Gasoline's Days Are Numbered

[LeftHander]

Photo: Lynn Radeka
http://www.radekaphotography.com/gaspump.htm

All we have to do is look at the cost of a daily commute to understand why gasoline will no longer be the primary source of transportation power...in our lifetime.

One commute from Waukesha to Milwaukee (24 miles one way)

I used to do this commute every weekday. Thousands of people do everyday in SUVs.

In 2001 and it cost me less than $3. I have some feeling for people who make the commute everyday and many go farther as they are coming from the west side. And don't get 26 miles to the gallon.

52 mile daily commute in a SUV that gets 12 MPG@$3.25/gallon is costing people:
$13/day
$65/week,
$260/month,
$3,120/year.

That same SUV when gas hits $5/gallon will cost
$20/day
$100/week
$400/month
$4800/year

That is if there is no extra driving, for lunch, meetings, or kid activities.
If you have a 50 mpg car here is what the commute would cost:

50 MPG 24 mile commute
$3.12/day
$15.60/week
$62.50/month
$748.80/year


I do 12 miles one way now and get about 26 MPG and ride bicycle twice a week.

My current costs:

$3/day
$9/week
$36/month
$528/year (4 months no cycling....snow)

(Most people in the world live on much less than what I dump in my gas tank.)

We have no choice but to conserve. Live lighter, drive smarter, drive slower. The oil companies are making the last push to rake profit in before it all collapses. We are on the verge of seeing our car society collapsing under the weight of it's own excess. I'm lucky. I'm healthy, have a cool bicycle and a very nice low traffic ride to work. (some scenic spots and fun hills to climb and bomb) My car has 130k miles and I am holding out for a Smart Car in 2007. I am upping my riding frequency because: MY SALARY AIN'T GOING UP AS FAST AS GAS PRICES ARE!! And I don't expect it to either.



The oil companies are putting squeeze on America. No question about that. The oil lobby and domestic car companies have made huge efforts to keep high mileage cars off the showroom floors for three decades now and are still trying to delay the inevitable to allow high profits for big oil. Why in the world would a car company put the bulk of it's profit on low mileage cars and trucks? Knowing that gas prices are going to vastly out pace inflation and income? WHY? Because they want to maximize profit for the good old boys - oil companies while they can.

It wasn't about demand for SUV's. It was personal wealth building. No vision or empathy for the plight of the working people of America. They purposely created the demand for SUV's with constant barrage of marketing and low choice. Thanks to a susceptible TV watching, fearful populace they got exactly what they wanted. They maximized profit, built individual wealth, pointed the companies at a cliff, placed a brick on the accelerator and jumped out with a golden parachute.

They know gasoline's days are numbered.


AP Photo

The former oil executive Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice has a vested interest in doing her oil man right. Her, Bush and Cheney are all about sending the world into turmoil for oil. Chaos in the Middle East = high profit for not only the oil companies but the war machine that runs on it.

It is all about the oil and tipping the American people upside down and shaking every last red cent from them. That is Bush administration values, that is what the GOP works for. The GOP doesn't want security from terror for America.

They want personal financial security for themselves.

Bunker mentality.

The best strategy we can have as a nation to ensure our security is to stop demanding cheap gasoline. Stop consuming oil like penny candy. Start demanding and consuming alternative energy resources. Invest in our own security by investing in renewable energy and lowering our individual oil consumption. That is the real fear that oil companies have...that is why they demanded war, unrest and more consumption with inefficient autos. They know it is all coming to end soon as suddenly we make the shift from oil to renewable energy sources.

[Buns_of_Fire]

1. So, what shall we convert all the old gas stations into?

Bicycle Repair Shops? Neighborhood Saloons? QBs (Quikie-Bordellos)? All of the above? (Being the mercenary little creep I am, I'm looking for ideas here! ;-) )

[DinahMoeHum]

3. Biodiesel fuel stops. Electricity plug-ins for electric cars. . .

the generators for the electricity would be powered by solar and/or wind.

the possibilities of converting the gas stations into alternative energy sites are endless...


:shrug:

[krispos42]

26. it takes hours to charge an electric car, even at full power

A dedicated 230-volt single-phase circuit from your house can only output about 10 horsepower or 7 kilowatts. Assuming that an electric car can go 250 miles at 55 miles per hours with pretty slick aerodynamics, a level road surface, and no parasitic electrical use needs a net output at the wheels of 9 horsepower. So, taking in to account things like A/C and blowers, radios, lights and lighting, cruise control, and car monitoring software, plus inefficiencies and friction losses, the draw on the battery might easily be 15 or 20 horsepower.

So assuming 15 horsepower for 5 hours is 75 horsepower contained in the batteries. That's a 7.5 hour recharge time assuming the battery can absord energy at a sustained rate.

