How to immediately reduce the US fuel demand

[Echo 6 Sierra]

Everyone should do like we do in Texas and ride horses to work. The only pollution is an occasional (and HORRIBLE ) cloud of broken wind. Free landscaping, free fertilizer, and they replicate.

 

[Evo]

Congress had a plan:

The idea was that we would be using more natural light in buildings, thus saving energy. I don't get it. there are still the same number of hours of darkness.

That doesn't make sense, I've never worked in a building that used natural light during the day, the same number of lights are on day or night. They could definitely cut down on the number of lights.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We in the US use something around 140 billion gallons of gasoline per year in our cars. I saw in a report last night that we burn about 9 billion gallons a year while sitting in traffic.

 

[edward]

We in the US use something around 140 billion gallons of gasoline per year in our cars. I saw in a report last night that we burn about 9 billion gallons a year while sitting in traffic.

Staggering numbers.

One thing I think that would help would be if we could get a handle on the "slow down" phenomena on freeways. You are traveling along at 65 mph and all of a sudden everone in front of you is getting on the brakes.

Sometimes there is an accident causing it, but most of the time I notice that after creeping along for two miles down the road, when traffic finally does gets moving again, I have seen really nothing anywhere that appears to have caused the whole thing to occur.

 

[Skyhunter]

How would you get fired if you are working at home though
Whose to say that "trip to the bathroom" wasn't an ampm run. I could definitely get to the ampm from here much quicker then some people take in the bathroom.

You have to get over the mindset that you are trading time for money. That during the time you are at work your time belongs to your employer.

Think of it in another way. Your employer has tasks that need to be completed. As long as you perform the tasks defined by your job description, where and how you complete them is secondary. If you cannot perform the tasks unless you have a supervisor standing over you... well, I guess working at home is not an option for you.

 

[Skyhunter]

Take the 2 billion a week we are spending in Iraq and invest in renewable energy.

 

[Andre]

Home is an interesting element indeed. If we imagine how Parkinson's law works. It's the most accurate observation of how inefficient paper work can be in a office where secundary activities like co-ordination, information and socializing distract from primary production.

My first home project was to prepare a comprehensive point paper for decision making about some flying stuff. It would have cost me two to three weeks in the office. Lacking the office noise it was ready in three days, working predominantly around 7-11pm.

How about saving gas by reducing commuting time. The highway between the cities here are crowded with ten thousands of people living in A and working B who pass the people who live in B and work in A every day. Why can't the A person and the B person either exchange jobs or exchange houses so that everybody who lives in A also works in A and the same for B of course.

 

[Anttech]

Stop being so greedy and drive more ecco friendly cars... As an incentive quadruple the price!

 

[MaxS]

Why doesn't the Gov. just tack on a 3 dollar per gallon tax on every gallon, and that money will be used SOLELY for public transportation.

That will encourage people to use public transport and take a big load off the roadways (not to mention curb emissions from motor vehicles)

 

[loseyourname]

Because the government needs to be elected. No politician that added a $3 tax to every gallon of gasoline would ever get re-elected. Besides, it's unfair to people who live in places where public transit is not a viable option.

Take the situation I used to be in. When I was going to LA City College, I didn't live that far away (about 18 miles), but the commute took forever due to traffic. However, taking the bus would have taken over 2 1/2 hours. Let's say the government does what you want. It would be fine five years from now when they finally finish building the train route, but in the mean time, everyone is my old position spends more on gas than they do on rent.

 

[MaxS]

OK I understand what you're saying and you're right, but regardless public transport NEEDS more funding so that new routes and such CAN be built.

Maybe it could start on a State level, county by county, with the urban --> big city routes getting overhauled first?

Besides there are plenty of positions in the government that are appointed, not elected... though of course maybe those have no say over the taxes =\ probably just the legislature... I don't remember tbh I never took a state government class.

 

[McGyver]

If a particular work setting was favorable to working at home/telecommuting, I have observed that the luxury afforded by working independantly and being able to tend to complex work tasks and projects on "your time," that is, when you are mentally clear, undistracted, and motivated by a desire to work and feel fulfilled - you will accomplish much more in a lesser amount of time. This is called productivity! And yes, it would also SAVE on fuel costs.

Contrast the above to working at an office/shop site with pressures, politics, social distrations, and other events which interfere with work during critical stages - where productivity is impared!

 

[Anttech]

Take the situation I used to be in. When I was going to LA City College, I didn't live that far away (about 18 miles), but the commute took forever due to traffic. However, taking the bus would have taken over 2 1/2 hours. Let's say the government does what you want. It would be fine five years from now when they finally finish building the train route, but in the mean time, everyone is my old position spends more on gas than they do on rent.

boohoo... and in the mean time we are using all our resources so you can fuel your 10mile/gallon petrol eating monsters... If you increased petrol prices might be an incentive to your motor companies to start actually making efficent engines

 

[loseyourname]

boohoo... and in the mean time we are using all our resources so you can fuel your 10mile/gallon petrol eating monsters... If you increased petrol prices might be an incentive to your motor companies to start actually making efficent engines

Would you quit being this way? I don't even drive any more and the car I used to commute in got 35 MPG. Both facts are beside the point. The only thing an increased gas tax will accomplish right now is popular revolt. Unless there are viable alternatives already in place - vehicles with better fuel mileage and public transit options, is it really fair of the government to gouge the hell of its population?

If you honestly think that taxing gasoline is going to keep people from driving, just look at history. The average price per gallon of gasoline in the United States has very nearly doubled over the last 2-3 years, yet demand has increased and is projected to continue increasing (albeit in very small increments). The people driving giant SUVs are generally either carpoolers, people that require large vehicles, or people who already have plenty of money and don't care. The only people that will be punished by a gas tax hike are those who can already barely afford to pay for gas each month.

