I NEVER said Mercury wasn’t toxic…But the Mercury pollution you see has very little to do with the new lights…MOST if not all comes from other sources. I grew up near a lake in Upstate NY who’s Mercury content is something like 10,000 times above the acceptable limit…It got that way over 100 years of industries dumping into the lake. And since Mercury is an element it doesn’t break down…It’ll just sit there and spread (it’s now spread to other lakes some 50 miles away).
All those idle hands … the roughly 5 million people in NYC who do not work.
WHAT…You have no idea what you’re talking about. That is about the dumbest thing you’ve said so far on this forum…and that’s saying something.
You want to keep fuel prices low by force? Forgive me, but that idea is laughable. How do you propose we do that, invade Iraq? Oh, wait, that didn’t work out like some had hoped.
I’ve got news for you, this isn’t some conspiracy perpetrated by the man. The price we pay for fuel is mostly market driven, but does include federal and state taxes. My point is, fuel prices are high because of market forces, mainly supply and demand, and everything that affects supply and demand. Wars use a lot of oil, as do developing economies and people who forget that populations migrate based on jobs and the economy.
30 years ago, commuting a long distance because of property values made sense. Before that, people moved to locations where they could be employed. It always amazes me how quickly people forget history that happened just two or three generations ago, but cite the actions of just one generation ago as precedent for current changes.
What many of you don’t seem to understand is, adjusted for inflation, fuel is cheaper now than it was during WWII, yet those who lived through WWII didn’t complain about fuel prices because they all knew, having lived through the Great Depression, how to make sacrifices to get by. They had the fortitude to say, “If I have to walk 10 miles each day to provide for my family, I’ll walk 10 miles.” In comparison, they make some of today’s adults look like whiny little spoiled brats. It’s a shame the Greatest Generation’s legacy has been lost.
First of all, buy force does not mean sticking them up with guns. We can release oil reserves, we can buy gas from one corp until the other corp lowers their prices, and so on. Not all wars must be faught with guns and force. I am sure you have heard of economic warfare.
It is not a conspiracy, it is a fact. Why do we have cheaper gas than the brits right now? becasue they can wring it out of them. americans have no alternitive, and the companies just can’t sell us enough gas at that price, that is why gas is ‘stuck’ at $3-4. People cannot afford it, and there is no way to do without it. Every time gas prices go up, they have massive overstocks of fuel. People do cut back, they have no choice, they CAN’T afford it.
Prices on gas were so much more then becasue not very many people that needed a car (or could afford one in the first place) 'back in the day.'
There are still people that will walk ten miles each day to provide for their familys. I think that you have a romantic look on life ‘back in the day.’ plenty of men walked out on their families, and some just didn’t care about the famililes that they did live with.
30 years ago? what about the housing boom that shot home prices up a few years ago? you buy where you can afford, even now. Some people want to own their home.
Not to get personal, but, When was the last time you had to walk miles to a mimumum wage job, or had to do without a meal, or any of these ‘entitled’ things you speak of, just to get by?
Get real, this is now, don’t confuse ancent fuel prices and economics with current trends. We need gas to get to work, and we cannot afford to pay more that $2-3 a gallon for gas. If no one will supply us at that price, they are silly. they have plenty (imagine if america stopped buying gas for a month, where would all that fuel go? the price would plummet SO fast), and they have no one else to sell THAT MUCH gas to. Sure they could sell a good part of it, but they NEED us to buy it. They cannot afford to have to much supply or the price drops. Nothing is stopping america from drilling on our own soil. China is drilling their own wells in other countries (government owned I think). what is stopping america? we can buy gas at $3 a gallon, why should we use our own supply when we can get it for an amount we can afford?
If the price goes up, supply floods it. The gas companies will not let themselves sell out they can produce as much as we buy, they are wagering on the fact that we will suck it up.
If we need to, we can fight back by drilling our own wells here at home. It is my belief that gas over $3 a gallon cripples our economy. as can be seen by our current situation.