And it gets even longer if we start making electric SUVs and minivans and such, because they have both larger surface areas and lesser coefficients of drag and would need more charging power to replenish their larger battery packs.

It's a lot of juice to shove back into a battery. Using a home charger at night during off-peak usage makes a lot of sense, but you would have to reorganize your life.

It is this kind of problem that kept interest in the electric car down, especially when gasoline was cheap. I would note that modern lithium-ion batteries have had their development greatly advanced by the demands of cell phones, iPods, Palm Pilots, and the like. Ten years ago the batteries would have been nickel-metal-hydride, which carry much less charge per unit weight than lithium-ion batteries. Even the vauted Prius is still using, I believe a NiMH battery pack. Twenty years ago we'd be stuck with nickel-cadium battery packs.

[NEOBuckeye]

28. Rapid Battery Charging is becoming possible

I have read where the Japanese have succeeded in creating a battery that charges in a matter of seconds, and loses very little of its' capacity over time. It was designed for smaller appliances, but I believe that they were looking to scale it up for larger uses, such as in vehicles. Even if they could cut the time to five or ten minutes for vehicles, I would say that's preferable to the present situation.

[krispos42]

38. That is doable

It's a lot of juice to shove into a batttery, though.

15 horsepower is aobut 11 kilowatts, which is 11,000 joules per second. In 5 hours that's about 2 million joules that are consumed, the energy equivilent of 188,000 Btu's. It's the energy to bring 1400 pounds of water from room tempturature to boiling. That's about 175 gallons or water, give or take.

[tinrobot]

33. 250 miles is a long way.

That's enough to run you around for a day, and then some. You can charge overnight. Outside of road trips, how often does one travel over 250 miles in a day?

We really need to rethink the role of the auto in our society. Maybe having the ability to drive 250+ miles in a day should require a little extra work. Maybe energy-guzzling road trips need to go away and be replaced by energy efficient trains and other forms of mass transit.

[krispos42]

39. Oh, I agree...

But the 250 mile ranges is a very recent development, claimed by the Tesla eletric sports car. The EV1 had like a 90-mile range.

I freely admit that if my car was electric, I would not have had any trouble in the past year or so with running out of charge. But if my car was limted to 80 miles, I would have had problems on several occasions. And I have neither the room, nor the money, nor the inclination to own two cars, one a gas-burner and one electric.

It is very good that lithium-ion batteries are now easy and cheap to mass-produce.

On the bad side, it is much more energy efficient to drive than fly, especially if multiple people are involved. I can drive four people from New York to San Fransisco for about 1,000 pounds of gasoline. 125 gallons, about $400 worth. I'm pretty sure I can't fly somebody the same distance for a mere 250 pounds of JP5. And do you really want to add that many more people to the airlines and airports?

[midnight armadillo]

65. Your units are wrong, and your argument nonsensical

You are confusing horsepower (a unit of power) with energy. Power is unit of energy/unit of time. A horsepower is a lb-ft/min, so your multiplication of 15 hp for 5 hours gives 4500 lb-ft, not 75 horsepower.

In any case, battery recharge rates are a function of battery chemistry and construction, not energy capacity.

[Warpy]

4. My favorite is a combination

Vietnamese restaurant and emissions testing station. The guys in the testing station are pleasant and efficient and the food in the restaurant is absolutely divine.

I cheerfully patronize both parts, have done so since they opened.

Some stations will be housing, some will be businsses, and some will offer whatever it takes to keep us moving in the future: hydrogen, compressed air, electricity, or hay for our horses.

[HouseofMayhem]

25. Vietnamese Restaurant/Emissions testing

Do you live in Albuquerque by any chance? If not, there is exactly the same set up here. I wonder if it's an ethnic thing. :)

[Warpy]

42. It's in my neighborhood,

well, an electric scooter ride away.

The food is absolute heaven, if you've never been yet. Get the fried noodles.

[lonestarnot]

6. Politico stations.

[TahitiNut]

7. How about public transit terminals?

Each bank of pumps can be replaced by route stops with benches and the station can become a waiting room and ticket sales.

[skids]

18. Local electric grid regulators/electric car charging

Gas stations could sell charge for people that can't make their full trip on one charge.

In order to do that they would need large amounts of high-energy-density battery or flywheel storage. So, out the "back door" so to speak, they sell the electric power company "frequency regulation services" which basically means they store electricity when the grid has extra, in order to sell it back to the grid when the grid needs more. They would also have to option of feeding in some locally generated renewables from on-site.

(Yes I'm aware of PHEVs and they will be the next step. Eventually, though pure EVs will win out simply due to lower maintanence costs, and lower production costs when batteries manage to break their pricemark.)

BTW, with the latest battery technology -- time to full recharge is now down to 15 minutes.

