>>>>>>You drive 80 miles an hour, you are wasting gas and getting poor mileage.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>You are stopped, you are wasting gas and getting very poor mileage.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>How do you know what is the speed to drive to get the best mileage?
>>>>>
>>>>>0 MPH, leaving the car at home and walking! :-)
>>>>
>>>>A great number of Americans actually are switching to bicycles, motorcycles, or public transportation. that's apart from those switching to more fuel efficient cars. Gas has finally gotten expensive enough to get our attention. (Yeah, I know, it's still more expensive in Europe). This past weekend, Memorial Day weekend, is traditionally the start of the summer driving season. Reportedly far fewer people traveled this year than last.
>>>
>>>IIRC CNN reported memorial weekend driving mileage was estimated to be down 1%.
>>>
>>>1%!!!!
>>>
>>>Americans deserve to go broke. Seriously. Stupidity and/or blind ignorance should lead to elimination from the gene pool - not government bailout (aka housing, finance, etc).
>>>
>>>The number 1 threat to the US and most other civilized nations at this time (besides democrats) is addiction to oil. The oil industry (not just the producing nations - the industry) will bleed the world dry financially, and lack of viable alternatives leaves any nation vulnerable to economic ruin or strategic annhilation (not easy to mount a good defense if you can only walk to battle).
>>>
>>>Oil prices just went up 30+% simply because the oil industry wanted more profit. They don't even bother with fake explanations now (more Chinese this month, gulf tensions, failed baloon attempts, whatever).
>>>
>>>And the American consumer, who has known about this and whined for 30+ years while buying SUVs and bigger trucks, decides to do 1% less driving to vacation spots on a holiday weekend.
>>>
>>>JHC.
>>
>>I didn't realize the reduction was only 1%. In any case I agree with much of what you say. We do need to address our dependence on oil in a serious way, which so far we have not done. If we give it a Manhattan Project-like priority I'm sure we can do it. One Mike Huckabee campaign line I liked was that it would be nice if we needed the Saudis' oil as much as we need their sand <g>.
>>
>>PS -- Not to inject too much partisan politics into a note of agreement, but given that we still are very dependent on oil, it probably didn't help much to take the 2nd or 3rd largest producing nation off the grid....
>
>
>http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/pressroom/fhwa0811.htm
>
>looks like your reducing more than 1%.
>
>You don't know the meaning of dear fuel (yet). Filling my car (Volvo V70 estate) now takes about £70.00. Fuel here is 117.9 pence per litre at my local. I'm certainly starting to reduce the speed I drive at ;

I hope the DOT estimate is more correct than CNN's, although March may have been affected by bad weather more than anything. It still is a pathetic reduction in the face of prices though.

Personally I'd like to see the Manhattan style project to build an energy infrastructure for the US (and civilized nations) that is based on non petroleum sources. Pay for it with another dollar or 2 on gas taxes (for non commercial vehicles only). No oil industry representation or contracts in the project at all.

I wouldn't be against fairly severe gas rationing as a way to induce conservation and alternative energy either. I'd rather get that started now instead of waiting for oil to get cut off or raised to crippling prices.

We switched from 2 gas guzzlers (15MPG on a good day each) to 2 30+MPG boxes in 2005 (a Chevy Aveo and a Kia Spectra - both are Korean imports). The gas savings alone make the payments on both. We do still have a 4WD V8 pickup, but it is only for heavy work and only gets a few hundred miles in a year.

We heat completely with wood (from our property). We are looking at wind turbines and/or solar panels to help with electricity - we expect to put up something later this year.

Somewhere somebody (I'm in a group discussing design options by the way) needs to put out an electric car that can run at low highway speed and make 100 miles between charges. That would become a worldbeater.