she needs the Suburban to haul six children around and still have some elbow room. She also uses the Suburban in operating her new business, Upscale Resale at 846 Ill.

“I’m just sick about it,” Kaehr said of gas prices. “Especially when you think about the profits the oil companies are making.”

Americans should be outraged, but they should direct that anger at Congress, not the oil companies, according to Morris Reid, managing director of Westin Rinehart, a Washington, D.C.-based communications strategy firm and former aide to Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.

Congress has been talking about enacting an oil windfall tax, but that talk is only to “cover their butts” in an election year, Reid said.

“This is the one thing Republicans and Democrats can put their arms around together,” he said. “But they’ve let the American people down, and the American people shouldn’t be fooled.”

Congress should be more concerned about giving tax credits for the development of fuel-efficient cars and pushing for alternative energy sources like ethanol, Reid said.

Public transportation is one alternative to paying high gas prices and driving. But ridership on the Lawrence Transit System has been constant the past few months, pubic transit administrator Cliff Galante said. In March, ridership on fixed routes increased 7 percent from March 2005, he said.

“It’s kind of hard for us to tell specifically what is gas-related and what is more acceptance of public transportation,” Galante said.

But if it weren’t for the high gas prices, some SUV and big truck owners would have no qualms about continuing with their gas guzzlers.

“I like the room, and I’m a truck guy,” Coffman said. “I’m in construction so I need it for work and I’ve got a boat to pull, but there won’t be any water-skiing this year.”