[Dhalgren]

2. K&R! Great post!

[bpcmxr]

5. Fantastic!

Mind if I distribute this to my newslist?

[LeftHander]

8. Feel free....it is what freedom really is....

Feel free....not fear.

[WinkyDink]

9. Bicycling isn't so cool if one has lots of paperwork and wears a dress.

Or is the one who buys the groceries. Or doesn't have a buzz-cut hair-do.

Why else hasn't the Segway caught on? Because nobody wearing good clothes wants to be exposed to the elements with no place to put their purse, shopping bags, work stuff, umbrella, extra coat, extra shoes, ....and kid, if that's the case.

And I'm someone you couldn't get off a bike back in the day! No hands! Wheeeeee!!!

[mcscajun]

10. Also not cool is one is over 50 and never learned to ride.

Not about to start sporting skinned knees and ankle casts at this age.

One of those big trikes might work. :)

[htuttle]

11. Well, that's easy enough to deal with

Get a backpack and/or saddlebags and a pair of slacks. You can change in the bathroom when you get to work. If you have a couple of banker's boxes worth of paperwork to haul around everyday, get one of those lightweight bicycle trailers to pull behind the bike.

It's a lot easier than fighting the rest of the world for the last of the oil and/or dealing with 50,000,000+ US refugees fleeing flooded coastal areas.

So the choice is:
Backpack & wearing pants VS all out global war & environmental disaster.

Hmm...which is the best course of action?

(it's obviously slightly more complicated than that in the real world, but not by much...)

[The2ndWheel]

15. The problem is we have too much stuff

Which is why we will go for the all out global energy war.

[RB TexLa]

17. or if you drive around 800 to 1000 miles a week

[NickB79]

58. What do you do that requires 1000 miles per week?

I have a feeling that any job requiring that much travel will not be very secure over the next few years as our energy crisis worsens, unless it is something extremely vital like delivering organs to transplant recipients.

[RB TexLa]

67. Outside sales

I drive to clients and potential clients every day. Presentations, sales calls, service calls. It's not delivering organs but it's more important to me because it's how I make a living, and no energy crisis is changing it.

[LeftyMom]

21. Groceries and kids aren't an issue

One just needs a trailer. This does both: http://www.burley.com/products/trailers/defaultfe30.html?p=d'Lite&i=0 there are others that are designed for one or the other. Some people can put thier groceries in panniers instead, but I tend to stock up, have smallish panniers and already have the trailer, so I stick with that.

[tinrobot]

30. Bicycling isn't so cool if one lives in Los Angeles

I've tried the commute from my house in Silverlake to my office in Larchmont. No bike lanes, loads of traffic, and TONS of personal risk. I do it a few times a week, and I'm very cautious, but it's still downright scary.

If Los Angeles simply made a commitment to more bike lanes and safer streets, a lot more people would feel safer and would ride a lot more.

[Ryano42]

12. Adult.Big.Wheel

:woohoo:

[Extend a Hand]

13. Here's the 'big wheel' that I want

You can get an electric motors for it.
(My kid says he'll pretend he doesn't know me)

[mdelaguna2000]

20. funny (your kid's reaction)!!!!

[mccoyn]

29. I've found lots of kids like my bent.

A lot of "Wow, cool bike" and stuff when I'm moving around. Of course, I don't have a trike, maybe thats it.

I think a lot of people who dread bikes should look into recumbents. They address so many of the painful issues that come with upright bicycles. The price is a little scary until you work out the savings on gas and car maintance (especially if you avoid insurance and car payments altogether.)

Oh, and gym membership, if you pay for gym membership and gas to get to work you should consider one as a replacement for both. When I started biking I traded 40 minutes commuting and an hour of exercise (which I often didn't do) each day for 60 minutes commuting/exercise. For those keeping track, that means I saved 40 minutes everyday, saved on gas and improved my daily exercise routine.

[Danascot]

64. Here's my dream bike ...

I'd put an electrike hub motor on it too.

[Catherine Vincent]

14. I'm planning on buying a car in 2007 too.

I will have to check out the smart car. Great post!

[RonHack]

16. IEEE covered this in detail.....

about why Hydrogen is the future fuel.

Presentation (PDF):
http://northerncanada.ieee.ca/ias-pes/Events/2005_02_17/AGMPresentation05.pdf

There was an old article in IEEE Spectrum, about why hydrogen is the most logical choice for our next fuel. What won me over was not only the successes of turning water to hydrogen (using a photosynthetic process), but also the history of our fuels (which the presentation touches upon).

I'll have to see if I could locate it. It was still in the 20th century (1990s, if I recall).

