BETTER FUEL UP FAST!!!

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Peter, government influences the market all the time, in all sorts of ways. For an example, just look to the interstate highway system. Prior to that, Americans were not nearly as mobile as they are now. The same is true with the development of the suburbs - that is a direct result of the policies of the FHA after World War II.

The interstate has been a great boon to us, and will continue to be, but we need to look at new ways to travel on it - or at least to fuel our travels, and that's where the government can help in a million ways, from tax incentives to basic research conducted through the public universities.

And keep this in mind: Higher fuel prices impact the government just as they do the consumer in increased prices for transit agencies, the military, and the government motor pool. It's no boon to them.

It's important to separate politicians from the government. One-size all assumptions and sound byte philosophies (which the politicians deal in) won't solve this issue.
 
btw,

Don't blame the environmental movement - at least not exclusively - for the lack of refineries and off-shore drilling. The NIMBY's have played a huge role in that issue, and the oil companies haven't exactly been chomping at the bit to increase production. The less "human resources" and infrastructure you have to maintain, the lower your costs are, which adds to the bottom line, and the senior manager's compensation.

Amercian businesses are killing themselves with this "six months out" mentality.
 
What? Me Worry?

A) I just saw a small Decrease in the price of gas here in the Banana Republic of Maui. Our price just DROPPED from $3.62.9 (don't you love how they get yeah for that .9?) to an economical $3.59.9! Woo-Hoo! Close down the street and let's have a dance!

B) I have recently stopped paying attention to any national news whatsoever! I am happier that way. Very little if anything that happens at the national or international level has any bearing on my life anyway. I used to be a fairly heavy news junky. Some time after King George's (s)election I just quit really caring what happens. Syria? Iran? Are we at war? (Oh, shit that's right we are...)
 
unfortunately I see apathy on the highways

People speeding happily along in vehicles that get poor gas mileage, extreme interstate traffic clogs which translates to little or no concern about "doing what one can do to save". I drive under the speed limit of 70 here in louisiana and my job requires a pickup truck (4.3 chevy V6 vortec). I save 10 or more dollars per fill by driving 65. The lower speed limit does help. On 2 lane roads I stick to 55 or 60 as that is the posted limit in this state. Helps preserve the truck which has 300K+ on it. Burns 1.5 quarts of oil between changes, but still runs and drives good. This is my company truck; not my own, and the fuel costs are staggering as I'm on the road 5 days a week 300 miles a day.
 
scary...

Yeah. Lets banish all the environmentalists. Lets drill holes all over and find cheap oil. Lets fill up our SUVs and drive like lunatics. Lets consume, and consume, and consume. Cheap sources of oil are the answer. Right.

Sorry, I don't buy it. I like the outdoors. I want it to be there for my children. ANWAR is there for a reason. Yellowstone is set aside because its stunningly beautiful and a gem in the crown of the USA. Its also an incredible source of geothermal energy that could likely help support a lot of local habitation. So left bulldoze it and build a strip mall and some suburban cul-de-sacs.

The first step here is to realize that the problem is YOU. Americans have little personal responsibility. If gas prices are through the roof, its because you keep wasting gas, stupid. Has no one heard of the tradgedy of the commons?

I get 27 miles to the gallon in my daily driver, with A/C, on the highway, in a 30 mile commute each way. So I pay. Gas costs $3.10 a gallon for my car here. So I pay, because I have to get to work. But I don't feel bad here. I would never THINK of driving an SUV to get me to work.

Why can't we get our heads out of our rear ends and think a little more globally? You want to make a change? Stop whining about gas prices. Whining does NOTHING. The only way YOU, as an individual, are going to make any difference in the situation is to personally use less of the limited resources that we all share. The solution is not to use MORE, not to make our gluttony more affordable by destruction of the planet.
 
Fuel Prices

We've been paying $4USD per gallon for 6 months or more now.

Before that however, and for the last 5+ years, we've been paying $3.30USD per gallon for Fuel.

To be blunt, and probably put people off side, get over it. The US has almost the cheapest fuel outside of the Arab oil producing countries, The rest of the world has been paying much higher prices for many years.

It costs me $56USD per week to run my Taurus class Wagon in AU. When we were on vacation in the states last month, we could do 400km, (My average weekly commute) and fill up for about $28USD. Most of the rest of the world see's the US's reaction to your supposed high fuel prices as a joke, as most countries have been paying double the price of the US for the last 5-10 years.

My apologies if I've upset anyone,
Nathan
 
Well, I shouldnt even comment. Ok I will

This whole country and world are spinning out of control. LOOK AROUND FOLKS.

Do I know the answer and could I do better. Probably not.

