| Author |
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Teeps
| | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 - 07:47 pm: | 
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This article sums it up nicely.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/upside--g allon-gas----really/
I've been a proponent of living close to work since I started working.
My daily commute, 4 minutes driveway to driveway. |
Paint_shaker
| | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 - 10:35 pm: |
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Another thing to consider. Americans have an affinity for big, gas guzzling trucks/ SUVs, a lot of which are used as daily drivers (not for any real hauling or towing) or to drop the kids off at school (what ever happened to the kiddies taking the bus?) and other uses not needed...
I realize some people have a need for them (myself included), but America needs to wake up!!! This BIG AZZ TRUCK/SUV just so I can have one craze needs to DIE!!! |
Just_ziptab
| | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 12:13 am: |
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Nobody drove pickup when I was in high school......unless they were hauling something.........as it should be. I think the whole truck/SUV is a status thing or a "keeping up with the Jone's" thing. Yes, I drive a truck......S-10 .....and haul something in the box that won't fit in a car........ often enuf to justify it as my main vehicle. I could easily get by with a compact Ranchero style vehicle if there was such a thing that got decent mileage. What was that, a Dodge Brat? I've had a lot of small trucks and that's all I need. When I didn't have a truck, I used a trailer and that always sucked. A good one I had was a 92, 4 cyl, S-10.loved that truck. Current 98 S-10 is just as good with 165,000 miles and still pretty much as new. Can get over 25 mpg if I don't use ethanol and drive for sustained momentum. Ethanol= 20 mpg.........I'm babbling........................ |
Ft_bstrd
| | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 12:22 am: |
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I've been a proponent of living close to work since I started working.
My daily commute, 4 minutes driveway to driveway.
Yep. I commute from my bed to my chair via the kitchen every day for work. Sometimes I add a pop tart and a diet Coke instead of cereal. |
Old_man
| | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 02:14 pm: |
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If you drive or not, it's still going to cost you!
Because EVERYTHING you buy will cost more, due to the cost of fuel. |
P47b
| | Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 11:32 am: |
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Here is a kicker. If we would have passed the first or second ANWAR bill we would have been half way done building it. That would have kept gas prices at a more controllable level.
Most countries that have high gas prices have no oil in there country or capability to drill and refine it.
If we would have pulled our heads out and fought the environmentalist on getting more refineries built here most of this would not be like it is.
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Cataract2
| | Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 12:00 pm: |
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Well, for those same countries with high prices, they also have tons of taxes for all the social programs they have. I'm sick of hearing about how other countries have high prices without hearing why they have those prices. |
Badlionsfan
| | Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2008 - 01:28 pm: |
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Well, for those same countries with high prices, they also have tons of taxes for all the social programs they have. I'm sick of hearing about how other countries have high prices without hearing why they have those prices.
true, but their prices have been going up the last year or so too. are they getting more social programs? doubt it. many countries have paid more than us, and we're not catching them, they're going up too. nice try, but your argument doesn't really hold up. |
Sekalilgai
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 01:20 am: |
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It was a beautiful memorial day in WV ... or at least in most parts of it...somewhere in the middle of nowhere out came the rain clouds and I ducked into a gas station to grab the raingear and saw a sign of the times...
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Igneroid
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 01:55 am: |
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We should all be drivin lil scooters instead of these gas guzzlin Buells..heh.. |
Pizzaboy
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 02:30 am: |
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i doubt i will EVER be able to come to complaining about filling up my buell.
my original motivation to learn to ride and buy a buell was FOR saving money at the pump.
my other vehicle is an 05 dodge dually diesel.... and i spent $150 putting some 4.75 fuel in it last weekend(which did not top off the tank btw) this tank will last about 430 miles.
in comparison i fill up my S2 for about $14 bucks and it gets me 175 miles to a tank..
my 1125r gets marginally less at 18 bucks to fill up and gets about 150 to a tank right now.
doing the numbers.. mile for mile (i travel about 500mi a week) i save over $125 a week by riding my bike and parking my truck
in summary, riding my bike is my way of sticking it to the man... screw you, big oil you only get $40 of my money every week!!! hahaha |
Retrittion
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 02:57 am: |
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Oil is a limited resource, it is running out (estimates run between 15-50 years for non-military consumption), and we as a culture behave absurdly when it comes to vehicle choices and uses. In addition, fuel costs impact every aspect of our lives -- food, construction, manufacturing, etc. so consistently high fuel prices will wreck our economy as well.
ANWAR isn't a solution either, it's a band-aid that may slow the inevitable, but it will only slow it (I don't care about the political BS, smoke and mirrors) -- plus ANWAR doesn't deal with the actual cause of high fuel prices or the effects.
The REAL issue is not solely the supply of oil but the refining capacity, capacity that is purposely throttled by the oil companies to keep prices high. If you notice all the gas companies have managed to make record profits in the last few years. In addition, lowering fuel costs in our country isn't enough, since our economy has a highly inter-dependent relationship with the economies of other nations. Finally, unless we find ways to raise the value of the U.S. Dollar (cut our foreign-owned debt and import/export imbalance) we will be at a disadvantage when it comes to purchasing anything we need from others.
If you want to solve the problem of an unsustainable practice you don't find ways to keep doing the practice, you find a new way to do things that IS sustainable -- reduction of consumption (junk the SUVs, trains for transit, improved building construction, etc.) and develop alternate energy sources (biofuels, solar, wind, tidal, etc.). It really isn't anything to worry about too much though, since we have to migrate to a new way of doing things I figure we will -- or go extinct I guess. 
Anyways, I am very happy with a motorcycle that I like to ride this much that also gets 50+ MPG. If Buell figures out how to get these engines to run on a biofuel or comes out with a biofuel model I will be in line for one.  |
Jaimec
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 11:47 am: |
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Retrittion: One of the BIG problems with refining capacity is "NIMBY." Everyone WANTS more refineries, but nobody wants one built near THEM.
We lost a LOT of refining capacity in the gulf thanks to Katrina, Wilma and the gang several years back. Because of the "NIMBYs" they haven't been replaced.
Same problem California had with their power shortage. They needed more powerplants, but nobody wanted any built near them. Where do they suggest these things be built? The MOON??
You're right. Screwing up the Alaskan wilderness will do NOTHING to alleviate the problem. Pump all the oil you want... without the refining capacity it ain't gonna get changed to gasoline any faster than it is now.
(Message edited by jaimec on May 27, 2008) |
Nautique4life
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 02:28 pm: |
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I wonder:
How much acreage is required for said refineries?
What is the 'buffer' or other requirements that must be satisfied when considering a tract of land for a refinery?
Clearly I am not an economist, nor will I pretend to talk like one. But from what I (think) I retained from college, it appears we have diseconomies of scale. The cost of production has risen, subsequently the price per unit as well. In theory, would'nt it make sense (cents too) for 'big oil' to increase the volume at which they can produce? (returns to scale?)
Please excuse incorrect verbiage as I am coming off a 3 day drinking binge. Brain may still be floating in Bood Light. |
Trac95ker
| | Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 02:55 pm: |
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The gov't (big business) doesn't want to change. They're all getting paid. Remember when NASA offered a million dollars to the first company to fly to outer space. Alternatives are around and being used on small scales but as long as we have salesmen running the country, expect the worst. |
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