oldsoldier's Blog

Windmills make as much sense as anything else.....might be pretty...

I feel like Don Quixote anyway, trying to chase the price of gas!

I'm telling you, if just 1/2 of all women in this country would quit working (those with another source of income of course, like a terrific husband who would agree) sell your gas guzzeling mini and suvs, do you seriously know how much $ your family would save? I ran the figures, and I couldn't believe what we spend just on make up, hair, clothing, gas, upkeep to vehicle, and extras.........almost$533 a month. That's a whopping $6396 a year.........not worth it

I don't believe that global warming is a farce, the fact that the Wilkins ice shelf broke up and fell off much sooner than expected is to me quite startling. The idea that it is man's fault or that we have the power to completely change the course of the planet by doing one action like CO2 limitation is probably the farce. There have been two mass extinctions according to the fossil records. Scientists are still not 100% sure what role climate change may have played if any but it is believed that a much hotter planet may have done a large part of that extinction.

Dancomer, the students that I teach are not "rich" but they continue to drive and live exactly like they did when gas was $2.00. There are several of them within carpooling range,and I have asked why they don't try and buddy up to save some money. I get the response of well "Johnny" might not want to go to the mall after class and I do or I don't want to have to go back home when class is over because Mom/Dad will want me to do something. The excuses are so frivolous it isn't funny. They may change some as they get older and on their own but I doubt it. I still pass the same cars, trucks, and SUV's with the same single occupants they are also unwilling to change their habits. I think there will be a breaking point money wise that people will come around but we have not reached it yet, it may be $5.00 a gallon that makes them realize they don't need a Hummer, Suburban, Escalade, Excursion...etc. to go to work and back we have roads instead of trails and most of the luxury SUV's have never been in 4WD or off road. The SUV other than a family transporter or recreation vehicle is a pretty inefficient and unnecessary mode of personal transportation, it is however perceived to be a status symbol to many owners. I finally sold mine, and while it was nice vehicle it wasn't $100 a week fill up nice. We seem to have this misconception that we are entitled to drive around in a vehicle that gets 10mpg and should be able to fill it up for $20. Whether you think it is a conspiracy or we are really reaching a point that easy cheap oil is no longer readily available, we have shown that i

Gadget410, of course "kids" are not going to try to conserve anything. Most of them still live at home and don't have to pay any of the bills to begin with, plus they're maxing out their credit cards to buy gas, cds, dvds, booze, or whatever. But I still stand behind my remarks about the elite people who live in the gated communities. I also know that many millions of " the hard working poor " can barely afford to drive to their job, because I am one of them. Not that I am without any hope or optimism, but people do have to speak up in order to make changes happen.

I "go" as little as possible, but there are still sooooo many have-tos.....school, work, Doctor.....What else can we realistically do?

You're right, Gadget.....I keep a good tune-up, and tires fully inflated.....lots of us country folks run less than the recommended tire pressure (for more surface contact) in the Winter.....That does have a real effect, and sometimes we forget to pressure them back up -

When we DO forget, we're basically running on a smaller tire, especially around town.....therefore, more RPMs for the same speed.....

Right now, I'll listen to all the good advice available.....wasn't being a wise-ass.....

It's just not right to put $75.00 of fuel in something that doesn't fly!

I didn't check all the links, but I always questioned the end of the world because a certain ice shelf calved off.....

The other fact is, Al Gore gets a heckuva lot more publicity than the average weather guesser.......

grow and thrive at a depth of about 20 feet below the sea. The same thing has been noted in fossilized coral in Barbados.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/04/0504281801
23.htm

I just think it is insane, not only from a public health and environmental stand point, but also from a financial standpoint that we need to change our dependence on fossil energy if we continue with business as usual our children and our children's children will pay the price. This has happened before, in the 1970's Arab oil embargo new technologies that had no need for oil were emerging, the Arab's saw this as writing on the wall and out of fear of becoming obsolete dropped the price of a barrel of oil so cheap that these new companies and technologies went bankrupt. I am hoping that if we make the switch this time we will never go back and the Saudis and others will have to go back to herding sheep for a living, instead of living in palaces, buying jets and converting them to flying palaces and funding terrorism.

DW, I feel the same way I am glad there are people like you around... if we don't all work together to come up with alternatives you are correct this world is going to be in trouble. A good example of this is the immigration situation we are also dealing with. The answer is not to try to bring as many people as possible to the U.S.!! We will only succeed in destroying our country we must find ways to help those people where the are right now and improve their lives as they currently exist. The research I have done also backs up exactly what you are saying, petroleum has had the silver spoon of government subsidies in it's mouth since it's birth. It is ironic that the whole reason petroleum became what it is today is because we were using whale oil for lighting needs and almost hunted them to extinction until Edwin Drake drilled the first oil well and refined the crude to make kerosene. The early gasoline and other by products were dumped into streams and rivers as undesirable until the automobile came along. It is time that we say enough is enough and start doing something, I am fearful that it may be too late in some cases to stop the damage that has been done and as you say we will have a serious price to pay.