My long time deceased grandfather (God rest his sole) used to say all the time - "When the democrats are in power, we have plenty of jobs and prices are lower" - "When the republicans are in power we have war, no jobs, and times are hard"

I Wonder how the 4th grade education he had gave him this instinct.

My spending and un necessary trips etc. need to stop, washer hobby or not.

Steve
 
Perhaps thourgh all this we will, as a country, finally become energy-wise and move to photovoltiac solar cells to generate electricity. As the price of traditional fuels rise, this become more appealing, on a cost-per-KWH basis. If only Uncle Sam would pay for a new roof and a solar panel on every home, and have the power feed into the power grid, we'd be much less traditional-energy dependant. Even if we has to sell power wholeale, and buy retail, we'd still see a huge drop in cost to the comsumers.

My friends have an oil & electirc house (i.e. no natural gas).
Their cental cooling system pumps heat out of the house and into the atmosphere. Their electric heat pump pool-heater extracts heat from the air and pushes it into the pool. If only the waste heat from the house was harnessed and dumped into the pool.

*SIGH*

Such use of (read: waste of) resources BUGS me.
Has anyone noticed that some gas appliances are again moving back to polot-lights? This is a HUGE waste of resources that can be *corected* for less than $25 per appliance when incorpoated into thee manufactuirng process. Electronic ignition, which replaces pilot-lights is of no inconvenience to the consumer either. HORRIBLE WASTE!
 
Toggle, why not speak up? Tell your neighbor about this heat pump technology or will they be mad at you? Is this something that could be installed by a heating/cooling contractor?

I remember once I spoke up about a heating/cooling issue (I know, it's weird). At a family function a sister-in-law was asking me what to do about getting an air purifier for her son who has asthma. I recommended an central electronic preciptator that is part of the heating and cooling system that could be installed for about 600 dollars. "WHAT!, that's too expensive!!" I couldn't help it but I pointed out that her husband was wearing Nautica clothes and that if he would buy a few less clothes they could afford the purifier. I'll have to find out if they took the advice.

As for the pilot lights, I saw it on the super-cheap Americana range at home depot. Maybe it is for landlords who don't pay the gas bill. Still I agree with you that pilot lights should be banned.
 
Toggle, I hope that was a smile. What I am saying is that some of the fault for our situation with the oil shortage lies with (oh, oh, better duck and run!) the Consumer, Us!! If you want to buy a range at HD DO NOT buy the one with the pilot light and ask to speak to the manager about they should electronic ignition to the Americana. I have asked the question about who would want to buy a GM car today, wonder what answers I will get. Maybe its the high pressure advertising, they often advertise the Cobalt at a low price but everyone I know who owns a Cavalier hates it (they are cheap, which is the reason people buy it, same with the Neon). And I'm sorry, Ford Focus is ugly!.

Could someone who owns an SUV please tell me why so many people want to buy them? My parents took us kids on long vacations (loads of fun, right) in sedans and never had any need for an SUV. Do you use them much in remote areas? When you go to a dealer, how to they pressure you to buy one?
 
Steve, your grandfather was a very wise man. I say that every time a Repulican comes in, and I have yet to be proven wrong.

Nate, you haven't upset me, I understand what you are saying, but I do have to say that just because yours and other countries have been paying so much money for gas does not make it right. Your price is a little closer to ours, but this $6 and $7 crap they have in Europe is just outright heresy.

Every time this gas price thing comes up people in other countries cry wolf at us for the same reason. Woe is me we've been paying $3 a gallon for gas since 1963. Where is the backlash, people? Quit buying the damn gas, send a message, and it'll go south real fast. There is simply no excuse for it. From that standpoint we're even more guilty here. Price keeps going up, people buy just as much if not more gas, buy large vehicles, on and on.

It would be one thing if prices had progressed naturally over years like other things, but no. Prices have more than tripled in the last 5-7 years. As late as 1999 I paid less than $1 per gallon. Have my wages tripled? Don't think so. It's up down up down up down up down every time you turn around, that is not natural market forces at work, I am sorry, any more than I should be paying $800,000 for a house my parents would have paid $15,000 for.
 
No offense taken here either, I completely agree that it's the end user that generates the demand. With reckless abandon, we suck up fuel for transportation of not only ourselves, but everything we eat and consume on a daily basis. Instead of transporting hundreds of containers over long distances by rail, we send them via individual trucks that consume much more fuel and spew tons of carbon and sulfur into our air. The current administration has claimed that we are addicted to oil, which is completely true but when you look at the funds cut from fuel conservation programs that would bring immediate savings from the 2007 budget by the same administration, you wonder if the rhetoric is more akin to the drug pusher putting a sticker on his car that says "just say no." The current lip service to hybrid cars and renewable energy isn't backed with action and the public seems to be ignoring it in large part, with the exception of a few who are still drunk on the Kool-Aid of neo-con agendas dating back to Reagan. The human tragedy of our "war" on terror aside, perhaps the "whipping boy" needs a sound lashing.

