Gas is at a record high, even adjusting for inflation. We beat out the record highs of the 1970s, with rationing and lines. The average around the country is about $4.20 a gallon, which, I suppose, is still cheap if you're a Euro. We'll ignore the hidden costs of gas for this discussion, but we'll briefly remember that Rupert Murdoch told us in 2003 the best result of the Iraq war would be $20 a barrel oil.

The New York Times reports that the Republican Heartland is being hit the hardest. A lot of this is China, needing energy to fuel their economic growth. This won't go away. I suspect a lot of this also comes from having an oil man in the White House, owing favors to friends in the oil cartel. I wouldn't expect that much relief when Obama moves into the White House, tho.

So how do you see America, and all of the West, responding? We love the idea of using less gas, but do you think it having risen $1.00 in the past year will motivate us to actually do it? Lower the speed limit back to 55, to get fuel efficiency? Use round abouts instead of stop signs? Telecommute? Nuke China?

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.


The disparity between rural America and the rest of the country is a matter of simple home economics. Nationwide, Americans are now spending about 4 percent of their take-home income on gasoline. By contrast, in some counties in the Mississippi Delta, that figure has surpassed 13 percent.
As a result, gasoline expenses are rivaling what families spend on food and housing.

I just googled roundabouts, they look interesting, site I found says there's already a thousand of them across the US. I wonder how the switch over from stop signs goes. I'd imagine initially there would be more accidents until people get used to it.

I would think so, too. Haven't seen very many of them personally. But the idea is to slow the car down without actually stopping it, saving energy.

We have quite a few roundabouts in Buffalo.

Personally, I am using less gas. I don't just go for a ride in my van anymore. I am riding the motorcycle to & from work - big difference there since the van gets 18 mpg and the bike gets 65 mpg. The only time I am driving the van is if I am buying something that won't fit on the bike, like grocery shopping, or if I am taking both kids somewhere.

In my area we are seeing a very large increase in the sales of motorcycles and scooters. I think that will continue as long as the price of gas continues to rise.

car pooling is also a nice option. or we could change our means of transportation to either using public transports or use bicycles.

I think as Americans we should stop complaining because on a national scale we are still low down on the cart.

Originally Posted by Cheshire_cat

I think as Americans we should stop complaining because on a national scale we are still low down on the cart.

Buy more fuel efficient cars! I was on Digg the other day and saw an article complaining about fuel prices. I decided to calculate how much Britons pay on petrol ("gas") per gallon and it's something like about $8.90/gallon, compared with about $4.50 in the USA I believe. People over here are complaining a lot too, but in fact we're on the whole less wealthy than the USA and we're paying about twice as much as the US.

I would recommend buying more fuel efficient cars or perhaps switching to hybrids of biofuel cars! In the long term, I'd LOVE to see hydrogen fuel cell cars come onto the market in the mainstream. Hydrogen doesn't act as an energy source - it just temporarily stores energy. You put water through a machine at home (using electricity of course), Hydrogen comes out, you put this in your car and off you go. On the road, the Hydrogen is burnt (combined with Oxygen) and water comes out your exhaust. It's a novel idea, although there are a few set backs:

1) At the moment, it's not very efficient. Normal electric cars are more efficient right now.
2) You obviously need to use electricity at your home to convert your water into hydrogen. Of course, investing in environmentally friendly electricity production (wind farms, hydro-electric dams, solar panels etc.) would mean the energy consumed in the conversion process would be produced cleanly and therefore wouldn't harm the environment.

Fossil fuels are running out fast. We're at least 30 years on now since the 1970s energy crisis yet we're consuming more than ever before. Oil is predicted to run out in 40 years - some leaders are talking about asking oil producers to step up the production. This only means that we'll run out even quicker than before. Now is the time to invest huge amounts of money in clean, renewable energy production and look for alternatives to fossil fuels.

Dan

One of the big cab companies here in the valley(phx) recently bought a fleet of hybrids, I don't remember the name of the car but they're little hatchbacks, one of the drivers told me they get 55mpg but only have 11 gallon tanks. Right now most the company's fleet is made up of retired police vehicles bought at auction. There's only 50 of the hybrids driving around right now but will be 200 by the end of the year, will be interesting to see how it works out.

Originally Posted by Cheshire_cat

I think as Americans we should stop complaining because on a national scale we are still low down on the cart.

Isn't that like saying that as Americans we should stop complaining about security (like feeling a "need" to invade Iraq over WMD they didn't have) because compared to people in the West Bank or Grozny we're still low down on the chart? Or, even, like saying "Windows users should stop complaining - they have it better than OS/2 users!"

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

Isn't that like saying that as Americans we should stop complaining about security (like feeling a "need" to invade Iraq over WMD they didn't have) because compared to people in the West Bank or Grozny we're still low down on the chart? Or, even, like saying "Windows users should stop complaining - they have it better than OS/2 users!"

No, I don't think so. We are all buying gas from the same people, and we are all getting the same product, but some how Americans are still paying less.

We're not actually paying less for the gas, I think, than people in England. It's just that if theirs is approaching $10 a gallon, and they pay that at the pump, ours is approaching $5 at the pump, and $5 trillion for the Iraq war?

i think using bicycle in a short distance is a nice way to conserve gas...and its healthy to...

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

We're not actually paying less for the gas, I think, than people in England. It's just that if theirs is approaching $10 a gallon, and they pay that at the pump, ours is approaching $5 at the pump, and $5 trillion for the Iraq war?

Thats the hidden war tax you don't pay at the pump and you don't pay anywhere else, though your children might. Speaking of what we don't pay, it does seem strange that people in the U.K. pay a higher tax rate AND pay more for their gas. Socialized health care? President Obama should have us all caught up in no time.

well, maybe our children will reach the time when cars running in gasoline is obsolete, or maybe our grand children, and cars would have to run on other resources...

I am still waiting for Mr. Fusion from back to the future.

I'd love to see cars not run on gasoline, too. But if you think about it, that's a wee little bit more difficult than it sounds. Let's use fusion - let's have a nuclear reaction 3 feet away from the driver. No, maybe that's not such a good idea after all.

Somebody in my office smokes cigarettes. California is big on not allowing cigarette smoking in public places. He complains, saying we should ban cars, too, since the exhaust isn't healthy to breathe. Thing is, cars have a tremendous positive impact on society.

I think as Americans we should stop complaining because on a national scale we are still low down on the cart.

Devil's Advocate aside, I think you're right about this.

Interesting article I found this morning:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4133668.ece

bugs that eat organic waste and excrete petrol due to a genetically altered bacteria.

well, how many thousands of those bugs would we need for the whole country?

Itll probably turn out there is no way to prevent the reporduction and expansion of those bugs and they'll devour the nations food supply leaving us starving and swimming in oil.

Bacteria could never get out of company laboratories

And some think humanity has a future