In 1979 during the oil crisis speed limits across the nation were lowered

[Toots]

to save fuel. Why is that not being considered now? Lowering the speed limit to 55 MPH would save a tremendous amount of oil and gas and also raising the CAFE Standards would be of great help at the moment but no one is even talking about anything like this. :shrug: Is America completely brain dead?

[Horse with no Name]

1. I had totally forgotten about that

Also during the oil crisis almost everyone got economy cars.
I just am not seeing that happen and it's very disturbing.

[Lex]

2. Here's something very compelling:

-------------------------


"If we raise Corporate Average Fuel Economy by one mile per gallon, we get more oil than there is in two Arctic National Wildlife Refuges. If we raise efficiency by 2.7 miles per gallon, we eliminate 100 percent of Gulf imports into this country.

President Carter passed CAFE standards in response to the second oil crisis in 1979. Within six years, we had raised average fuel economy by seven-and-a-half miles per gallon. That efficiency caused an oil glut in this country, collapsing the price of gasoline to the lowest levels in decades.

Oil companies went to the Reagan administration and persuaded them to roll back CAFE standards. The Gingrich Congress subsequently made it illegal for the government to pass them. If Reagan hadn't done that we would not have imported one drop of Gulf oil into this country after 1986."


http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive/02/02-02kennedy-qa.html

[TheFarseer]

17. It's illegal to pass CAFE standards?!?!?!?!?!

Is that why it's not being done? Let me re-state that - is that one reason it's not being done?

[beyurslf]

21. How did they make it "illegal"? If they passed a ban that does not end all

they have to do is repeal the ban. The only thing they (congress and the president) can pass and not undo alone is constitutional amendment, which needs state approval as well.

[skylarmae]

3. the last election proves it, eh???

This is nothing new. Just look on the road and tell me how many SUV's you see??? This has been georgie porgie's policy since day one (way back when)...Once an oil man, always an oil man...Take what you can, give nothing back....That seems to be his motto...

[KG]

4. nobody that matters care about conservation

much more patriotic to invade a defenseless foreign country and steal their reserves.

[Bluebear]

5. Sorry, that was the USA.

Any resemblence to what we are today is strictly coincidental.

[Toucano]

19. Right on, Bluebear!

"Have America call me when she gets back."

[phantom power]

6. It will happen as fuel becomes more expensive.

In 1981, the price of gasoline averaged about $3/gal, in 2005 dollars. So, we aren't actually quite up to the price levels that were pesent when CAFE was created.

I think we'll see these ideas become fashionable again. It's a shame that the only way most people are motivated to conserve is when a resource becomes expensive.

[tubbacheez]

7. Today's America is brainwashed by the media.

So they buy bigger SUVs and more crap from Walmart.



Yes, this is the opposite of what happened in the 70's. Just goes to show what a generation of underfunding education and letting the media consolidate into giants will do.

[Hard Attack]

8. It was Gerald Ford, Not Carter, and that is a Ridiculous Idea

_
Suggesting to lower the speed limit today by any politician would be a political suicide, their careers would come to an end.

There is plenty of gas, plenty of oil, there is no shortage, if there was a shortage, there would be gas stations running out of gas.

Can anyone tell me of a gas distributor who is not meeting his orders from his customers, the local gas stations? I doubt it.

We are getting Nailed by the powers to be. Plus the falling dollar hasn't helped at all either.

Truck sales are falling flat, the automotive industry will correct itself in terms of what buyers are offered, they are not stupid.

General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler must be really pissed off right now, at Bush, for letting high price for oil and gas happen in the first place.

[havocmom]

12. psssst... Even James Baker has mentioned Peak Oil

Oil is a finite resource. The oil companies are not jumping at leases in Alaska cuz the cost vs quantity just isn't a good deal. There is enough for a few more years, but I wouldn't go into a
0%-60-months-to-pay contract for a new internal combustion engine just now.

[havocmom]

9. Cheney and his energy pals do not want anybody thinking about conservation

That is not how they make $$. They want the masses to remain hypnotized until they have all the alternative evenrgy ducks in line and under their control then they will let the panic ensue. They will call the shots and the masses get fucked.

[Bullshot]

10. I think the speed limits were lowered during the Nixon years.

Carter would have been president in 1979.

