"...Yet you seem to recognize the truckers right to deny US citizens the ability to travel..."
And what would you have them do when their elected officials refuse to speak with them and threaten to raise taxes even more? Throw tea into the harbor?
I find it interesting that people have no problem when various "activists" cause public inconvenience but when some hard-working blue collar people do it, it's a problem.
Albany has a long history of public demonstrations to redress real or perceived problems. Some I have agreed with, others not. All have cause a disruption of my schedule. I would never say that they couldn't petition their government because it was inconvenient for me.
For the record, the new governor (The one who didn't hang out with hookers) seemed to agree with me. He took the time to come outside and talk to the truckers while a lot of the politicos hid like rats. :sick:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I guess it all depends on how you define subsidies. If an oil exporter provides gasoline to its citizens for anything under market value they are giving up revenue. If an oil importer pays for a portion of the gasoline costs they are using revenue to do this. The net result is the same. If I was in charge of an oil exporting country I would not implement policies that promoted domestic use of this resource.
The bottom line in the debate is: We know the Feds and the States have used road tax money for other than building and maintaining roads. Mass transit should not be subsidized by road tax. CA steals that money for every project under the sun. That is currently 46 cents per gallon on gas. And it does go up with the price of gas. The Federal tax of 18 cents may or may not be enough to maintain the Interstates with all the bridges, overpasses etc. I think Congress would have asked for an additional amount, if they were not afraid to tell us where they have spent what we are now paying. I imagine it gets tossed into the same general fund with all the rest. Makes it hard to figure out what it is being spent on. From the condition of the roads in CA we are not getting our moneys worth.
If a country such as Iran or Venezuela feel so inclined to keep some of the oil for use by their citizens. I do not have a problem with that. The other end of the scale is Norway. They are an exporter of oil and yet they charge the highest price in the EU for gas to their citizens. I find that more offensive than trying to stimulate the economy with one of your natural resources. In the case of Mexico they are just now coming into the 21st century. They are getting factories and producing food for export. To crush that delicate economy with $4 per gallon gas would probably not be wise. Unless you want an even bigger mass exodus North.
I definitely support a person or groups right to exercise free speech to convey their grievances. I do not recognize a groups right to impose themselves on the public because they are unhappy about something. This tactic represents a form of extortion. And this opinion applies to all groups, not just truckers.
I understand that these truckers are unhappy with high diesel prices. What exactly do they want the government to do? That's great that the new governor hung out with these disgruntled truckers. Does he have any suggestions?
You hinted at the real problem the world faces..too many bipeds.
I didn't think I was hinting at that, but when I post early in the morning, who knows.
But yeah, I remember living in Anchorage during the inflationary mid-80's bust when 25 to 50 thousand people left town. There was a noticeable ease in traffic congestion.
Getting back to the bubble post, we may be pushing the envelope on the price of RUG right now, but you know prices never seem to fall all the way back to the level they were at before the run-up. So we could see $3 a gallon gas, but probably won't see it much below that, even though it wasn't all that long ago that we were griping about paying $2.50 for RUG.
And we'll probably continue to use some of the "highway" trust funds to keep "personal" transportation affordable, but personal is going to mean more bus type service.
Good question to send this octopus like forum off on another 1000 post tangent.
I think that we have a ton of options to ameliorate the difficulties today. However I think that they will all take time to get to market. I too think that the market will find more economical solutions. But we have to get them to market first, then we have to accept them as reliable and cost effective, then we have to find vehicles to use them.
In the meanwhile I can see petro-fuel escalating faster and faster. The good 'ol days of 2008-09 when we only had to pay $4.00 for our fuel seems reasonable if we end up having to pay $6 in 2012 or can't buy any at all at $8 in 2015 due to spot shortages.
But I'd guess that right about then we will have more than 50% of the national fleet as hybrids or small efficient gassers. PHEVs and EREVs will still be premium niche vehicles IMO. Fuel cell vehicles will be really hot if there's no dino-fuel. But my best hope is bio diesel and celluosic ethanol which can be produced by every municipality on earth each for their local residents. Neither intrudes on the food supply and both can be made year-round. Both also use the current ICE technology only slightly modified.
I was dubious that China implement that increase so steeply. Good, thing, although I haven't seen the price move yet.
My view is that the new price is still too low as there is barely any tax. Only my area is a bit more clever as the local government adds 1 RMB per liter to pay for infrastructure. Prices before increase are 6 RMB / liter for 97 RON UL (7 RMB/L in my area) which is 3.28 USD /Gallon (3.84 USD/ Gallon)
I don't understand how CNN would claim one USG would cost $1.48. There is no reason filling-up in Shanghai would be such a bargain.
