Unmentioned Energy Fix: A 55 M.P.H. Speed Limit

The New York Times ^ | May 1, 2005 | Jad Mouawad and Simon Romero

[MississippiMasterpiece]

President Bush made it clear last week that he sees no quick fixes to the nation's energy woes. The problem has been long in coming, the argument goes, and so will the solutions. But if history is any guide, there is one thing he could do immediately: bring back the 55 miles-per-hour speed limit.

It has been done before. Along with record oil and gasoline prices, improvements in fuel efficiency and a lasting economic recession, speed limits helped curb fuel consumption for the first time in American postwar history between 1974 and 1984.

Of course, energy eventually became cheap again, the economy expanded and Americans became complacent and unwilling to make more sacrifices.

Instead of opting for small fuel-efficient cars, people switched to large sport utility vehicles and larger pickups. As drivers groaned and states fought for their right to speed, the limit was raised.

While oil consumption in most industrialized nations has either leveled off or declined, in the United States, oil demand has soared 38 percent since the first oil shock of 1973.

The Bush administration's focus over the last four years has been to increase the supply of oil and natural gas, which are also priorities for the energy industry, instead of finding ways to cut back on energy demand, which until very recently has been left out of the picture.

"We are in a boxing match, and the president keeps one hand tied to his back," said Steven Nadel, the executive director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit research group in Washington. "We're punching with supplies and not using demand. We're at a disadvantage."

Other industrialized countries, especially in Europe, have been much more successful than the United States and have managed to actually lower oil demand, or at least keep it in check. That comes from higher diesel use and higher taxes. In France and Germany, a gallon of gasoline sells for as much as $6, with taxes accounting for about 80 percent of that.

Few politicians in America might risk ridicule or rejection by explicitly supporting higher taxes on gasoline, one of the surest ways to limit the nation's dependence on oil.

"Even the least outrageous gasoline tax would have choked off some demand, and the money would have gone to our own government instead of being transferred overseas," said Robert K. Kaufmann, a professor of geography at the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Boston University. "Of course, that would have to involve personal sacrifice, which is off the table politically."

There are other ways to curb consumption that may be only slightly less challenging, analysts say. One would be to increase the average mileage per gallon requirement. After Congress passed legislation forcing automakers to act in 1975, average mileage almost doubled to 27.5 miles a gallon in 1987 from 14 in 1972. But it has since slipped back to 24 because of S.U.V.'s, and Congress shows no inclination to toughen the standards.

Another way to sharply reduce demand - and improve mileage - would be to encourage drivers to buy diesel cars, which offer as much as 60 percent more fuel efficiency, said Theodore R. Eck, an energy consultant and former chief economist at the Amoco oil company.

"The neat thing here is that this is off-the-shelf technology," he said. But the trade-off to diesel fuels also includes higher emissions of nitrate oxide, a pollutant that is responsible for smog.

In a recent speech, President Bush suggested that diesel cars might be made eligible for similar income tax credits as hybrid cars, which are quickly turning into best sellers with long waiting lists.

The present predicament behind high oil prices is quite different than the oil shocks of the 1970's and 1980's, which were a result of producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cutting oil supplies. Today, the price shock comes from rapidly increasing demand, driven largely by China, but also by the United States and its strong car culture.

After rising 33 percent in the last year, crude oil prices in New York slipped below $50 a barrel on Friday for the first time in 10 weeks. They closed down nearly 4 percent at $49.72 a barrel.

Still, Americans can expect to pay record prices for gasoline this summer. According to the latest national average compiled by the Energy Department, gasoline prices at the pump averaged $2.24 a gallon, up 42 cents from last year; they are expected to touch a record $2.35 a gallon this summer.

Polls show that higher gasoline prices are increasingly hurting Americans, and the president is pressing Congress to revive an energy bill that has been stalled for four years.

Since the last energy shock of the 1980's, the economy as a whole has shifted toward services and away from heavy industry and is now less dependent on oil than it once was. But that has been more than offset by the rise of oil demand for the transportation sector, which accounts for two of every three barrels of crude oil consumed here; gasoline alone amounts to half the nation's oil consumption.