[lectrobyte]

22. Good for the IEEE. I just hope we have the money/time/will to build

the infrastructure and cars this would take. I personally think electric cars could be phased in for commuter/private transit, and bio-dieself for big trucks much easier than hydrogen, but that's just me. I'm waiting for a Telsa sedan.

[LeftHander]

23. Not one solution....it will be broad....

Biodeisel
Hydrogen
Solar
Hybrid
Electric
Mass Transit
Human powered vechicles
Local Economies

All will be employed to ease dependance on global oil production and change our culture of consumption.


Individuals wil be responsible for generating the energy needed.

Ultimate "Personal Repsonsibility"

Why does a huge company have to sell us energy?

Why can't we be responsible for our own energy needs?

[bluescribbler]

37. Turkey guts are another option

As reported in Discover Magazine three years ago, technology exists today to convert waste into high quality oil.

[NickB79]

57. Except that this is just a stop-gap measure

While converting wastes to fuel is a good way to recycle oil, it is not a source of oil.

Turkey guts, for example, require turkeys. Turkeys require grain, which is grown using massive amounts of diesel fuel. While you may get X gallons of oil per ton of turkey guts, you use up X+Y gallons of oil to grow the feed for the turkeys, transport the feed for the turkeys, transport the turkeys to a slaughterhouse, and process the turkey guts to oil. This also doesn't take into account the natural gas used to heat the turkeys in winter and to provide fertilizer and pesticide for the grain production. Natural gas, BTW, is going to be in short supply in the US within the next few years, as Canada's production of LNG is now falling, and the US has been a LNG importer for over a decade as our supplies dwindle.

The only way the US will ever become energy independent is for every American to greatly reduce their consumer-driven lifestyle. This means growing your own veggies in your backyard, preventing urban sprawl and eating locally grown foods. It also means no more Chilean-grown grapes in December in Minneapolis. This means no more commuting 50 miles a day to work and back. No more annual vacations from the East Coast to Hawaii. No more big gas-guzzling cars. No more new TV, computer, or stereo system every couple years; what you buy will have to last 5-10 years before needing to be replaced. No more 3000 sq. ft homes with fireplaces and 3-car garages in subdivisions for a family of 3.

Unfortunately, I don't see the average US citizen changing their way of life anytime soon. For example, there is this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2442800. US consumers are going to credit cards in record numbers to make up the difference. I'm sure many of these people are doing this because they've lost their jobs and unemployment has run out; I've been in that very boat just 2 years ago. But I'm sure an equally large number, like my best friend and his wife, are running up credit card bills because they want the newest big-screen TV and Xbox360 and refuse to look towards the future.

Until the American people realize the "American way of life" is completely unsustainable and must be stopped as soon as possible, we will never be energy-independent.

[bluescribbler]

68. Granted

But all the solutions offered so far are just stop-gap measures. But at least this process provides useful energy from materials which would otherwise be incinerated or buried in a landfill.

[jmowreader]

54. Forget hydrogen

Hydrogen contains 61,000btu/lb. Gasoline comes in at 20,5000btu/lb.

(http://mb-soft.com/public2/hydrogen.html for you link fans.)

A pound of hydrogen is one cubic foot at 190 atmospheres--2850psi.

Gasoline weighs 6 pounds per gallon. Since hydrogen packs, on a weight basis, about three times the energy density of gasoline, you'll need two cubic feet of 2850psi hydrogen to equal a gallon of gasoline--assuming a BTU of hydrogen-created heat will carry you the same distance as a BTU of gasoline-created heat.

Okay, so far so good. EXCEPT that you can get 15 gallons of gas into that same two cubic feet of storage space. And a gas tank weighs a lot less than a hydrogen tank because gas is a liquid and hydrogen is a very high pressure gas. (Also, don't forget that as the smallest atom on the periodic table, hydrogen finds ways to escape its cylinder that other gases can only dream of.)

There's a better gas than hydrogen. Look for a thread by that name coming soon to this board.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. It will take more than $5/gallon to kill off gasoline

Most of western Europe pays about $7 per gallon, and we're still buying new cars. Not so many SUVs as the USA, and the normal cars are a bit smaller, but we still buy them, and the gasoline or diesel for them. Some people find it too expensive to run a car at higher prices, but the majority of people with a 'western' lifestyle pay the price demanded, and economise somewhere else.

[Jeroen]

24. We pay $7,30 a gallon ... you should see our traffic jams ;-)

1 liter = EUR 1,53
1 gallon = EUR 5,70 = +/- $7,30

In the Netherlands / Europe

[NEOBuckeye]

27. Prosecute the Oil Executives!

Seize all of their profits, I say, and invest them into building an alternative energy infrastructure.

[krispos42]

31. SUVs were not forced, they were the cool thing to have

SUVs were not "forced" upon America. Look at the Big Three sales numbers... even with great financing and 'employee pricing' offers, they are still losing out to foreign companies.