I don’t think you understand how much cash this takes out of the economy. I don’t think you live paycheck to paycheck and have no money in the bank, you don’t feel the problem. You are isolated from this issue.
First of all, buy force does not mean sticking them up with guns. We can release oil reserves, we can buy gas from one corp until the other corp lowers their prices, and so on.
(A) You overestimate the size of our strategic oil reserves and the economic impact of releasing them, and (B) those who distribute fuel for a living will tell you that if you stop buying BP gas in favor of Chevron gas, Chevron will just buy its fuel from BP, and BP will never notice the difference. The only people you will hurt will be the local BP station owners and employees. Why do you think, in spite of massive BP boycotts last year, BP made massive profits? It’s a reality that’s hard to escape, if you open your eyes to it.
It is not a conspiracy, it is a fact. Why do we have cheaper gas than the brits right now?
(A) In the UK, their fuel is taxed [u]a lot[/u] more than ours.
(B) Since we use so much more fuel than they do, we have more refining capacity, more pipeline capacity, and more tanker capacity. We buy in larger quantities, giving us a volume discount.
I have done my fair share of struggling. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I identify with the struggle because I have lived it.
It is clear to me you have no understanding of macroeconomics and you have grown too accustomed to easy living. In economic terms, you need two things to live; food and protection from the elements (shelter and clothes). The fact that you think you need fuel to live indicates you have never seen what rock bottom looks like. If you do, you will realize how foolish you are being now. You are simply unwilling, probably for good reason, to make any real sacrifice. After all, it isn’t yet necessary. However, if the day comes when it is necessary to make hard choices, you will realize the difference between a “want” and a “need.”
How do you suppose we keep food in our belles and shelter over our heads? We go to work. How do we go to work? we use fuel, either in the form of taking a bus or driving a car. And a delivery truck to bring us our food, unless you grow it in the back 40 with your two horses.
How come after we released our reserves, gas declined in price by almost a full dollar per gallon?
I took both macro and micro economics classes just a few years ago and passed with a’s in both. I am not very up to date on much of this fuel info, I admit. You make good points that I was unaware of.
Sorry, but I can’t ask anyone that knows you. But I will take you at your word.
I do know the difference between wants needs and what people deserve in this day and age. We don’t live in the dark ages, the 20’s or any other time, and I am thankful for that.
And besides, america is not a country you should be ‘proud to do without’ (that was russa). We are a country that is proud of what we can provide ourselves with.
To operate in our socity today you must have more than food, the cloths on your back and shelter. We call the people that live like that "bums"
However, my point stands, I see that fuel prices over $3 per gallon will hamstring our economy.
How do you suppose we keep food in our belles and shelter over our heads? We go to work.
How do you suppose people provide for their families when they can’t afford a car? They go to work … on a bicycle … or on a bus … or by carpooling with someone who has a car … or by improvising in some other creative way.
How come after we released our reserves, gas declined in price by almost a full dollar per gallon?
Ask a renowned macroeconomist and he or she will tell you that when G.W. Bush released our strategic oil reserves, it was a drop in the bucket, and it was changing economic forces that led to the drop in price, coincidentally, and it wasn’t immediate. It happened to coincide with the development of new natural gas extraction techniques, which had a ripple effect in other fuel markets.
The other day I was doing my laundry at a laundromat. I watched a man and a woman load their folded laundry into three bags, load two of the bags on one bicycle, which the man rode, and the other on a bicycle the woman rode. Forgive me, but I don’t call these people “bums.” I call them hard working salt-of-the-earth providers for their family. You might call them “bums,” but I find that idea morally repugnant.
You can take pride in your inability to make sacrifices when things get tough, but I refuse to forget my heritage, and I take pride that my grandparents and great grandparents knew how to get by when things got tough instead of whining about it. Forgive me, but I am proud of that resiliency. It’s what made this country great before so many of us forgot how to be tough. Gluttony is not a virtue.
