I have never liked the arguement that we should not innovate because the Chinese are wasteful. We in the USA used to call ourselves leaders and trailblazers, not followers of the Chinese example. Secondly, each time that OPEC has said it would cut production to raise prices, what has really happened is that each member nation wasn’t willing to cut production. They all say they will and then they all cheat each other by not cutting production. They can’t trust each other to live up the the agreement to cut production. If they do, they will only be cutting themselves out of profits because the next guy didn’t cut production. Oil producers are too dishonest to form a real cartel or syndicate.
The dirty little secret about CAFE standards is that as the MPG requirements have increased so has the death rate on the highways do to lighter weight vehicles.
The problem with hybrids is 2 fold - in a crash there is a danger of breaking a high voltage cable to the point that rescue squads are having it be trained on how to deal with hybrids. The other is the cost of replacing the cell every 6-9 years at a cost of about $3500. What is that going to do to the resale market? Also, even if gas prices reached $5/gal and a hybrid that comfortably sat 7 received 100 mpg at a cost of $20,000, it would take over 20 years to make up the cost of trading in, say, a family van which gets, say 25 mpg with a trade in value of $3000 when you consider the cost of replacing the cell.
Using corn should be banned since (1) it’s present small use is already driving up food costs,(2) we could never grow enough to truly help the problem and (3)it releases a different Greenhouse gas that’s worse than burning gasoline! WHAT CAN WE DO!? Well, over the last 15 years I’ve adjusted my driving habits and have been using additive in the oil and fuel that have resulted in the following: 2001 E-150 Passenger Van, 5.4 l engine getting 27 mpg h/w, '96 Chrysler Concorde, 3.3 l getting over 34 h/w, '96 Ford Escort, 1.9 l engine getting 50 mpg h/w, '87 Ford Crown Vic, 5.0 l engine getting 32 mpg.
In other words, we can do it with the cars we own while we wait for, say, a hydrogen fuel cell? Or maybe burning water (scientist in Pennsylvania recently discovered a way to actually BURN WATER!!!)?
Doc, the question was about higher CAFE requirements. And, other industries are not mandated to do their part. The industries I listed continue largely unabated. If the concern is the environment, my first recommendation would be to leave auto emissions and CAFE requirements alone for now and begin to address diesel engines. The overwhelming majority of trucks on the road are pouring out NOx, unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide by the truckload. We see the carbon, but the rest is coming out with it. Even new deisel engines, even the new Mercedes Bluetec engine, can’t fully meet gas engine restrictions.
The price of oil is set by controlling the supplies. Producers have the demand/supply theory down pat.
And then there is the paradox: those who drive diesels, which pollute, are exempt from the cost of the Clean Air Act requirements that those who drive gasoline engines have to live with.
Yup, I think the “solution” of continuing to force higher and higher mileage requirements on cars is overly simplistic and will have minimum impact.
China in particular has no desire or incentive to sign the Kyoto agreement. And they are currently the big problem globally. We are far cleaner than they.
By the way, I support hybrids and personally would like to see the evolution of fully plug-in electric cars. I’m hoping that the developmentof things like the Tesla will spur development in the lithium ion battery arena.
The Polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Jonas Salk while at the University of Pittsburgh and improved by Dr. Alert Bruce Sabin. All the govt. did was give permission for the vaccine to be distributed
Defending the nation against outside aggression is one of primary reasons for govt. according to the U.S. Constitution so I HOPE it can get THAT ONE right.
The Clinton deficit reduction plan took the money meant for our nations defenses, where constiutionally it should have gone, and gave it to his pet social programs, almost destroying the national defense and leaving us volnerable when it was needed
Foster care under the govt. is a disaster due to cold hearted dollars & cents as well as overbearing govt. social experimentation. Volunteer organizations can and have done a far better job
While the Civil War was about more than slavery, history shows that slavery would have fallen in the South probably by the early 1870’s w/o the war due to the expense of keeping slaves and the growth boycotts led by abolitionists
“Public Education” no longer exists in the United States. It was replaced by “Government Education” which is a disaster. The nation would be better off with a mandate that all govt. schools and parents be required to send their kids to private schools, home school or maybe form a union of local families to hire a teacher to teach their children, otherwise known as “Public School”.
The American Revolution, see Defeating the Nazis
As for fire fighting note that it is governed locally, lucky for us, and, again fulfills a primary reason for govt. - protect the people!