They were advertised because they were popular. The question to ask is "why were they popular"?

Because the '70s and '80s were crappy times for car makers. The oil embargo killed the cool cars and turned American automakers to a crash-course in economy car building. This was when the Japanese and European cars became more prominent, for they had already been working on the problem for decades.

I mean, think about it... the most exciting car in the 80's was the 1st-generation Ford Taurus with the radical 'jellybean' styling. I drive an '89 Olds... while mechanically sound, it's hardly exciting or innovatinve. The 70's and 80's were littered with cars that failed to excite consumer passion, at least positive consumer passion. I'm sure lots of people were passionate about their Chevette, but in the aluminum-baseball-bat way, not the waxed-once-a-week way. :-) How about the Pontiac Le Car?

They had Broncos and Blazers and Suburbans and Cherokees for decades before the SUV boom. At some point, the buying public decided that the SUV was the next cool thing, especially for families. The public wanted something tha when they spent their hard-earned dollars they feel some pride of ownership. I don't feel much pride in my battered Olds, except the fact that people in new cars don't mess with my beater and cops don't seem to notice that I speed. :-) But I bought it from a family member for a buck, so I'm definately getting as much pride as I paid for.

I mean, think about it. The same logic that says "minivan" also works for the SUV. Ample room for 5 or six, plenty of luggage space, roof rack. Can tow a boat or camper, and has 4wd for snow and mud. Very useful stuff here, much more flexable than a regular car. If it wasn't for the fuel-consumption issue, nobody would be complaining about the SUV at all.

The SUVs were in such demand that Ford made a PROFIT of 8-10 thousand dollars on every Explorer sold during the 90's. Eco-friendly cars such as the Escort were sold at cost or not much above. And Ford sold many more Explorers than Escorts.

Many people that I knew owned an SUV or a minivan and a regular car. The family stuff was done in the SUV and the car was for commuting and such. It's a pretty practical solution to a transportation problem, albeit not the most eco-friendly one.

that's why they sold well.

It was not about slapping around the poor and unfortunate either. This country is awash in used cars. The poor have cars. The working classes have cars. They're not late-model SUVS, but they're servicable middle-aged cars and SUVs and minivans. Think aout it... who's going to buy all those used SUVs that the upper-classes are getting rid of to buy those chic hybrids? Middle and lower-class America, that's who.

On the plus side, the trucks made at the beginning of the SUV boom are staring to reach the ends of their services lives. Broken, batters, and worn-out, with fuel prices on the rise, they are being scrapped. The '92 Explorers and Suburbans are off to the recyclers.

And that's why they sold well.

[Ron Green]

35. The '92 Explorers and Suburbans

are also falling into the hands of the uninsured, first-time drivers, and those who can't afford to fix the failing steering, brakes and suspension systems. That's the scariest thing about them, and the most saddening, that these pieces of junk didn't have to be made in such numbers but for a fear-driven sales campaign - whether that be the fear of someone else crashing into you, the fear of not looking cool or macho enough, or even the fear (this was really mentioned by lots of women) of someone hiding under a lower-ground-clearance car in the parking lot!

People are REALLY stupid when it comes to buying stuff - especially cars.

[L0oniX]

47. $25 an hour GM & Ford workers

Aren't we proud of the wonderful cars we make. Of course we deserve high pay for the quality of our products. ......FOOLS!:nopity:

[B Calm]

53. Why are you blaming labor?

[earth mom]

56. ALL workers in this country should be making $25 an hour.

Are you jealous or what? Just saying. :eyes:

[L0oniX]

59. Make a car that lasts for a change

:nopity:

[earth mom]

60. Tell that to the bloodsucking corporate bastards at GM, Ford etc......

because they are the ones that got you buying new cars every few years because they use inferior parts and materials. What's in it for the car companies if your car lasts forever?

Answer: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

And that goes for just about every other product that's being made these days. From toasters to bicycles to clothes. The only difference is that most everything is now made in China where workers are paid peanuts. At least American Union Workers make a decent salary out of it thanks to the Unions. And at least American Union Workers aren't EXPLOITED like Chinese workers.

Or is exploitation of workers okay with you? :eyes:

[krispos42]

61. Hey, I've had good luck with American cars

Drove an '87 Thunderbird for 7 years. At 255,000 miles the head gaskets finally blew, at which point the car was junked. EVERYTHING in the engine and tranny was factory-original. Went through a belt idler pulley, two alternators, oxygen sensor, two water pumps, two radiators, and a harmonic balancer. The brake master cylinder wore out and needed to be replaced. Oh, and the tranny leaked a quart every couple of weeks starting at about 220k.

