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

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

[BigSkyFreeper]

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

If you "feel good" driving 55 MPH, go for it. Maintain the peak performance of your vehicle, and you won't have to drive 55 just to "feel comfortable" about saving a few dollars here or there.

[scouse]

It has been done before.

Of course it has, it was instigated during the Jimmy Carter era, which was probably the most depressing time that the United States has ever suffered.

[xcamel]

As per:

and

[MichiganConservative]

No. On long runs at 75-80 MPH, my car get 28 or 29 miles per gallon. When I just driver around town, it gets 21-22 miles per gallon. Build more nukes to conserve the oil. Build more refineries to get cheaper gasoline. The NY Times editorial board is a bunch of elitist liberals who want to tell us all how to live.

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

No....!

[bert]

The 55 mile limit induced recession and will do so again. By disrupting the flow of goods and the increased labor costs, the reimpostion will destroy the economy.

[Samwise]

Did Jimmy Carter write this?

[DannyTN]

From a strickly today centered economic viewpoint...the economic value of the time put into driving varies from $15 to $100 an hour....Assuming 60 mph and 20 mpg, and $2.20/gal, the fuel cost of driving is $6.60/hour.

So to lower the speed limit is to trade a much more expensive resource "labor time" for a less expensive resource "fuel".

There might be an argument from a conservation standpoint.

But one fallout of the 55 mph speed limit is that major metropolitan areas got to where they ignored the speed limit and it wasn't enforced. I think that teaches a general disrespect for the law. So if we did put in a limit, we as a nation need to be prepared to enforce it. And we just are not there.

[MikefromOhio]

That will do nothing to solve the issue...

Besides, if I drive correctly, I will get the same MPG at 70 as I will at 55....

[Grampa Dave]

An interesting site which monitors the insane wet dream ramblings of the Jayson Blair types writing for the NY Slimes has another BS article of Mouawad. He wants us to be like the French with very high taxes on gas and energy.


Times Watch for October 5, 2004

Taking the High (Tax) Road to Energy Efficiency

A front-page Business Day story by Jad Mouawad shakes its head at America for being (according to the headline) a "Slow Learner on Energy-Efficiency Front."

Mouawad's Tuesday story begins with liberal-sounding snark: "The United States, land of gas-guzzling S.U.V.'s and air-conditioned McMansions, might do well to turn to the country some Americans love to hate for lessons on how to curb its reliance on imported oil: France."
Later Mouawad insists that federal speed limits are an example of America "taking the high road": "The contrast between French resolve and American abandon in recent years is sharp. The United States, too, took the high road in the 1970's and early 80's, when the combined impact of the 1973 oil embargo, the growing power of OPEC and the Iranian revolution of 1979 created long gas lines and raised the prospect of an oil producers' stranglehold over the American economy. The price of Arabian light crude rose from $1.85 a barrel in 1972 to $40 in 1981, or $80 in today's dollars. Americans responded with a nationwide speed limit of 55 miles an hour, a home-insulating boom and a blossoming of energy-technology start-ups to help businesses cut their energy bills."

Mouawad's "high road" seems to mean high taxes as well. Mouawad talks to unlabeled liberal "experts" who advocate them: "But with oil now at $50 a barrel, double what it was two years ago, and with many analysts expecting substantially higher energy prices in the next decade than during the 1990's, some experts are saying that both government and industry are going to need to do some fundamental rethinking of some basic policies. 'The lack of emphasis on demand in the past 20 years in the United States has a lot to do with the predicament we're in now,' said Ashok Gupta, an economist with the National Resources Defense Council. 'We need to look at what it will take to get manufacturers to offer technologies that people want.' One obvious step, which politicians are loath to even mention, would be to increase taxes on gasoline. Here again, the divergence between the United States and Europe is instructive. To encourage the use of mass-transit systems, and finance their development, European governments impose generally high taxes on gasoline. French drivers pay over $5 a gallon for gasoline, $3.75 of that in taxes, compared with $1.90 a gallon on average in the United States, with only 41 cents of that going to taxes."

[The Electrician]

I sure hope that this article foreshadows the next round of Demo/Commie talking points. Let them hitch their electoral chances on raising gas taxes and lowering the speed limit.

[Sooth2222]

Carsdirect quotes $19,616 for a new 2005 VW Jetta TDI (turbodiesel), which is $1,739 below the sticker price.

If there were any serious concern about fuel prices would ulta-fuel efficient (EPA 38MPG City 46MPG Highway!) cars be on the clearance table at Filene's Basement?

[umgud]

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.

How much has our population grown since 1973?

My energy plan:

Remove enviro impediments to domestic exploration and construction of new refineries.
End designer fuels, allow just one summer fuel and one winter fuel
Build Nukes!
Encourage more diesels

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for posting this great chart.

NYMEX wholesale gasoline for May delivery closed at $1.475/gal on Friday.

Most of the rest is TAXES!

[pabianice]

1932 Taylor E-2 "Cub"

Country: USA

Wingspan: 35' 3"

Year: 1932

Length: 22' 3"

Engine: Continental A-40

Cruise Speed: 55 mph

Horsepower: 37

Gross Weight: 970 lbs.

Designed in 1930 by C.G. Taylor and advertised as "America's safe airplane", the E-2 Cub was the first one in a long line of aircraft models to carry the "Cub" name. The Taylor Aircraft Corporation, which later became Piper Aircraft Corporation, produced this airplane in 1932 as serial number 54. The E-2 was acquired in 1991 after fifty years in storage. The restoration to original condition was completed over a three-year period. This airplane is one of the oldest of the few E-2s known to exist today.

[eastforker]

I will never understand the mentality of such a statement like this.

[Pit1]

Some other nifey Ideas:

1. Ban all nonscheduled airline flights. Private jets to the heap.

2. Every family of two or more must own a horse.

3. Home size allowance, 800 sq ft per person. ie 3200 sq ft for 4. (Maybe Babs can take in some homeless.)

4. Video conference all government and private meetings. No more junkets.

5. Only ONE explosion per Hollywierd movie.

Good Stuff.

[Smokin' Joe]

The 55 MPH limit was touted as a lifesaver, too (and in some places may have been).

But in states in flyover country where there is a long way from point A to point B with little in between, death tolls increased as that 8 hour drive became a 10 hour drive and people fell asleep behind the wheel.

In winter (-30F not unusual) you do not just pull over and take a nap--if the engine quits, you can freeze to death.

[SLB]

Maintain the peak performance of your vehicle, and you won't have to drive 55 just to "feel comfortable" about saving a few dollars here or there.

Clean air and fuel filters, correct tire pressure and front end alignment do wonders for performance and handling. Simple things, but often not done.