 

[Anttech]

If you honestly think that taxing gasoline is going to keep people from driving, just look at history. The average price per gallon of gasoline in the United States has very nearly doubled over the last 2-3 years, yet demand has increased and is projected to continue increasing (albeit in very small increments). The people driving giant SUVs are generally either carpoolers, people that require large vehicles, or people who already have plenty of money and don't care. The only people that will be punished by a gas tax hike are those who can already barely afford to pay for gas each month.

As per another thread we know the GDP of the US is the highest in the world (top 3 anyway). In Europe we pay LOTS more than you for petrol, ave GDP in EU is below The sates.. When our taxes were raised we didnt have a "popular uprising" and what it did was make car manufactures make better engines and hence better cars... Why do you think NO manufacture in the states is investing in hybrid cars? They don't need to, why do you think 90% of American cars are crap? And the good ones do 10 Miles/Gallon?

It is Irresponsible of your government, and your people to not care about this problem... And people who drives SUV should have a dam good reason because everyone I met who does in the States doesnt...

Sorry Looseyourname I have no sympathy…

 

[Anttech]

The only people that will be punished by a gas tax hike are those who can already barely afford to pay for gas each month.

Coming from a capitalist this is a strange statement... So the poor should be helped?
I read somewhere:
LA has almost zero public transport (for a county with 11 million I find that bizarre) because of capitalism the government privatized the public transport system, The big Car manufactures came in bought them up, then stop the build out, so everyone there would have to continue to buy cars... Good for the economy?

 

[loseyourname]

As per another thread we know the GDP of the US is the highest in the world (top 3 anyway). In Europe we pay LOTS more than you for petrol, ave GDP in EU is below The sates.. When our taxes were raised we didnt have a "popular uprising" and what it did was make car manufactures make better engines and hence better cars... Why do you think NO manufacture in the states is investing in hybrid cars? They don't need to, why do you think 90% of American cars are crap? And the good ones do 10 Miles/Gallon?

I guess you don't see the difference. Cities in Europe are hundreds of years old and largely designed for walking and getting around using horse-drawn carriages. Public transit options are good. A gas tax hike doesn't hurt you nearly as much as it would hurt someone living in Los Angeles or Houston where the average commute is 30-60 minutes, often through tight traffic, with no viable public transit alternatives.

The most popular car companies in the states, so far as I know, are Toyota, Honda, Ford, and GM (I know they aren't all American-based, but these are what Americans are buying either way). Together they offer many hybrid cars - Ford even offers a hybrid SUV and I believe Toyota does, too. Also, before you go stroking Euro-manufacturers for their tiny cars, don't forget that the narrow streets found in European cities make it a pragmatic matter as much as anything else. It isn't just that Euros "get it" and Americans don't.

It is Irresponsible of your government, and your people to not care about this problem... And people who drives SUV should have a dam good reason because everyone I met who does in the States doesnt...

What makes you think no one in the states or government cares? When was the last time you were in the United States? Most major cities have switched their buses to natural gas. BP has been undergoing a huge effort to put in hydrogen fueling stations all over major cities. There have been rather prominent television ad campaigns (at least here in California) for several years now to get people thinking green. There have been tax incentives and carpool lanes and expansion of public transit even in cities where there is currently little demand for it. There is an attempt being made to change the culture, but until that culture is changed, and until there are viable options to commuting, it makes no sense to hike the gas tax by $3. We're talking about doubling the price per gallon if we do that. That's a huge hit to people who have no choice but to commute. It's also not a huge hit to the upper-middle class soccer moms and sports stars driving all of the giant SUVs. You'd be punishing the wrong people.

Sorry Looseyourname I have no sympathy…

I'm not asking for your sympathy. I'm asking for anyone who thinks doubling gas prices is a good idea for America to seriously consider what would happen - who would be hurt most and whether or not it would even curb gasoline demand by any significant amount. Then consider other ways of cutting consumption and consider the effects these would have.

It's not as simple as "well, it worked for Europe, it can work for the US." The situation is not the same.

 

[Anttech]

What makes you think no one in the states or government cares? When was the last time you were in the United States? Most major cities have switched their buses to natural gas.

June this year Redondo Beach CA. need I say more...

This is what i was referring to on my previous post... Dangers of captitalism:

The total number of riders in 1970 was less than that of 1910. The reasons for these declines are complex and often political. Los Angeles, for example, had over 1,000 miles of trolley and interurban lines before 1930; this system was taken over by a private company, dismantled, and replaced with noisy, polluting, and comparatively slow buses. Since few people chose to ride them, costs rose, thereby cutting the number of passengers further. To reduce costs, private companies eliminated outlying branches and smaller stations. These trends, along with inexpensive gasoline, suburban and highway development, the deterioration of older subway lines, and the greater freedom cars offered, helped turn the United States into a car culture.

source: http://www.answers.com/topic/public-transport

 

[Anttech]

Also, before you go stroking Euro-manufacturers for their tiny cars, don't forget that the narrow streets found in European cities make it a pragmatic matter as much as anything else

bentley? Rolys Royce? BMW 5 7 series? Mercedes E class? Range Rover? ...Small cars? We have smaller cars here in general, but not all are small... Most are better than anything any American company can offer in efficency and performance... Due to the fact they have to be, because of very high pertrol prices..

UK $/gal 4.41
US $/gal 1.46
Italy $/gal 3.62
ireland $/gal 3.69