Blaming the oil companies for high fuel prices would be like me blaming McDonald’s for making me fat. We all have a choice between eating healthy and not eating healthy. Likewise, we have a choice between a reasonably sustainable lifestyle and one that isn’t sustainable.
Hi Whitey.Since your post democracy has really taken off hasn’t it? It’s good to be free here in America where we can crane our necks over the horizon and envision the world evolving just like our homeland .Makes me weepy. And not long ago (2007?) when gas got to 3+dollars I heard it said “It’s cheaper than a gallon of milk,so don’t complain”.Now that it’s just below 4 dollars milk goes to what? The real reason gas is going up is the dollar’s decline.
My great grandfather in the catering business used to say if you need eggs, it does not matter what they cost. Unions and collective bargaining came into being not by the choice of the company owners, but by the demands, protests and strikes of the average guy. There were bloody battles just to get a livable wage. What is different now? strip the rights, cut the wages, and who will stand up and say you are making million dollar bonuses for cutting an average guys wages, not the republicans. The motto is tax cuts for the rich and bust the unions, cut social programs and we will be better off. That is true for the top 5% of wealtholders and bad for the other 95% of us.
I know this will get flagged and deleted, but to quote Bill Maher, “We b#### about gas, but adjusted for inflation, it?s the same price it was back when the Pope was a Nazi. And that?s not the fault of ExxonMobil, either. That?s like Kirstie Alley saying her problem is that Arabs control all the fudge.”
My great grandfather in the catering business used to say if you need eggs, it does not matter what they cost. Unions and collective bargaining came into being not by the choice of the company owners, but by the demands, protests and strikes of the average guy. There were bloody battles just to get a livable wage. What is different now? strip the rights, cut the wages, and who will stand up and say you are making million dollar bonuses for cutting an average guys wages, not the republicans. The motto is tax cuts for the rich and bust the unions, cut social programs and we will be better off. That is true for the top 5% of wealtholders and bad for the other 95% of us.
He was a member of the Hitler Youth when he was a kid in Germany. In his defense, he was just a kid, and he would have taken a lot of heat if he hadn’t gone along with the crowd.
Yes, florescent lamps have been around for years and I?m sure you?ll also note they are rarely used in residential applications and commercial users are well aware of the proper disposal methods so as to avoid being fined.
But it’s still fun to smash them in the loading dock or in the dumpster. That’s the way most people do it.
LED lamps are quite unique in that 99% of their construction requires materials made from OIL
You do know that LED’s aren’t made from oil, or OIL, right?
and they?re 0% recyclable while producing less usable light than the Toxic Mercury Lamps that produce just 28% usable light ? to put things in a little contrast, 93% of the light output of a standard clear incandescent lamp is usable and they?re 100% recyclable in an energy and cost effective manner. Furthermore, the amount of energy and oil used to produce an LED lamp greatly exceeds its potential energy savings in-use even when using the most generous lifespan ?estimates?.
So you’re saying the spikes in mercury contamination that correspond to the spikes in improper CFL disposal are “un-related” despite the fact that no one can find any other source for the mercury? Where’s it coming from?
2010 US census data is where the 5 million comes from - got a problem with the number, talk to the gooberment.
I see you make no attempt to explain the utter failure of the alleged “energy saving” measures … and, something else you can work on is explaining why Chicago blew more than a million taxpayer dollars on “engineering services” for street lighting yet 73% of the light generated is completely wasted. That’s right, just 27% of the lumens produced in the whole city are actually being used. Care to take a stab at that one instead of stabbing at me for using the gooberment’s own data?
Chicago blew more than a million taxpayer dollars on “engineering services” for street lighting yet 73% of the light generated is completely wasted. That’s right, just 27% of the lumens produced in the whole city are actually being used.
SO WHAT…What does that have to do with this discussion.
Since I see it’s only my posts that are being deleted … probably because I lay the blame where it belongs - with the ignorant and government.
How typical of NPR, as long as you’re bashing Jews or the so-called “right”, that’s fine but God forbid if facts get in the way of agenda or “opinion”!