Those elected were elected to lead according to a certain set of rules, none of which gave them the right to dictate how individual manufactureers are to build their widget. If it’s dangerous they can ban it. But our government would rather keep things it deems dangerous legal, like say, tobacco, and tax it. These are the people you want to trust with your children, healthcare, and elderly? Not me! And I don’t want them touching my car either!
This is very interesting, but in reality the average mileage will increase when the cost of fuel increases sufficiently to make vehicles with low fuel mileage less attractive. At current fuel prices very few people are motivated to buy low mileage cars. If we see fuel prices at european levels (maybe $6-7/gallon) regulation will not be necessary. Having regulations to stop folks from using cheap fuel is very silly.
I would feel better if increased revenues from expensive gas were used to seed the development of alternative energy sources, such as ramping up the manufacturing of photovoltaics and the development of a hydrogen-distribution infrastructure sourced by such photovoltaics, water, and free sunlight.
A surge in government-induced demand for photovoltaics would create an increase in manufacturing capacity, leading to a net drop in price for the remainder of the market, at which time the market would be able to sustain itself at a vigorous, CO2-reducing and pollution-reducing level.
Instead, I see all that good money going into the pockets of oil companies and oil investors at accelerating rates.
Back on topic, I see too many stories of high-mpg technologies that were purchased and buried, or sometimes the inventors were buried… http://befreetech.com/energysuppression.htm
The problem is not to motivate the development of new energy efficiencies – they already exist, but rather to end the stranglehold of the commercial-military-industrial-organized-crime interests.
Finally, I?m sorry that?s a message that?s too complicated to be voiced in our society by candidates running for government offices. It?s hard to reduce it into a soundbite.
It’s interesting that Honda invented the CVCC engine decades ago. This not only had extremely low emissions for the time, it had good power and incredible fuel economy. On the other hand, the real problem is that there are just too many people. The world’s population of humans has increased more than fifty percent in my lifetime. If people don’t stop breeding like rabbits the closing words of The Price is Right are not going to be spay and neuter your pets, it’s going to be spay and neuter your children. Technology can only go so far. We laughed at the yuppies in the 1970s and now we’re paying for that six hundred dollar toilet seat while watching Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson battle it out for bimbo of the week. Oh, and they’re wasting all the gas you are trying to save, just in case you didn’t notice.
First, if the U.S. govt. would permit drilling again, the U.S. would have as much oil as the Saudis.
Second, man made global warming is a myth and anyone who would honestly look beneath the thinly veiled, politically motivated hype would easily be able to see that.
Third, gasoline in England and France costs the same per gallon as it does in the U.S. It’s the gigantic amount of tax that is charged over there that makes it so expensive.
While it is true that fuel costs when corrected for inflation is still lower than 30 years ago, to suddenly increase the price to equal what it would be if adjusted would cause our economy to crash. Cheap fuel can help to keep America ahead of the world economy.
Fourth, socialized medicine is one of the worst ideas ever proposed in the U.S. Britain is being bankrupt by it and Canada is having to airlift mothers and baby’s to America for treatment.
The bottom line is, the more govt. is involved the more expensive and less productive “it”, whatever “it” is, will be.
bubulus,
Actually, the worlds population has doubled since 1960 when the annual rate of increase was 22%. In 2007 the rate of increase is less than 2%. Which means you can give every man, woman and child in the world 1/4 acre of land you can put them all in the state of Texas. It’s not a population problem, it’s a problem of management. The $600 toilet seat you mentioned was not paid by a business or private individual, it was paid by government - most individuals and businesses manage their money better than that. So why would you want the govt. making management decisions for business?
Hydrogen is one of the most thermodynamically inefficient fuel sources imaginable. Furthermore, photovoltaics are vastly less efficient than infrared heating of water. I would feel better if people would just accept that contraception is the best solution to energy shortage. And high mileage technologies have not been buried. Honda’s CVCC engine is one of the most efficient internal combustion engines ever made. And that was 1970s technology widely distributed. I’m sorry, but most of these “buried” technologies are just as crackpot as Tom Bearden’s “Motionless Electromagnetic Generator.”
I think you kinda missed the census counts. I don’t know where you got these statistics but there’s a great little book called how to lie with statistics. The world’s population has not doubled since 1960. It has increased by roughly 50 percent depending on who you listen to. You could not place even a fraction of the world’s population in Texas, it’s already overpopulated. I used to live there so I’ve seen it first hand. Actually the $600 toilet seat comment was hyperbole. I happen to know one of the people involved. It was a precision part made in small quantities to exacting specifications so it really was worth $600. Actually I am an expert business manager and a specialist in risk management. I’m also a biologist and have studied thermodynamics and physics extensively. It is a population problem. Pure and simple.