"We've had this situation building up for years, and yet the focus continues to be on the very long term," said Shirley Neff, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a former economist on the Senate Energy Committee. "We have to focus on demand and be more efficient in our energy use. We need something like an Apollo program for the transportation sector."

But restricting demand might also weaken economic growth, an unpalatable prospect for any government, especially at a time when some are already blaming energy costs for a slowdown in growth.

"It's true that there is a limit to what you could achieve through a traditional energy policy in one or two years," said Fridtjof Unander, an analyst with the International Energy Agency, which advises industrialized nations on ways to reduce their consumption.

The 55 miles-per-hour speed limit came as a result of the 1973 Arab oil embargo. The Nixon administration ordered states to lower their maximum limit to save fuel at a time when the first oil shock threatened to bring the economy to a standstill.

After steadily rising each year, gasoline demand suddenly stopped growing in 1974 and remained nearly flat for the next decade, keeping oil consumption in check.

Roland Hwang, the vehicles policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, estimated the savings of the speed limit in 1983 at 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, or 2.2 percent of the total use for these types of fuels.

But as gas lines faded from people's memories and energy prices went down, the federal speed limit was relaxed in 1987, allowing states to set higher caps of 65 miles an hour. Once more, gasoline consumption surged.

Smaller efforts today could make a difference. For example, driving at 10 miles an hour above the 65 miles-per-hour limit increases fuel consumption by 15 percent; inflating tires properly cuts gasoline use by 2 percent; keeping engines idle while in line wastes millions of gallons.

The trouble is that few drivers bother with these suggestions, Mr. Hwang said. "People are basically too lazy to pump their tires up."

[DugwayDuke]

What the Times fails to note is that when the decision to lower the speed limit to 55 MPH was made (BTW, it was made in an elevator) the other option under consideration was to ensure drivers had the correct air pressure in their tires. Both options were considered to have essentially the same effect on reducing dependance on oil. The decrease in the speed limit was chosen because it was easier to enforce.

[blu]

No thank you. I'll pay up to $3 per gallon to continue driving like I want to get somewhere.

And that, my friends, is what makes America great! We can do anything, as long as we can pay for it! (nope, I'm not being sarcastic.)

[Paladin2]

http://www.teknett.com/pwp/drmayf/cobra.htm:

Total Load (pounds) = fr * W + ½ * rho * V * V * Cd * A + W * sin(theta)

But: fr = fo + 3.24 * fs *( v / 100)^ 2.5

So rolling force is a significent function of speed (especially in the speeds of interest - 55mph -90mph) When I look at the approximate forces at speeds close to 90 it is proportional which is what one finds when collecting the coast down times and regressing the resultant hp vs. speed data.

Speed (mph)	Rolling Drag (lbs)	Aero Drag (lbs)	Total Drag (lbs)	RWHP	FWHP
10.0	18.0	2.0	19.9	0.53	0.61
20.0	18.1	8.0	26.1	1.39	1.60
30.0	18.6	17.9	36.5	2.92	3.36
40.0	19.2	31.8	51.1	5.45	6.27
50.0	20.2	49.7	70.0	9.33	10.73
60.0	21.6	71.6	93.2	14.91	17.15
70.0	23.3	97.5	120.8	22.55	25.93
80.0	25.4	127.4	152.8	32.59	37.48
90.0	28.0	161.2	189.1	45.40	52.21
100.0	31.0	199.0	230.0	61.34	70.54
110.0	34.5	240.8	275.3	80.77	92.88
120.0	38.5	286.6	325.1	104.05	119.66
130.0	43.1	336.3	379.4	131.55	151.28
140.0	48.2	390.0	438.2	163.65	188.20
150.0	53.9	447.7	501.7	200.71	230.81
160.0	60.2	509.4	569.6	243.10	279.57
170.0	67.1	575.1	642.2	291.21	334.90
180.0	74.7	644.8	719.4	345.41	397.22
190.0	82.9	718.4	801.3	406.08	466.99
200.0	91.8	796.0	887.8	473.60	544.64
210.0	101.4	877.6	979.0	548.35	630.60
220.0	111.7	963.2	1074.8	630.71	725.32
230.0	122.7	1052.7	1175.4	721.08	829.24
240.0	134.5	1146.2	1280.7	819.83	942.81
250.0	147.0	1243.7	1390.7	927.36	1066.47

I'll have to go back and rerun my data from my VW bug push starting days, but it sure seemed easier and at a faster speed when three people were pushing rather than just me.

