Re: OT:Re: IMHO, saving fuel needs to start at the top!

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 19:47:19 -0600, shinypenny wrote
(in article <1127872039.205313.111800@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):

>
> Ruddell wrote:
>> I know there are people who think some sort of public rail system should
>> and will rule but I certainly hope you're wrong. Especially in the USA
>> where the interstate system is to be compared to none anywhere in the
>> world. Sure, there's some snags but considering it's size it's a pretty
>> marvelous contraption. The idea of losing a personal vehicle isn't
>> going to go over and sometime along the way a different system of fuel
>> will become available.
>
> Heh. If you believe that - that there's another alternative in the
> wings that is cheap and as plentiful as oil that can be used to fuel
> our car-based society to the level we're accustomed to now - then I
> have a bridge to sell you. :-)


Hydrogen fuel cells seem to be mentioned and they've even been tested to the
point that it's a possibility. And with the amount of H2O on the planet, I
can't see ever running out of H. And if I need a bridge, I'll buy it before
I cross so I'll keep yours in mind ;-)


>
>> Like I said though, there is no shortage of oil
>> and won't be for a long time. Two, maybe three hundred years worth at
>> least.
>
> And you'd be in disagreement with virtually every expert on this
> subject. Just google peak oil and do the research and you'll see what I
> mean.

Many of course are in the doom and gloom party, but you right, I don't agree
that the shortage is as bad as many are predicting.


>> My beef remember, is not really the price of the fuel, but the taxes
>> which are applied to it in the name of conservation. These taxes are
>> simply used by the gov't for the gov't to waste as they please to. That
>> is the issue which makes my blood boil.
>
> So you won't gripe when the extra $5 to $10 dollars on a gallon of gas
> is not tax but just the true cost of a diminishing renewable resource
> in hot demand? As long as it's not going towards taxes?


When it comes to an extra 5/10/whatever and the cost is reflected on the
product, then I'll have to accept it as that. Up here in Canada we pay
almost 50% of the cost towards federal/provincial taxes and that is simply
too much. Extortion is what it is.


>> The train or whatever nifty new name is applied, simply isn't what the
>> doctor ordered for North American and something else will replace the
>> oil fueled autos which we use today.
>
> You really need to do some research on viability and limitations of
> alternative energy sources. What you are banking on is ... really,
> nothing short of a miracle.

I wouldn't call it asking for a miracle. It's more like solving a problem
which the marketplace has managed to do when required. When a better product
becomes available at a reasonable price, consumers consume. That's how the
western world operates and as long as that continues, it's going to come to
be. Right now we're not at that point so it's still just a pipe dream.

>> And no, don't lay blame on SUV's
>> as they're only a small recent part of the problem.
>
> They are a symptom of the problem, a symptom that we're nearing the
> peak. It's the dinosaur principle: when energy is cheap and abundant,
> creatures get bigger and bigger and more abundant. But then they
> consume so much energy, and it reaches a peak and the energy can no
> longer keep up the rate of growth... and the dinosaurs die out in mass
> extinctions because they starve to death before they can adapt.

And it's not just the SUV's to blame. That sounds like the older generation
in the 70's talking about the muscle cars and how they used up all the gas,
while they were driving luxury sedans American style. All vehicles use it
up, big or small and the rate of course is how much you actually drive, not
how much per mile you use. SUV's are one of many in the picture.


>> The future isn't bleak and we're certainly taxed too high at the
>> present. So don't buy that horse too quickly as it won't be street
>> legal in our lifetime :-)
>
> I sure hope you're right.

Think positive :-))


--
Cheers!

Dennis

Remove 'Elle-Kabong' to reply

.

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