Southern York County Life

Kizzo - 29 April 2008 09:12 AM

Does anyone think that the truckers’ demonstration in DC will yield anything?

Back in the 70’s truckers parked their trucks for a week when diesel started going through the roof then and the price of diesel dropped dramatically as a result.  It is going to take independent truckers that are losing a way of life to park them again to get peoples attention.  When store shelves are starting to empty because trucks are not moving then we may see some action.  I hope.

Rainsong - 28 April 2008 10:51 PM

Unbelievable!  How is it affecting you?  It seems to me that people are coping well, I don’t hear much complaining.

You bet it affects me. I have a 100 mile one way commute to work. Even with my Hybrid I still have to fill up after every two trips. I have one car pool partner but between his different schedule and having one reason or another for not hooking up, we don’t car pool anywhere near as much as we could. I’ve been trying to get a transfer closer to home for years, I just haven’t had any luck getting one. Maybe I could get a job with a local defense contractor making about what I make now, but after getting laid off once before by Westinghouse, I refuse to work for another defense contractor.

JustPlainC - 29 April 2008 07:53 AM

Government taxes arent what is costing so much.  Exxon Mobil made 11B last quarter.  Over $40B dollars PROFIT last year.

Hooray for them, maybe I should have bought some of their stock.  Aren’t businesses in business to make money? 

Instead of going after capitolism, why not drill in ANWAR? Drill off the coast of FL and CA?  Build some refineries?  Build nuclear power plants?  Wind power?  Coal?Stop making so many products which require petroleum, like plastic grocery bags, and so many more plastic products that we DON’T NEED?  Biofuels?  I could go on and on (as I’m sure everyone who is not a politician can).  I think doing these things are the answer, not windfall profit taxes and carbon offset credits.  Address the problem, not the result of the increased demand.

Saw a quick teaser spot on GMA this morning a story about the fuel situation.......a couple of college guys built a super battery for their electric car, 100+ miles to the gallon I think they said.  His sound byte was “if we can do it, why can’t the car manufacturers” I missed the story though :(

Chris_McGraw - 29 April 2008 11:19 AM

Saw a quick teaser spot on GMA this morning a story about the fuel situation.......a couple of college guys built a super battery for their electric car, 100+ miles to the gallon I think they said.  His sound byte was “if we can do it, why can’t the car manufacturers” I missed the story though :(

Answer: Because they don’t want to!

Bobby102 - 29 April 2008 11:25 AM

Chris_McGraw - 29 April 2008 11:19 AM

Saw a quick teaser spot on GMA this morning a story about the fuel situation.......a couple of college guys built a super battery for their electric car, 100+ miles to the gallon I think they said.  His sound byte was “if we can do it, why can’t the car manufacturers” I missed the story though :(

Answer: Because they don’t want to!

Here it is....

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4739824

There was a great program on Nova last week about cars (with Click and Clack from Car Talk).  It was amazing - first they showed the car show in Detroit with all the new cars coming out next year and it was in this HUGE convention center and there were thousands of people there.  Then they showed a car show of alternative fuel cars, electric cars, etc and it was like in a parking lot somewhere and the only major car company that had an entry was Ford, the rest were like college professors trying out ideas for alternative fuels.  There are a lot of options out there but the money is still in oil so there isn’t as much motivation for the car companies to change.  And people keep buying their huge trucks and SUVs so they don’t feel the pressure to change what’s working.  I highly recommend the program if it is re-run on PBS.  It had a lot more information about hybrids and other alternative fuel cars.  Pretty interesting.

JustPlainC - 29 April 2008 07:53 AM

Government taxes arent what is costing so much.  Exxon Mobil made 11B last quarter.  Over $40B dollars PROFIT last year.

Fed is just as guilty. As they continue to cut the prime rate, it makes US money cheaper to get - the rest of the world does not follow our Fed, thus lessening the value of the dollar versus other currency. For each 1% the value of the dollar drops, the cost of of a single barrel of oil goes up $4- There is no shortage, there was no overnight quadrupling of consumption…

The housing bailout is contributing to the outrageous costs of fuel and food

Bio fuels are not the answer. Did you know that one gallon of Ethanol is about 85% as efficient as a gallon of regulal gas? Did you know it takes roughly 6 gallons of gas to make one gallon of ethanol today? Did you know that ethanol plants are sucking water supplies dry and they give off high emmissions in the form of carbon dioxide? Did you know that the current plant of choice is corn and corn prices have gone through the roof lately which in turn raises feed prices and thus the price of meat to market? Ethanol is not the answer. It is more of a problem then solution. The only reason ethanol is even made is because of high Federal and State subsidies given to the manufacturers. Without this, the cost would be out of this world.

ADDED: They are looking at other crop options but they all take up land. Corn is one of the most destructive crops available - it takes out so many nutrients but fails to return anything to the ground.

They need to find a better option. There are some promising options out there:
1. Algea - 1 acre yields about 100,000 gallons of oil as compared to corn (6 gallons per acre) and soy (35 gallons). It can also be grown in vertical areas allowing you to grow more per flat acre of land. Since algea thrives off of carbon dioxide emmissions, it can be built next to CO2 emitting plants to help scrub their air.

2. Garbage to oil - there are ways to turn household garbage (mainly plastics) into bio fuels. It is a great idea because it reduces the load going into dumps.

3. Wind - Everyone seems to be worried about whacking a few birds… please, it is either whack a few birds goofy enough to fly into them or we destroy the whole earth. Any questions?

4. Solar - great option for heating water in homes. Can be used as a supplemental option. Need to work on the cost of the panels to make it feasible.

5. Waves - The oceans are always on the move. Great option worth exploring. Low impact.

6. Oil off the coast of Cuba - The commies are not going to come get us. Loose the trade embargo, embrace them, suck their oil dry and ship it directly into the US by pipeline. The Chinese were not stupid - they jumped on it.

7. Hybrids - Great option but currently cost prohibitive. They need to be more affordable. Make Detroit design more fuel efficient cars and trucks.

Alex - 29 April 2008 01:24 PM

Ethanol is not the answer. It is more of a problem then solution.

Yeah its making my beer prices go up!!!!!

I agree JMKAS - if the fed would at least hold rates steady, investors may sell off some of their commodities and the price of oil would drop.  Once the value of the dollar increases, the oil price will go down.  Supply is actually high right now.

I thought Brazil is doing great with their ethanol program, they use sugar beets and are almost totally energy self-sufficient.  They decided to do something after the 70’s.  Maybe we need to find the right crop.

Alex - 29 April 2008 01:24 PM

3. Wind - Everyone seems to be worried about whacking a few birds… please, it is either whack a few birds goofy enough to fly into them or we destroy the whole earth. Any questions?

Yes, but that’s why we have these problems, it’s the same as spraying deet to stop little kids from dying of malaria.  It affects the shell of the egg of some bird species, so no more of that.  The kids can die, but the birds can’t.  I know there is a big push to send bed nets, but come on, it’s backwards.

I wonder if the people who line up at Starbuck’s everyday complain about the gas prices.

GALLON of gas costs $3.69 or more
CUP of Starbuck’s cost $3.69 or more

I line up for my Starbucks and yes I do complain about gas.  Starbucks (and any other treat) is a choice.  Buying gas?  Not so much a choice!  Just because someone treats themselves to an expensive drink now and then because they enjoy it, and just because someone else may drive a Hummer doesn’t necessarily mean they are rich and could care less about the gas cost.... Jeez.  We are all stuck in the same costly mess.