Timing chain, valves, rings, pistons, connecting rods, camshaft, crankshaft, bearings, rocker arms, lifters, pushrods, valve springs, fuel pump, power steering pump, rack-and-pinion, starter, fuel injector, mass-air-flow sensor, rear differential, and U-joints were all original.

Hit an Audi, a Blazer, and a Volkswagon, and got rear-ended by a Mazda. Except for the Blazer (damn higher bumper cost me my grill and parking lights), all three lost badly in the accident. The Volkswagon needed a couple of thousand dollars in repairs to the rear bumper and fender, the T-Bird had a spiderweb crack in a piece of silver trim. German engineering, my pasty white butt.

And that car started right up, every single time.

[SkipNewarkDE]

32. Great Post

This is a great post, and something that just echoes my angry sentiments this morning about all things petrochemical and right-wing. I drive 110 miles round trip each day to work. Or rather I used to, until gasoline prices went from around $1.20 a gallon nearly four years ago, to the $3.25 I am paying now. I drive a car that gets about 19 mpg going downhill. I find that what was a very comfortable salary four years ago is now woefully inadequate, as I live paycheck to paycheck, with energy costs being the highest expense in my budget. I easily spend $150.00 a week on gasoline, even with a reduced travel week. My boss did not want to give me a raise, so I am allowed to work from home two days a week. That was fine for a while but as gas prices continued their upward climb, even this has become very taxing on my wallet.

I am at a crossroads today, as I have just returned home from getting my car serviced. I have nearly $2000 in work that needs to be done, including new tires, a differential seal replacement, tune-up, transmission service, a new windshield, a new bumper, etc. Yet how to pay for this? My paychecks for the foreseeable future are spent on daily bills, as I struggle paycheck to paycheck to make ends meet.

I work for a nice little company that is run by Koolade drinking, Bush loving right wingers. They are very nice and sincere people, don't get me wrong, but they are so unbelievably tone deaf to the plight of their employees. The company is not doing that great, with layoffs and the sale of our building being an indication of the failing health. They have a nice product, but they seem unable or unwilling to try new things to sell the damned thing, forging ahead year after year with the same marketing strategy that they have used for the past twenty years. The company was flush with cash in the 90's with the internet revolution. Now in BushWorld, their dream, they aren't selling much. You wouldn't know it to look at the lifestyle of the owners. Shortly after the employees being told that they would receive no bonuses last year, the owner went out and bought a nice $45,000.00 truck and a new motorcyle. Shortly after the employees were told that their health insurance was being scaled back, the owners went out and bought a nice horse farm in Ocala, the third of their houses. Regardless of if it was company money or the owner's personal savings, it was an unbelievably tone-deaf thing to do, while everyone else was wondering how in the world they were to pay for their Christmas presents that year.

When I informed my bosses that the financial situation was becoming untenable with the explosion of energy and related prices, I was told they could do nothing, and maybe I should "get rid of my horse." I had never had a problem financially with the expenses of owning my horses, and indeed had reduced these expenses to a third of what I was paying when I first started working at this company. I was a bit flabbergasted by this... It wasn't their place to tell me HOW to spend my money. The fact was and is, I had enough money for my lifestyle two years ago. Now I don't, I'm cutting it back severely, and my salary has remained stagnant, unchanging, and benefits have been cut. Meanwhile, the owners are doing expensive home improvements, buying houses, buying vehicles, buying horses, and doing a ton of traveling. But yet, when confronted by the issue of their having NOT rewarded the employees with either merit or cost-of-living increases, their responses have been, "we can't afford it, tighten your belt, change YOUR lifestyle, but keep working hard."

Tone-deaf and clueless. It is sickening.

And all of this comes back to the sheer rape of driving to the gasoline station every three days. I hate this.

[L0oniX]

46. DOH

:nopity:

[civildisoBDence]

34. No pain, no gain

I recently moved within two miles of work, sold my truck, bought a bike, and started using these middle-aged legs again. I'm losing weight, getting in shape, saving money, and laughing everytime I ride past a gas station. And I don't just save money on car payments, insurance, gas, and maintainance--I save several hundred dollars a month on all the incidental purchases a car allows you to make, like fast food, ice cream, and the like.

BUT, some drivers would rather run a bike off the road than slow down a bit and go around. This kind of selfishness and recklessness is a nice metaphor for our foreign policy under Bush--keep running roughshod over anyone in our way and damn the environment.

The church is slowly coming around to the view that reckless consumption is profoundly sinful. The sooner our leaders come around to that view, the better.

Satire as thick as a president's skull

[misternormal]

36. Pic of the new Hummer H4...

Fight Obeisity... O miles a gallon, and get some exercise too

[DWilliamsamh]

40. A Pollyanna Question.....

I know this is naive but......