[FreedomPoster]

>>I think 55 mph would be "feel good" solution.

You've got that right. The essence of good transportation is speed. Let people make their own economic choices on that one.

Speed limits are too low in many areas as it is.

The last thing this country needs is another B.S. law that makes people disrespect the law, and law enforcement, in general. Heck, current speed enforcement (primarily for revenue, not safety, in many cases) already does that pretty well, why make it worse?

[PhilDragoo]

55 in third burns more than 80 in overdrive--NYT should stick to thirty consecutive abu Ghraib headlines.

The New York Times still hasn't returned Walter Duranty's Pulitzer Prize for denying Stalin's famine-murder of tens of millions.

The New York Times bleats about global warming but won't stop cutting the rain forest down for its pulp.

Hey, New York Times, STFU.

[MeekOneGOP]

[ChildOfThe60s]

Totally bogus premise.

Based on (deeply flawed) computer models that:

A: are designed to get these results

B: depend on so many (not possible) variables to even work in theory; impossible in practice

c: keep retreading the same old crapola (government control over market conditions), i.e. another leftist "5 year plan"

[ChildOfThe60s]

What a grand idea, let's increase taxes so people will 'want' to change their behavior

Bingo! You, sir, have summed up the essence of liberalism in one sentence.

[swilhelm73]

Just another leftist with an obsessive need to control others.

Removing the 55 mph speed limit, which had *nothing* to do with safety concerns, was one of the great successes of the new Republican congresses.

Let's be honest, for the most part American highway speed limits are far too low to this day, both because this provides revenue for police departments and it appeases leftist power trippers.

[devolve]

  

[traumer]

Why aren't there any japanese diesel cars ?
Can (do) they make them ?

[swilhelm73]

The deceased use no oil or gas. Maybe these guys should sacrafice for the rest of us and off themselves.

Actually I've repeatedly suggested to enviro-nuts who demand government restrict other people's rights that if instead they lived by their beliefs and completely avoided fossil fuels and their byproducts we would easily meet the reductions in use they demand.

So far not one has had the guts to answer the charge.

But then again, the left's demands for power over others only has a marginal connection to what the supposed reason for this abuse of rights is invariably.

[guitfiddlist]

"We are in a boxing match, and the president keeps one hand tied to his back," said Steven Nadel, the executive director for the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a nonprofit research group in Washington.

Well, now these liberals know what we Republicans feel like, when our President coddles the Left.

[the invisib1e hand]

note to the moron: been there, done that.

next they'll be trying to ban convertibles again. why do liberals hate FUN?

[Tribune7]

But if history is any guide, there is one thing he could do immediately: bring back the 55 miles-per-hour speed limit.

A better, gentler way of saving energy would be for the NYT to stop publishing. That way evil machines wouldn't have to be used to turn wood pulp to paper.

[Sloth]

I'll agree to 55 mph after all gas taxes are repealed.

[RightOnline]

....and GOOD for you!!!! :)

[swilhelm73]

Ever try to drive out west (West Texas, Utah, Nevada, etc) at 55 miles an hour???

One of the things I most enjoyed driving cross country was barreling along at 80 mph in Utah/Montana while enjoying the beautiful scenery.

[longtermmemmory]

55 was a TOTAL FAILURE, anything advocated by Jimmy Carter is Useless.

This is more NYT drivel.

How about we start a pool for the last day the NYT is published? It has no future.

[billbears]

Help me out here guys. Who was it back during the Reagan years that refused to lift the 55 mph speed limit? I think those that are calling the NYT liberal for this stance should think about a certain statist Republican currently occupying a Senatorial seat that would fully agree with the NYT on this. For the children don't you know....