Posted on 05/01/2005 6:19:00 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
I'll gladly pay unrestricted fair-market prices of up to $5 per gallon for my FREEDOM to drive Autobahn style where it's safe, thankyouverymuch, NYTimes.
And unrestricted fair-market is the big issue, thankyouverymuch, enviro-wacko Marxists.
ANWR not A.N.S.W.E.R.
Funny that the authors don't mention that Germany, along with high gasoline taxes, also has no speed limits on the Autobahns.
In Germany, the highways are built much better than here in the states. There's much better drainage, and much less of a gradient or curve allowed. In the United States, when we build a highway, it's pretty much just slap down asphalt over the ground. Highways in the United States can have sharp curves, steep hills, and the like. In Germany, on the unlimited speed portions, there are strict limits to this type of thing. Instead of going down a hill and then up a hill, the Germans will build a bridge over a valley to avoid a grade.
This is of course incredibly expensive, but it allows Germans to drive with unlimited speed limits. On may highways in America, even if the road were clear of all cars, driving 100 mph would be incredibly dangerous. Take 95 through Connecticut, for example.
So the Germans have high taxes, but it allows them to drive at very fast speeds, saving time for drivers. Of course, Germany is a lot smaller, so this might be an acceptable trade-off. In the United States, with a much lower population density, this might not work out so well.
The deceased use no oil or gas. Maybe these guys should sacrafice for the rest of us and off themselves.
If enough do it, demand will go down, and will prices.
Sounds like a win-win to me.
Make the NYT slow the speed of their presses first!
The loss in productivity from such a limit would dwarf any fuel "savings". The answer is to open up the Floida Gulf and ANWR for drilling, the Rockies for LNG exploration, and open 5 new refineries and one nuclear plant every single year.
Might as well adopt the "Kyoto" method and 'buy' speeding credits from slower drivers to drive over 55.
Well there you go...all we need is higher taxes, that's the cure all for every problem.
Not.
It's amazing how people can work in socialism to every "piece" they manage to spew forth,
According to an atrical from the NYT shown here yesterday, the French and Germans use ~66% of the oil per person that the US does. Assuming that all of that difference is due to the higher road fuel taxes, we'd only get a 33% reduction from the large tax increse.
Waaaay back when, the Journal of Irreproducible Results printed a spoof research paper on the 55 mph speed limit arguing that passing a law that everyone drive backwards in reverse gear would result in a net creation of gasoline!
(Makes more sense than the NY Times!)
Now, this would be a great idea. Add to that some kind of override of the California emission standards for diesels, and we could save a lot of fuel.
Modern diesels are efficient, powerful and clean. They're selling like hotcakes in Europe, but we don't see most of the really neat engines over here. BMW has a new twin-turbo diesel I-6 which makes 272 hp and 413 ft-lbs of torque. They put a particulate filter on it, to further clean up the emissions, allowing the 535d to meet Euro 4 standards.
Geesh! I guess the guys NYT have never driven on Rt 80 in northern NJ during rush hour. If your not driving at least 80 mph they'll drive over you!
Just posting to say: LOVE YOUR TAGLINE!
That chart only works in a perfect world where all of our wages increased the same as inflation. If you account for all the downsizing and pay cuts that have taken place in the last 25 years we may be paying $5.00 or more per gallon(and I'm guessing here).
Synchronize traffic signals, THEN we MIGHT consider this.
Sheesh!!
Here's how the conversations at work usually go:
Librat -"Boy! These gas prices! That Bush is sure one rotten SOB!"
Flagg -"Umm, what were you paying per gallon of gas in 2000 during Clinton's last year in The White House?"
Librat -"About seventy-four cents a gallon."
Flagg -"That's right. And now you're making up the difference."
Librat -"Wait a minute. Presidents can't influence gas prices."
Flagg -"Then, justify that first statement about Bush being rotten."
*crickets*
Rising gas prices required businesses to pass the cost onto their comstomers. That leads to inflation. The best thing the government can do is decrease the tax on gasoline and deisel to keep the prices down for EVERYONE. This would help the public more than reducing income tax.
I have to wonder if this is an innocent typo (should have read '10 mph above the 55 mph limit') or a deliberate deception (comparing mileage driving at 75 versus 55)? Based on the source, I suspect the latter.
55 mph speed limit?...Hell's Bells!...How will I get to work in the morning on time...in 25 mph freeway traffic??
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