Posted on 07/28/2008 5:46:08 PM PDT by Kaslin
When Barack Obama told environmentally conscious voters earlier this summer that "we can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times," he probably didn't realize how close he already was to the truth.
According to our latest consumer survey, Americans are already changing their ways — but not because of Obama. They are changing because they are tiring of paying so much money each time they fill up at the gas station.
According to our survey, conducted jointly by Auto Futures Group and TechnoMetrica, the vast majority of consumers (87%) say they are likely to buy a car that is more fuel- efficient than their current model the next time they're in the market for a new vehicle.
What's more, four out of five (80%) Americans are bundling errands into fewer trips than before, almost three of four (71%) are using their family's most fuel- efficient vehicle and two of three (66%) are driving less than they used to.
Looking three years down the road, Americans expect the average price of a gallon of gasoline to reach $6.14.
One in four think it will be above $7 per gallon and one in eight expect to be paying more than $8 a gallon.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
And now we’re being told that gas prices are coming down because Americans are driving less.
And....because we’re driving less and using less gasoline, fuel tax revenue is dropping.
And...with less tax revenue, road projects are being delayed/cancelled....
Gird your loins for even more gas taxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It wouldn’t be any of those prices if the Dims would open up drilling. Alberta is going through a boom because of drilling. Time to “Grab your torches & pitchforks” and demand Congress do the will of the people.
Go to Europe where they have been paying $5.00 to $8.00 a gallon for years and look at all the subcompact cars.
America will look the same in five to ten years.
My state (MI) not only has a per-gallon tax, there’s a 6% sales tax on top of every sale that goes into the general fund.
AFTER the election, the dims in charge of the house want to raise the per-gallon gas tax. I’m sure they’d raise the sales tax if they could — they already tried that with some labor charges last year.
We pay sales tax on top of the propane that fills our 500 gallon tank. At $2.69 a gallon, nearly $1.00 more than last year, it adds up fast. My best weapon in this war has been my clotheline! I’m not using the dryer until it’s fall and I’ll wait as long as I can. We’re on the equal monthly payment plan and the less I can use, the better.
The 72F thermostat remark by BO was very insulting. I don’t run the air until it’s 85F and that’s only to keep the humidity down. We kept the temp at 64F last winter and it’ll be even less this winter, plus we’re getting a programmable thermostat (something we should’ve done last year!).
I saw gas for $3.56 this weekend
Exactly, and I am sick and tired of their lame excuses why they don’t want to stop the ban on drilling etc
How much do you think we should be paying for a barrel of oil?
There are about 2.8 trillion vehicle miles of travel (vmt) for passenger cars and small trucks (SUVs & pick-ups). This is an average of 230 billion vmt per month.
Therefore, a 9.6 billion decline in this vmt (an estimated 15 billion decline in person-miles) for one month is about a 4% decrease.
The 10.3 billion annual public transit trips represent about 41 billion person-miles of travel. There are about 4.5 trillion person-miles of travel by car & small truck. Therefore, public transit accounts for about 1% of travel.
The 2.6 billion increase in public transit trips for the first three months of this year represents about 10.4 billion person-miles. Annualized, this is around 42 billion person-miles. While this is a 100% increase for transit ridership, it amounts to less than one percent of total travel. The monthly increase for transit is about 3.5 billion person-miles. So, transit doesn’t even absorb 25% of the decline in travel by automobiles (and SUV & pick-ups). Three-fourths of those who are giving up travel by car are doing something else besides switching to transit.
So, while high fuel prices are having an effect on travel choices, that effect is tiny when put into context.
The vast majority of people (~98%) continue to rely upon the automobile (and SUVs & pick-ups) for travel. The on-demand, non-stop, door-to-door, private transportation option offers a level of convenience, comfort and speed that cannot be matched by transit services that require walking, waiting, stopping and connecting to complete journeys.
Even this does not address the issue of cost-effectiveness. By way of illustrating this issue, gasoline prices would have to rise to the $50 (fifty dollars) per gallon range before light rail would be competitive on a total cost basis.
Public transit is (and will always be) a small factor in travel mobility for society. It is foolhardy to invest billions in the creation of the dedicated infrastructure required to provide this transit by trains, as many communities are doing. It makes far more sense to design a transit system that can share the same infrastructure that serves the automobiles that will continue to dominate travel choices for the foreseeable future.
“I don’t run the air until it’s 85F and that’s only to keep the humidity down.”
Then buy a dehumdifier. You should save money by running the air even less frequently.
Been working there on and off since 1993. Sheep. The prices went up in the 70’s during the “energy crisis” and the govenment decided that high prices pushed by outragous taxes was a good thing and the prices never came back down.
I will drive what I need to drive. It’s just money, to me. I’ll find a way to survive, because I am an American.
If I were to cave, my late Father would return from the dead and kick my behind.
We all will do what we can do to afford what we can......
Paid $3.59/gal today in MN for unleaded.
‘bout you??
$60
If there is as much oil in oil shale in Colorado as there is in the Middle East, then a heck of a lot less than what we’re paying now.
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. Consuption has gone down about 2% in the western US, and 4% in the eastern US. For the western states this is pretty good, given the distances involved and lack of alternatives.
However, how much energy people use is comprised of a lot of choices that are not easy to change instantly. If the price remains high for the next few years, people will continue to make choices based on high fuel prices, and begin to cut down significantly.
From there we will need to increase domestic production and conserve. At that point, we will have your $60.00 a barrel oil.
If anyone is interested, $4.40 in CA today for regular 87.
Today the world consumes around 85,000,000 barrels of oil a day. I do not think that the Colorado Oil Shale could significantly contribute to that need anytime soon.
HE CAN..... its the "WE" that can't..
So do nothing. Democrat solution. Didn’t work. If we had started drilling 10 years ago, and had a comprehensive energy policy that included Nuclear, it is much less likely we’d be in our current position. It is not in our National Security to be beholden to the likes of Saudi Arabia or Venezuela for our energy needs. Basically, there is NO form of energy that the environmental lobby gets behind. They are anti-capitalists. Look what happened to the solar farms just recently. They now have to wait two years for an environmental study. We should exploit our own natural resources, have our own energy boom, utilize every form of energy available to us, and grow our country. The Democrat leadership is the most anti-american in my experience. They are borderline treasonous.
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