You are absolutely correct, Dan. It is all about the choices we make: where we live, how big of a house we "need", how big of a car we "need", how big of a family we "need", what we eat, how we maintain--or fail to maintain--our health, how we use our time, how we spend or invest our money, etc. Cheap fuel over many generations in the US has resulted in a very mobile society compared to only a 100 years ago. It used to be that the older generation farmers lived in the home of the next generation farmer when they gold "old". Now everybody wants to move to the big city, or the big state, or the big opportunity and leave grandpaps and g-ma to fend for themselves. I can only speak for my own family - that was not how we did things. It remains to be seen how my children treat me. Jim In a message dated 6/21/2008 7:13:20 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Well Jim, That is a great tool to help people choose less impactful automobiles in the AZ area, but here in the Northeast we are going to likely have senior citizens on social security turning into ice cubes this winter as a result of the increase to heating oil (aka Diesel) A much more efficient way to govern peoples personal decisions regarding the automobiles they choose to buy would be an annual registration tax based on weight or economy—or adding to the cost of road fuel via tax per gallon (although it is the best way, it is political suicide and nobody dares to introduce it). In the northern most county of Maine (Maine is the oldest state in the nation, and the far north county of Maine is the oldest in the state btw…) we have people that burn between 1500 and 2000 gallons of fuel per winter in old farm houses- nearly a $10,000 annual cost. SSI income for the whole year is barely enough to cover just the fuel to heat the house, let alone food. This is impacting more than the daily commute and with serious consequences for those of us that don’t live in the sunbelt. It will have a devastating impact on people below the poverty line. In 2004 heating oil was averaging $1.42 per gallon. This year, we have pre-buy offers at $4.99, that is a 3.35X increase in only 4 seasons with no cost adjustment for our own elderly and disabled. That may be why no one has ever listened to you about increasing the price of gas and oil, it reaches far deeper than our cars. From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 1:41 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: NPC: NMC: Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less - Petition I have said for years - although no one has ever listened - that gasoline should cost more. I'll complain as much as anyone, but price will - and already has - had a major impact on the consumer's decision making. New truck and SUV sales are way off this year. Ever ride bumper cars at the fair? Nobody gets hurt because all the "vehicles" are the same size. That's the way to make our streets and highways safer as well. And, FWIW, here in the arid west water should be a lot more expensive as well. It is way to cheap and people make a lot of bad decisions based on cheap water. Jim in Tucson In a message dated 6/20/2008 9:53:40 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Personally, I would love to see oil stay high like it is – but not enough to break the economy – and let the economics continue to spur alternatives to enough of an unstoppable degree that even if the competition drives oil back down (not likely with china and india and oil nations themselves increasing demand), we have other choices. There seems delightfully a bewildering array of alternatives RIGHT NOW! solar, wind, thermal, tidal, safer nuclear, electricf cars, hydrauilic hybrids, better batteries, fuel cells, smart highways, SO MUCH! Why would anyone go back to singular reliance on stinky fossil fuels alone? ____________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McElwee Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2008 12:36 AM To: Fred Hubert Cc: miatapower List Subject: Re: NPC: NMC: Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less - Petition Even though I disagree with everything Thomas said and have a huge problem with his leftist thinking, I don't see any reason to stop him from saying it. If he wants to show that he is a complete moron (in a NMC/NPC thread) I have no problem with it. If someone starts spouting political garbage in my "rear main oil seal" thread then they should be strung up by their testicles. On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 8:14 PM, Fred Hubert <[EMAIL PROTECTED] (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) > wrote: Let's keep the politics off list please. ~ Fred Thomas Smith wrote: > I think we need to see this issue for what it really is. Access to > cheaper oil will not lower gas prices, but it will increase oil > company profits which I think is the likely goal of the Bush > administration. This idea that the oil companies would pass any cost > reductions onto the consumer is comical. -- Robert McElwee and Blue Flash "The 40 MPG Miata" _www.lightweightmiata.com/mpg_ (http://www.lightweightmiata.com/mpg) Lightweight Miata Forum: _www.lightweightmiata.com/forum_ (http://www.lightweightmiata.com/forum) The Miata Trailer Project: _www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer_ (http://www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer) _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower ____________________________________ Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient _used cars_ (http://autos.aol.com/used?ncid=aolaut00050000000007) . _______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower **************Gas prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. 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