Federal standards are oppressive and unnecessary. If we can’t afford fuel we’ll demand a more economical vehicle. Let the marketplace be the boss.
The US HAS permitted drilling again. The oil companies have NOT increased drilling because of the cost. The same reason they haven’t built any new refineries or even updated their old ones. This is high cost and depleats their profits.
Second, man made global warming is a myth and anyone who would honestly look beneath the thinly veiled, politically motivated hype would easily be able to see that.
I HAVE looked at the science. So has my daughter who’s majoring in Chemical Engineering at MIT. She’s personally been involved in several research studies on Man’s involvement in global warming. You must be of the Rush Limbaugh scientists.
Cheap fuel can help to keep America ahead of the world economy.
Too bad we’re falling behind. We’re no longer ahead. Within 10 years at the current rate we won’t even be in the top 10.
The bottom line is, the more govt. is involved the more expensive and less productive “it”, whatever “it” is, will be.
Actually it’s BIG BUSINESS that is causing the HIGH PRICES. The problem is when Big Business is behind the Government policies and laws that causes these high prices. Take a look at probably the GREATEST Federally passed law that will KILL our economy. The “Prescription Drug Bill”. It was fully backed by the Drug industry and passed by the our paid off Congress from the Drug industry. The ONE provision in the bill that got FULL approval of the Drug Industry backed congress was “The price of drugs can NOT be negotiated”. The VA has their own prescription plan but they ARE allowed to negotiate the price. The result…Drugs that cost $10/mo through the VA cost OVER $500/MO through the newly passed Drug Plan.
Third, gasoline in England and France costs the same per gallon as it does in the U.S. It’s the gigantic amount of tax that is charged over there that makes it so expensive.
I agree they have higher taxes…but their gasoline costs more also. They don’t buy the volume we do so their costs are higher.
Expect gas prices to increase a LOT in the next 5-10 years…Currently the US is the buggest buyer of oil in the world…Soon to be eclipsed by China and then India. We will no longer have the buying clout we have now. Many economists predict OVER $10/gallon in 10 years. Some predicting OVER $20.
Where I got the census counts? The CIA World Fact Book. In 1960 the population was aprox. 3.3 billion and is presently about 6.6 billion. I’d say that’s about double. As for Texas, I will correct myself (my math skills were a little fuzzy at 3:30AM) I was thinking family size. If you gave an average family of 5 (meaning some families may be 1 and some may be a family of 9) a 1/4 acre lot, which is the average size a single family dwelling is presently being built in Northern VA, you could fit HALF the earths population in Texas. Throw in Montana and New Mexico and you have plenty of of room for the rest! It’s simple math. Texas contains 171,904,640 acres. divide multiply times 4 for quarter acre lots, multiply that by 5 for avg. persons per acre and you get over 3.4 billion people. Now if you consider that a large number of people live in apartments the acreage goes way down! In fact, to give an idea of how small the population really is, if you were to throw a part and the entire world showed up, giving each person 7 sq.ft. to stand, the entire world will fit in Albuquerque, NM.
BUT HERE’S THE REAL KICKER - MOST NATIONS WITH THE DENSEST POPULATION IN ASIA (MACAU,TAIWAN,HONG KONG,SINGAPORE,SOUTH KOREA, ETC.) HAVE HIGHER PER CAPITA INCOME AND LIVING CONDITIONS THEN THE MUCH LESSER DENSLY POPULATED NATIONS OF CHINA, INDIA, ETC.! WHY? MANAGEMENT!!!
Please don’t insult me by assuming that since you disagree with me I must be…fill in the blank. Let’s look at the facts. Historically the earth as been a lot warmer and a lot cooler. During the first milenia AD the earth was much warmer and produced far more bountiful than today. Greenland WAS GREEN! And guess what, there were no cars or carbon footprints being discussed. Then starting around 1200 AD a mini ice age began lasting until only about 150 years ago. There are records of people actually being able to watch glaciers advance and not over decades or centuries but over months! Entire towns were destroyed by the advancing glaciers! Now that they are receding all of a sudden it’s man’s fault! I have yet to have anyone tell me what the “NORMAL” temp. of the earth should be. Well if you don’t know what normal is, how do you know that the planet is presently to cold and needs to warm!
As for The Drug bill, you’re agreeing with me! Government needs to get their hands off of controlling health care before they destroy the last place in the world that people can go to get proper care.