Carter gets a bad rap by taking all of the blame for the tough economic times of the 1970s. People forget that inflation was a big problem during the Nixon and Ford administrations. Nixon imposed a 90-day wage and price freeze in 1971 in an attempt to slow the inflation momentum. Ford unveiled his "Whip Inflation Now" campaign, where everyone wore "WIN" pins. Daylight Savings Time was a year-round thing beginning under the Ford administration in an attempt to save energy by shifting daylight hours later in the day.

There was also the Swine Flu, the cure for which thee was no known disease.

[jean]

14. Nixon signed the 55 mph limit law in '73 and Carter later endorsed it -

from PBS Newshour transcript, Nov 29 1995 (a discussion about elimination of the 55 mph speed limit):

"In 1973, the 55 mile an hour speed limit was signed into law by President Richard Nixon, and later endorsed by President Carter, who touted improved safety, as well as fuel economy.

PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: It's obvious that the fuel savings can be enormous. I think maybe eight or nine million gallons per day can be saved. And since 1973, we've been saving, I think, eight or nine thousand lives per year."

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/transportation/speed_limits_11-29.html

[Baclava]

11. What crisis? ..Is there a crisis? Nope - no crisis on tee-vee...

I hear black gold from AK will be flowing in 10yrs or so...patience.

[vpigrad]

13. Because if it works...

you'll NEVER catch a repuke doing it.

[Anakin Skywalker]

15. Umm...because selfish jerks like to show off

their fancy cars, run things over that are in their way, among other things. (Would it be unfair of me to see those as mostly rightwing behavioral traits?) "Culture of Life" indeed.

[theboss]

16. Christ, I'll be in jail within 5 months

I can barely handle 65. With modern cars, 70 MPH is a perfectly acceptable speed.

[Mr_Spock]

18. Nixon did it

and I hated it - talk about a way to earn money for local governments!!

[no name no slogan]

20. Avg MPG on US vehicles peaked in 1987-- they've gone down since then

Yes, believe it or not, the average MPG on our cars actually peaked in 1987-- during Reagan's 2nd term.

In other words, NOBODY, not Bush I, Clinton or Bush II, did a damn thing to mandate lower gas mileage standards. And neither did congress, even though the Dems had a majority in at least one house from 1987-1994.

It's true that oil is a finite resource: but simply lowering the speed limits is not enough.

We need to DEMAND that the auto industry produce cars with better MPG-- either via the "magic of the marketplace" or through government mandate.

Either way, vehicle MPG needs to improve-- NOW.

[Delphinus]

22. Indiana

is getting ready to raise the speed limits to 70!

[Strelnikov_]

23. Reduction To 55 mph Could Reduce Fuel Consumption By 4.7%

The following report estimates a 4.7% reduction in fuel consumption. This is fairly significant since the initial manifestation of peak oil seems to be a shortage of light crude feedstock for gasoline production.

Then again, there is the faith based science approach that any measure that may take a bit of sacrifice is worthless and will have no benefit.

Saving Oil in a Hurry: Measures for Rapid Demand Restraint in Transport
International Energy Agency
28 February 2005

Reductions in speeds during a fuel crisis can be implemented in many ways. For example, in the United States, during the 1970’s fuel crisis, a national speed limit of 55 mph (90 km/hr) was implemented. Initially, this policy was very effective, primarily because of altruistic behaviour and a determined enforcement regime.

Table 2-35: Consensus estimate of effect of reducing speed limit to 90 km/hr

US /Canada

Thousand barrels saved per day 727
Percent transport fuel saved 6.2%
Percent total fuel saved 4.7%


Table 2-29: Fuel Economy by Speed, based on ORNL
Percent Change In Fuel Economy

55–65 mph 11.0%
65–75 mph 17.7%
55–75 mph 30.6%

Note: Based on Model years 1988–97 automobiles and light trucks, based on tests of 9 vehicles.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), 2003, Transportation Energy Data Book, Edition
22, http://www-cta.ornl.gov/data/Download22.html.

[FtWayneBlue]

24. So the geniuses in the Indiana legislature are in the process

of RAISING the speed limit here from the current 65mph to a new, blistering fast, 70 mph. Go figure.