The Oil Companies are trying to (and ARE) squeezing every last cent out of the American people (and every one else in the world) in the "last days of the oil economy." BUT......

WHY would and "energy company" NOT be interested in being the creator and supplier of "the next big thing" in the field of energy production?

I just don't get why the Oil Companies themselves don't say "hey we know how to deliver energy and our current product is becoming increasingly difficult to supply at a price that consumers will afford, so lets figure out the next big thing before the company down the street does. Sure we have to put some of our money back into R&D, but in the long run if we WIN, then we will make more than ever."

I have a similar question about what the conservative pin heads are thinking when they say "if every one stopped using gas hundreds of thousands of people would be put out of work." Do they NOT realize that what ever happens America and the world will NEVER settle for horses and steam trains again? And that what ever sources of alternative energy are settled on, those sources will have to have new infrastructure, engineers, employees involved in the very day supply etc etc.? In other words a whole raft of brand new jobs to replace the "lost jobs."

Will the transition be painless? Hell no. But it would be a lot more painless if the reality of the inevitability of the coming changes where embraced and the transition planned than if we as a nation and as a world hold on to oil until the last drop is burned? HELL YES!!!

[dasmarian]

41. My cynical 2 cents

Whether it is oil, biodeisel, fuel cells, or silly putty that goes into the tank, the producers of the fuel will keep the same profit margin. The government will still tax the fuel as they do now. You think that switching from oil to something else is really going to help the consumer? No way. The big fuel companies will find a fuel you can't make on your own and for which there is some complicated refining/transport process (to justify a high price) that will keep their companies in the mega black that their shareholders have come to expect. If you really assume any different, you are dillusional.

And as for vehicles that use less fuel, there is already a potential tax out there called a 'highway tax' that will replace the tax on fuel that the government is expected to see decline in coming years. Here it is from Oregon:

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/OIPP/ruftf_faq.shtml

So if you think the big oil companies are going to get it stuck to them, think again. They will be the companies that will have the market on the new fuel and they will be the producers of such. If anything, the cost of producing 'alternate fuels' will be 'more expensive' resulting in even higher prices for fuel. You are used to $2, $3, and in a few years $5 . . . you think its all the sudden going to drop to $1? Ha.

It seems to me that people-power technology could be improved. Bikes have been the same for a long time and could be made faster/more efficient for sure. But hey, here what everyone should be driving -- a little more research and this is the real ticket!!

http://www.recumbents.com/WISIL/speedruns2000/worlds-fastest-bicycle-2000.htm

[4dsc]

43. Some people will never GET IT!!

What a bunch of same ole crap that (when or if) "we make the shift from oil to renewable energy sources." There is no such as thing as a renewable energy source that will replace OIL!! NONE!! The sooner most of you realize that the sooner a different meme will enter into your life!!

The end of oil is upon us and most of the sheeple are going to follow the herd mentality that believe there's is an alternative to oil and all we have to do it put our collective heads together and get it done.. I just have to laugh..

So please quit whining about how high gas prices are today because tomorrow will bring even higher costs..

And while conservation is a noble cause it will not end or slow down the rapid approach to peak oil the serious raminfications we see as result of having to use less oil, ALOT LESS OIL!!

[aein]

49. true!

We're going to have to use alternative energy, But that energy will not preserve the way of life we live now. Our way of live will change drastically. I don't know exactly how, but I do know we won't be living 20 miles from where we work.

[krispos42]

62. We can maintain our current mobile lifestyle

But we need to make massive changes to how we are mobile.

We first need plenty of cheap electricity. If you are worried about CO2 emissions, then we have to go over to solar, hydro, wind, wave, and nuclear. If you're not, then we can continue to burn coal and garbage as well as those previously mentioned, but we have to stop burning natural gas to generate electricity because most of that comes from overseas. Ideally we would simply develope controlled nuclear fusion, which generates huge quantities of heat without emissions or nuclear waste.

With plenty of cheap electricity, we can replace home heating oil and gas-fired furnaces and water heaters with electric/solar ones. Or a reversable heat pump. Whichever.

We can also use electricity to charge our electric cars. With lithium-ion batteriers (or soemthing more advanced) we can now store enough charge to make electrical cars practical. Most likely, as I proposed before on the DU, the electic cars will, for a while at least, also include a 10 or 15 horsepower auxillary generator with a 230 volt output (same as the charging station in your garage). This auxillary generator will be powered by either ethanol or biodiesel. It will enable you to charge your car away from a power source, and it will slow battery draw during long road trips, potentially doubling the cruising range before having to stop for the night. I will note that most of the time you would simply bring the car home to charge it overnight; the auxillary would only be used occasionally, maybe a few times per year.

The ethanol will come from ethanol plants that use electricty instead of natural gas to distill the alchohol. All sources of cellulose will be used: corn, grass clippings, marijuana, whatever. The diesel will also come from soybeans and sunflower seeds and such.

