Think gas is expensive now?

[mimitabby]

gee, and if maybe the gov't rewarded car manufacturers for making fuel efficient cars...
and if maybe people rewarded car manufacturers by BUYING fuel efficient cars.

I've stuck with my 1991 Honda for years simply because after mine was made, the gas mileage of newer vehicles just got worse and worse. There are a few cars on the horizon that give me hope, but unfortunately, there are just a handful.

[GLC1968]

I think the part that I find the most scary is that while car sales have dropped in this country and in Europe (which I did not know), they are rising exponentially in Russia, China and India. Yes, it would help if we had more efficient cars...but the bigger problem is the massively increased demand for gas in other places by the sheer increase in numbers of cars!

[redrhodie]

I think the part that I find the most scary is that while car sales have dropped in this country and in Europe (which I did not know), they are rising exponentially in Russia, China and India. Yes, it would help if we had more efficient cars...but the bigger problem is the massively increased demand for gas in other places by the sheer increase in numbers of cars!

But it's not like we're not to blame. This country guzzled oil like a frat boy at a kegger. We ran through our own oil fields decades ago, making us completely dependant on the Middle East, people who really don't care to give us their quicky depleting supply cheaply so we can drive to our mailboxes. Who can blame them. Their oil is running out, too, and what are they going to have left once it is, some sand box you can't grow jack on.

Yeah, the rest of the world is using more oil, but it's because we decided to give them all of our manufacturing jobs, while we (those who lost said jobs) lived off real estate buying, selling and building, and the lending of money. Looks like that was a good plan .

[OakLeaf]

It's not the Middle East we're dependent on - not so much for oil, anyway. The vast majority of our imported oil comes from elsewhere in North America. And the price of gas in the USA has more to do with the weak dollar (which don't even get me started on what's responsible for that) than with anything else.

[mimitabby]

It's not the Middle East we're dependent on - not so much for oil, anyway. The vast majority of our imported oil comes from elsewhere in North America. And the price of gas in the USA has more to do with the weak dollar (which don't even get me started on what's responsible for that) than with anything else.

fyi, 2005 numbers of where our gasoline comes from

[redrhodie]

All true, but the majority of reserves are in the Middle East. Just because we can get it in North America now doesn't mean it's a bottomless cup.

[KnottedYet]

what drives me nuts is how incredibly precious and versatile petroleum is as the raw material for the making of other products, and here we are BURNING so much of it.

It's like using beautiful silk as toilet paper.

[GLC1968]

But it's not like we're not to blame. This country guzzled oil like a frat boy at a kegger. We ran through our own oil fields decades ago, making us completely dependant on the Middle East, people who really don't care to give us their quicky depleting supply cheaply so we can drive to our mailboxes. Who can blame them. Their oil is running out, too, and what are they going to have left once it is, some sand box you can't grow jack on.

Yeah, the rest of the world is using more oil, but it's because we decided to give them all of our manufacturing jobs, while we (those who lost said jobs) lived off real estate buying, selling and building, and the lending of money. Looks like that was a good plan .

Of course we are to blame, that wasn't my point. My point is that it's getting worse at an alarming rate, despite efforts (by some) to conserve.

The world got wise to the concept of fuel efficiency in the crisis of the 70's when houses became better insulated and cars got smaller. Then, when the economy boomed opnce again, everyone seemed to forget that fuel is a precious commodity that should not just be burned up so that we could drive bigger cars and live in bigger houses further and further away from where we worked.

But what so many people don't realize is that the cost of driving the SUV isn't going to be the issue when gas is $7/gallon. Food is going to be crazy expensive. EVERYTHING is going to be crazy expensive. The amount of fuel that is consumed to create even things like all the components that go into a PC is truly staggering. Cars are only a tiny fraction of the massive consumption that our lifestyles have created. It's sad, really. Depressing, actually.

[KnottedYet]

Trek, my dear, your Pravda link is pretty lame. Wiki is better. It's the Pacific Gyre. Pretty cool historically. Got to study it a bit in my oceanography classes. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_P..._Garbage_Patch

BTW: just paid $3.73/gal at Costco. COSTCO!!!!! Thank goodness I'm only using one tank a month these days.

[mimitabby]

And it's going to get a whole lot worse and maybe not get better at all in our lifetime.

[RoadRaven]

Mmm-hmmm... its already started down here. Instead of talking about renovating our sad rail and bus system, people here in NZ are asking (shouting) the government for tax breaks!

OK, so we pay all sorts of road/car taxes, and also pay GST so we have taxes on taxes... but really? Do people think this will get easier with tax breaks for car/road users?

And Susan, it took me a while to realise it but there is no guarentee of fairness just because we live in democratic countries. Democracy means everyone can have a say - great. But democracy also means majority rules - minorities have no luck at all.

And when you are talking about government, then the majority of people who have power have the say - voters have very little say at all once the government is in for their term.

[short cut sally]

I drive a diesel pick up..by choice and they do get better mileage than a regular gas pick up. I paid 4.45 a gallon at my last fill up. I have really made an effort just to drive to work and back and once down town a week to get groceries. What's sad is diesel is the crappy end of the fuel chain so I would think it would be less than gas..was told it's refined less. I would love to ride my bike to work. However coming home after midnight, after 12 + hours of work, not so sure how I would fare. And it's all up hill. Not sure where our country is going with all this high priced fuel, I can only hope for the best.

[OakLeaf]

I've stuck with my 1991 Honda for years simply because after mine was made, the gas mileage of newer vehicles just got worse and worse.

WTF is up with that??? I've been SO disappointed with my Prius. Everyone else that has one just seems to love it. IMO it's a huge scam. It gets 3 mpg better than my '83 Nissan Sentra used to... and I used to run around with that thing floored all the time. Granted it handles better, has all the safety bells and whistles, but that shouldn't affect the gas mileage that much.