Englands tax on gas is equal to approx. $5/gal. Combine that with the rest of the tyranical taxation (I had a Londoner recently speak to me in awe of the vanity tags in the US. He said that it would cost upwards of 10,000 pounds to get on in the UK) in order to provide health care that only the fallen Soviet Union could love.
The cost of building refineries is mostly due to the govt. regulations. If it takes 10+ years due to govt. red tape to finally get a refinery built, who’s going to want to have their investment dollars tied up that long before seeing any return. Again, the govt.
The US has permitted EXPLORITORY drilling only.
As for the CAFE standards, the stats are clear - increase the MPG requirements and you will increase highway fatalities due to the lighter vehicles that will be produced. NOW THAT’S BLOOD FOR OIL!!! now excuse me while I go tune in Rush LOL!
No, given I drive 5000 miles/year in 22MPG 227HP fun car its unfair. I choose a job(telecommuter)/lifestyle that limits my driving.
Historically the earth as been a lot warmer and a lot cooler.
But NOT changing at the rates we currently see it. And to COMPLETELY IGNORE any evidence that points to Human involvement is the COMPLETE LACK of any scientific knowledge.
As for The Drug bill, you’re agreeing with me! Government needs to get their hands off of controlling health care before they destroy the last place in the world that people can go to get proper care.
No I’m NOT…Re-read what I said…only slower now so you can understand it…I’m saying that BIG BUSINESS needs to get out of controlling our government. To say that the drug bill is a Government issue…is nieve.
As for the CAFE standards, the stats are clear - increase the MPG requirements and you will increase highway fatalities due to the lighter vehicles that will be produced. NOW THAT’S BLOOD FOR OIL!!! now excuse me while I go tune in Rush LOL!
BULL…Either you have no idea what you’re talking about or it’s just a blatent lie. My wifes 2007 Lexus is HEAVIER…SAFER…MORE POWER…AND GET 50% BETTER gas mileage then my 73 Vega did…so tell me how is my wifes Lexus LESS safe then my 73 Vega??? You really need to open a book or two before you spout out some dumb unfounded FACTS.
Whether it is local government or federal government, the point is that there are some things that government, at any level, can accomplish better than private industry. As to your other political rambling:
-I didn’t say that the Clinton Administration did everything right. I simply said that they paid down the deficit. So your statement of their mistakes isn’t really a rebuttal to my statement. It is an apparent attempt to change the subject rather than discuss the one that I was addressing.
-While your historical speculation of what might have happened with the Civil War in different circumstances is amusing, it isn’t evidence or even factual. It is speculation and hardly worth mentioning. Speculation, like changing the subject about the deficit, isn’t a rebuttal. It isn’t relevant to any part of this discussion.
-I was replying to the question “Since when has the government done anything better than the market place?” Please pay particular attention to the word “anything.” That is why I thought I sould include the primary reasons for government to exist. irlandes seems to believe that even the primary reasons for government should be privatized. I disagree, and evidently, based on your post, so do you when it comes to the primary reasons for the existance of government. I am glad we can agree on that.
Your whole attitude that federally funded public education should be abandoned rather than repaired is, in my opinion, cold-hearted. Why not fix what’s broken rather than run away from the problem? I can respect that you don’t believe in raising fuel economy standards by government mandate, but public education allows for the poorest of children to have a chance for upward mobility. Without even bad public education you would relegate innocent children to the failure of their parents, which is neither fair, humane, or ethical by any standard. I thought that conservatives believed that the poor should pick themselves up by the bootstraps, but it seems you want to cut the bootstraps so that isn’t possible.
So you don’t believe in global warming but you expect us to believe that there are magic additives that we can put in our oil that will increase fuel economy? Are you going to try to sell me a bridge too?
Abraham Lincoln, one of my favorite Republican Presidents, said that “My fist ends where another man’s nose begins.” meaning that one person’s rights end where another’s begin. When a millionare buys a fleet of stretched Hummers, he drives up demand for fuel. This drives up the price of fuel for the average small business owner who drives a truck. It also drives fuel prices up for the average blue collar worker who has to commute each day. Is that fair? If that millionare wants to bathe in champagne and eat caviar for breakfast, that is his business. When he dives up fuel prices for the average working American, it has to stop.
My other favorite Republician President, Teddy Roosevelt, was the first American President to recognize that our natural resources are finite and need protection. Boy, the Republican party has really fallen since these great men led with courage and wisdom.