Hammerhead
Moon Base 5
Senior Member
Joined: 05/02/2002
View Profile
 Offline
|
For most passenger vehicles, if you reduce your highway speed by 5 MPH, you can save around $0.25/gal at the current prices. If you didn't notice, that is far more than the proposed gas tax holiday would save.
|
dgreen1069
Bristow, VA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/14/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Briteskys wrote:Regulating the market by dictating social behavior is a mistake.
AMEN
2003 Excursion Limited
6.0 PSD/5sp Torqshift/3.73 Limited Slip
2003 Potomac 30 EBS
Hensley Arrow
|
dgreen1069
Bristow, VA
Senior Member
Joined: 08/14/2002
View Profile
Offline
|
Nothing will affect the demand for more fuel efficient cars than fuel price! Anyone remember the last fuel crisis? Lowing the speed limit will do nothing but lead to more tickets. Look at Europe....they drive smaller cars because of the cost of fuel. The worst thing we can do is go along with a summer fuel tax relief plan. Don't get me wrong, it would save me money.....but at what cost. It is artificially lowering the price of fuel temporarily. It won't last forever and it will prolong peoples love for big cars (including my own) If $4.00 a gallon is what we need to get used to, lets get on with it. The natural demand for more fuel efficient cars will get us on track for better fuel economy....nothing else will!
|
Likes to tow
Huntington WV
Senior Member
Joined: 01/13/2006
View Profile
|
The bottom line here is to reduce demand for fuel thus lowering the cost. If driving slower will reduce the demand then I say the government should mandate it tomorrow like in the 70's. I am so sick and tired of sharing the highways with idiots who insist on driving 10 to 15 mph over the speed limit. This does nothing but increase accidents, fatalities and fuel consumption. If you must travel faster than everyone else, get an airline ticket!!
|
mikegt4
sw ohio
New Member
Joined: 10/20/2006
View Profile
|
Having lived through the 55 MPH era I can say that the only thing the National Speed Limit did was increase the government's revenue stream via speeding fines. Few people wanted it but the people operating the government fought long and hard to keep it in place.
Lowering the speed limit, like the gas station boycott scheme, won't put a dent in gas prices. Energy is a WORLD commodity in a WORLD market. If they can't get the price in the US there are markets elsewhere were they can. Only a lack of demand WORLDWIDE will bring the price down. Don't count on that happening anytime soon.
Another big factor is the weak dollar. It takes more dollars to buy a barrel of crude even if the "price" stays the same.
Don't forget the commodity speculaters. They bid the price up everyday hoping to sell there position at a higher price tomorrow.
Welcome to the new reality. Like the $5 NFL or MLB ticket, the gas prices of the past will never come back. As far as RVing, you will have to "pay to play".
Until a better form of energy (read more convenient AND cheaper) comes along it's an oil producer's market. It will have to be a change such as the horse to the automobile, ground transportation to flight, candles to electric lights.
The very last thing we need is the government officials dictating anything. After all they ALWAYS are the problem, not the solution.
|
|
|
BigT
Plainview, Texas
Senior Member
Joined: 10/26/2004
View Profile
|
I just returned from a legislative conference on electricity yesterday in our nations capital and got a brief visit (along with 25 others) with both of the congressmen from this area. One of them told the small crowd that we are sending approximately one billion a day overseas for crude oil. I have not done the reasearch and the math to validate his statement but I sure have no reason to doubt him. Both of the lawmakers were in favor of devloping our domestic production as well as conservation measures. Consevation alone will never solve the problem. One of the congressmen told the story of how France (pardon me) found out the hard way in WW 2 that all the enemy had to do was cut off the energy and they were brought to their knees immediatley. Now France (pardon me) supplies 80% of their own energy.
We are going to be in (already in), a train wreck energy wise because of extreme environmentalism. Currently in China there are 150 coal fired power plants under construction and here there are 15 under construction because they are being blocked everywhere possible. In China there is no permitting and it takes 30 months to build one and here just the permit, if you can get it, averages 3 to 4 years with another 3 to 4 years for construction. Somewhere there has got to be level heads and a balanced approach to the problem, but I sure haven't seen it yet. Gives a fellow a headache just thinking about it. Makes me want to go camping and turn off the news.
2006 Sunnybrook Mobile Scout 31 BWFS, Mor/Ryde pin Box
2006 Ford F250 PSD, Tow Command, Pullrite Superglide
RDS Toolbox Tank Combo, Garmin GPS
|
Sluggo54
Madison, SD
Senior Member
Joined: 03/10/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
If you really want to free up fossil fuels - nukes. That 80% of their own energy that was mentioned (France, excuse me) is all nuclear power generation. It makes zero sense to burn oil or natural gas to generate electricity when it can be done with nuclear power plants. Nukes have the smallest environmental footprint among the electricity-producing options.
Next best, develop clean ways to use coal. We have enough coal to meet our needs for many decades.
Short term - we need to drill where the oil is, people.
Sluggo
DH = Bruce, DW = PK, DD = Maggie (Lab, Pointer, Viszla)RIP 4/13/2007
Apprentice = Kaia Grace (Cattle Dog/Blue Heeler - Wire Haired Terriorist) Thanks, New Nodaway Humane Society, Maryville, MO!
DT = 2005 Chev CC LWB Max & Allie
D5'er = 2005 Excel R30CKW
|
smkettner
Southern CA
Senior Member
Joined: 03/21/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
You don't need a 55 law to drive 55. Maybe instead of a gas tax holiday, the fuel tax should be increased. I propose 10 cents each year for 20 years. Use the money to improve the roads, bridges, railsystem and other transportation infrastructure options.
2001 F150 SuperCrew 5.4 Lariat Offroad 4x4 Tow Package 4.10 Truetrac
2006 Keystone Springdale 249FWBHLS
12K SuperGlide, KGE3000Ti 2.3kw rated 2.6kw max
Frank's voltage booster, Prosine 1800 powered by 4 GC2 batteries
|
ktmrfs
Oregon
Senior Member
Joined: 06/22/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
smkettner wrote:You don't need a 55 law to drive 55. Maybe instead of a gas tax holiday, the fuel tax should be increased. I propose 10 cents each year for 20 years. Use the money to improve the roads, bridges, railsystem and other transportation infrastructure options.
I agree. (I know I'll get flamed but this is just my opinion) we should have started that 20 years ago, probably 5c/gal/yr since 1974 INSTEAD of the EPA mileage standards. We would have better transporation infrastructure and be driving cars with much better mileage. EPA forced mfg to build cars few wanted to buy when fuel was cheap by historical standards (mid 80's through 2002). Had a fuel tax been going up during these years there would have been an incentive to by high mpg cars and mfg would have designed them to meet needs and built fewer low mpg cars. In fact I agree this is what we should do now and abandon the EPA mileage standards and have vehicle mpg be market driven not gov't mandated.
|
pondputz
Hwy 7 Colorado
Senior Member
Joined: 08/17/2006
View Profile
Offline
|
hey,
If you folks don't think you are not paying enough taxes you are free to send in as much as you think is necessary.
Just do not ask me to do it for you.. The tax code steals enough of my labor already..
Putz
blog spot
roosterpheasant web site
|
|
|