At this point we are only using petroleum products for air travel, water travel, and the creation of lubricants and plastics.

As we phase out gasoline and develop our sources of electricicty, we will also be able to start using our energy to convert water into hydrogen and oxygen. By storing the hydrogen we will have a non-polluting, renewable, portable energy source for our automobiles. The batteries would be replaced with fuel cells, enabling us to quickly and easily fill up our cars whenever we need to, removing a sticking point with batteries. We could even convievibly have a small hydrogen-generating station in our own houses. Simply hook the hose onto the car and press a button. The system would have a water feed on it and directly pump the hydogen into the car's storage tank. No seperate tank needed.

Now all surface automobiles can be electric, not just the personal cars but also trucks, trains, pleasure boats, and maybe even propeller-driven aircraft. I guess you could also use the raw hydrogen in a turbine engine, but that might make storage a problem.

So there you have it. We're going to have to do it someday anyway, unless you like the idea of global warming, so let's get started on it now.

[Blue_Tires]

44. ttt n/t

[L0oniX]

45. Screw the lemmings with SUV's who didn't learn from history

Who needs history anyway? Oh yea ...uhm remember the 70's oil embargo? Gee ...remember Honda CVCC's that ran on a gas ethanol combo? Gee ...where did they go? ...oh that's right ...The lemmings wanted the big gas hog cars/SUV's. America is going to run out of oil very soon. Bush and you lemmings that bought SUV's are to blame for the accelerated end to your love of the car. I have a safe driver mark on my license but I ride my bicycle to work and there's always some careless jerk who about runs me down so I have no pity for you all. I hope gas goes to $10 a gal soon. BTW ...the Saudis are about out of easy to get oil. Have a nice day. :grr: :sarcasm: :banghead: :thumbsdown: :spank: :nopity: :puke: :crazy:

[sweetheart]

48. nope

http://www.godrules.net/adepts/Futurenews-net/FN-9-05/Dubai_meet/SGE.RNF57.220505163742.photo00.quicklook.default-198x245.jpe




whoever owns the oil owns the war, you're being naive.

Until you can propose replacement vehicles for the ones i just posted,
petroleum is king of the malthusian decline.

[Ron Green]

50. And the corollary is true...

whoever owns the war owns the oil.

These two truths are the source of our problems.

[sweetheart]

52. communicative properties of greed

that in reaching out for the special powers granted by the oil in alladin's lamp, the
49 thieves are in fact the americans, there to steal the treasure, the oil, for the other
treasure, war and global domination in military force.

That the genie in the lamp is the power to enslave fuel where in past we enslaved men and women,
and every man/woman gets 1000 free slaves to make his/her car go fast. (i hate gender with english!)

And with all these slaves! The greed for the wonder drug, the wonder technology so somebody
can scam on it and make big bucks. And then that slave can become a house slaves whilst the
billions of poor dream and fantasize" about a life that does not so closely resemble hell."

[Wiley50]

51. "My Car's a Gasoholic, It's Driving Me to Drink'

They tell me that ole gasoline
is scarcer every day.
And the price of it keeps rising
as my paycheck drips away.
It's so darn frusrating
that I can't hardly think
"cause My Car's a Gasoholic
It's driving me to Drink.

My credit cards' been cancelled.
The bills are at the door.
I filled her up this morning
But
Tonight, She just wants more.
Guess I might go bankrupt
Lord knows, I'm on the brink.
"My Car's a Gasoholic
It's Driving me to Drink

Mr Cheney had a taskforce
He kept it behind closed doors
Then they stirred up that mid-east beehive
so they could charge some more
Fish Oil rots right from the head
and this oil shore does stink
While "My Car, The Gasoholic
It's Driving Me to Drink"

Ole Dub-Ya drilled some oil wells
He always struck dry holes
But He made money anyway
"cause some folks souls are cold.
We need to tear these cartels down
I'm madder than a mink
"cause My Car's a Gasoholic
It's Driving Me to Drink


Copyright 1981
Wiley White and Geoff Bond
V2 and V3 revised 2006
BMI

[Initech]

55. Enron was just the first. Eventually, they'll all tumble like dominoes.

It'll start when the people get wise enough to see how badly we're getting fucked by the oil companies. It may be difficult considering they control all three branches of the government as well as the media right now.

That's why companies like British Petroleum and ExxonMobil are posting gargantuan profits right now - they know the tide will eventually be turned.

[progressoid]

63. Golly, what are those things they use in Europe???

Oh, I know.

MASS TRANSIT.

[Danascot]

66. A little background on gas price demand and elasticity

While it's from 10/05, it's still a pretty good overview

http://www.mises.org/story/1936