Since there is little hope of things changing in Washington anytime soon, and with a $14 million lobby from the oil & gas industry, they absolutely won't, we must take matters into our own hands. Write your congressional reps., senators, state and local officials and demand the changes. The power of the people can win out if the voices are united and loud enough. Contrary to election rules in Ohio and Florida, this is still a democracy and if the voters speak, the elected will listen.
 
The shipping of Food esp--why not Grow it LOCALLY what used to be done-the local small family farmer grew what the local people typically ate-less shipping and the food was more HEALTHY for you-didn't need the processing so it could be shipped long distances-Heard of the "salad Bowel" express-a train that shipped lettuce and other produce from California all the way East to New York--think we can grow the lettuce closer.
Yes we do consume the fuel to run our cars-I have to do it because NO public transit out here-where I work is in the middle of the countryside 15mi away from downtown Greenville-lets face it small town like this will NEVER get any sort of public transit-other than a small bus system for people downtown.I do kinda miss the subways,trains,and buses of downtown DC.For many years when I lived there didn't have a car.Now I have no choice.I am afraid you can write to senators and congressmen until your hand falls off-they are more interested in their LOBBYISTS than you.You really can't blame them for the predictament-Its our petroleum based economy-I am afraid that infrasturcture isn't going to change soon.Lets really face it -the executives at the oil companies can have more say and clout than the politicians!I would like to see MORE domestic oil drilling and use-build more refineries-esp to replace those lost from Katrina-A mobilization effort should be done like what was done with some things during and after WW2.I don't blame the cuts in the conservation programs during the Reagon years-lets get the Gov't out of this-they have other things to do-conservation is more up to YOU than them.You can conserve and it doesn't cost anyone else and saves you money-gov't programs only SUCK UP MORE money than they save.With the current events in the Mideast and the Cartel-don't think we have much other choices-we have to use our own oil and NOW.It could save everyone money-and helps create badly needed JOBS.Many wells that were capped during the 50's and 60's could be put back to work.
 
Begins another day, another week

Top of the mornin' to everyone! Hope you all slept well or are sleeping well.

Steve-(Mayken4now) Yes the whole world seems to be getting a little more out of control each day. Unfortunately we have no leadership at this time, politicians have made themselves inaccessible and we are seemingly forced to grin and bear it. Sometimes I wonder what its going to take.

Tolivac-Yes, once money got into the political system, we lost what we began with in 1776. I don't know if you guys thought about this at the time, but I could see this whole FEMA shell-out to the Katrina effort would be plagued with corruption from the government on down to the individual. I just shook my head for lack of a better idea, but knew what would go down.
 
Hydrogen fuel------

Iceland did it and so can we.

Alternative fuel sources are the answer! When Russia, the oriental countries of the middle east, and the Venezualan's no longer have our gazillions pouring in every day-----all the unrest will stop. They will have to scramble and figure out how they will make their money without us and that will keep them all too busy to fight.----except with each other of course as has long been the history of those nomadic tribes.

The day will come when every neighborhood will have its grocery store, shoe repair shop, doctor and dentists offices,hardware store, furniture/appliance store, bakery, etc. just like in the old days and people will hop on their bikes or Vespa's and zip around the neighborhood shopping like most of the rest of the world has been doing for quite some time.

Places like here in Atlanta are fast becomming dinasaur's.
Dizzy blonde soccer moms in their Hummers or Suburbans (in sparkling "Stepford Wife Taupe Metallic" of course!)are all over the place as they drag their yuppie larvae thirty miles here for this and fourty miles there for that, with reckless abandon and not a care in the world about how much fuel they are sucking out of the ground because "W" and his family and all their oil-company friends and henchmen have set a precedent for years. They want us to pour money into their coffers!

No real national energy policy in place at all. Only untill recently they have begun talking about conservation, but no incentives or directives to the automakers----mainly because of the aforementioned lobbyiests who are slowly being allowed to destroy our political system. At this point no automobile in America that gets less than 40 mpg should be allowed on the market---no pick-up truck that gets less than 30 mpg with a "standard" engine should be sold.

Tolivac is right. Shipment of goods over the road has got to stop! Imagine if just half of all those menacing tractor-trailer rigs you see on the road every day rode "piggy-back" over the nations (woefully inadequate) railroads---how much fuel, traffic accidents, traffic jams (which cause unbelieveable levels of wasted fuel by Americans commuting to their jobs evey day), etc. that whould save all of us Americans!
 

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