I just spent the last 2 weeks in San Diego on business. I hadn't been out there for an extended period for over 20 years. Believe it or not I was pleasantly surprised when it came to the condition of the roads and the flow of traffic. It's better than a lot of other areas I've had to travel to. It's better than where I live in So. Maryland. Definitely more traffic but enough lanes to keep it moving at or above the speed limit. I was staying in Rancho Bernardo and it was around 75 degrees and sunny every day; pretty nice. The down side was that gas prices were about 60 cents higher than what I pay in MD. Minor nuisance as far as I'm concerned. I'd move back in a heartbeat given the opportunity.
Yet all these oil exporting countries that offer cheap gas still don't have a standard of living comparable to countries where gas is considerably more expensive. I have no personal knowledge of Norway but I suspect that I'd rather live there than Mexico if it wasn't for the fact that it might be a little cold. Mexico is running out of oil. They might not be an exporter much longer. If this happens the fact that they promoted domestic gasoline consumption by offering low prices might not seem like the brightest idea.
And we'll probably continue to use some of the "highway" trust funds to keep "personal" transportation affordable, but personal is going to mean more bus type service.
Maybe riding the bus would be a good incentive find a better job. Where is it written that someone making minimum wage has the inalienable right to a car and the gas to run it? If all the 20+ year olds running around in blinged out Tahoes & Civics were forced to ride the bus it would alleviate a lot of congestion.
Alaska in mid 80s was tough. The Exxon Valdez mess brought the state back to life. Not the best way to pull out of a recession.
Yet all these oil exporting countries that offer cheap gas still don't have a standard of living comparable to countries where gas is considerably more expensive.
Many countries have been kept in poverty by horribly corrupt governments. Countries like Iran and Venezuela are trying to make it look like they are helping the citizens with cheap fuel. Mexico has a lot of problems. I don't think keeping gas cheap is the biggest problem. It is the upper classes do not want to give up their power to the masses. The countries that have built factories down there have helped to establish a kind of middle class. These people are buying cars and living in decent homes instead of cardboard boxes. I think it would be a mistake to pull the rug out from their growing economy.
A lot of these oil rich countries have much of its sparse population living in poverty while one or two guys live in wealth beyond the dreams of avarice. One dude has a house as big as a hotel and eight Audi A8's with body panels made out of silver. Oil has made it possible to for them ski in the middle of the desert.
Hey lemko, good to hear from you. I grew up in Shamokin, so I can appreciate what you are saying. I was up at Hometown the other day as they are building 57 wind mills! 18 miles across the top of the mountain. But, they are building them on top of some of the finest coal in the world! It could be used safely and cleanly, but not with our "leaders". Like I said, Sad!!!!
It's funny, seems like the road building projects around here get spread over a longer period of time than originally proposed . . and they always end up costing more than originally projected.
Of course we don't have the money to keep pace with maintenance now. We haven't maintained them worth a flip up til now. That happens when we neglect maintenance. We've done much the same thing with a lot of our infrastructure.
Obviously if you spread over a long enough period of time, maintenance costs will exceed construction costs. For any given period of time construction costs should always be higher. Thing is construction costs do get eliminated or retired at some point. Maintenance continues, but it should be relatively lower. I have to figure that a good portion or maybe the majority of our taxes and tolls are earmarked for new construction ( dancing girls with grapes :P ). There are 2 Interstates being built near me now, including upgrades to existing roads as well as new construction, so the project is hardly complete yet.
My parents a bit further northeast of Shamokin in a little town called Freeland outside of Hazleton, PA. Sad thing is high fuel prices have kept me from visiting them as often as I would like.
I've always been fascinated with the history of the anthracite coal region and its railroads. Shamokin used to have a big coal works called the Glen Burnie Colliery way back in the day. A little further north of Shamokin outside of Mahanoy City still stands the St. Nicholas breaker. Built in 1931, it was once the largest coal breaker in the world. It had a twin called the Summit Breaker in Locust Summit which unfortunately was torn down in 2002.
Hoping for a resurrection of King Coal...minus the horrible abuses of the evil coal barons of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries of course!
The NYT and others are reporting a lack of deep sea drill ships. Highlights from the stories: - current drill ships are booked for the next five years. - the cost of a new drill ship is up 25% since last year to about $500 million. - drilling costs can reach $600,000 a day, in 2002 it was 1/4 of that. - Samsung has an order for an arctic capable ship, costing a cool $942 million! - another drill ship, West Polaris, will weigh 12,400 tons more than the Battleship Bismarck.
Well, I know where Freeland is, and hope you can get back soon. It is sad when you know how it use to be in the "Coal Regions" and now, there isn't much there other than some good people. I don't have much hope that our current situation will improve in the near furture but maybe if it gets bad enough there will be some solution everyone can agree one before it is too late.
Of course we don't have the money to keep pace with maintenance now
Politicians don't get many photo ops funding maintenance. But offer up a shiny new capital project, be it a brand new road or stadium and the money magically appears.
Of course, the operations and maintenance money never tags along with the new projects either.
Very good people and very good food. I can go out to the bars with $10 in my pocket, have a good time, and come home with change! In Philly, I'm lucky to pay for parking with that. I like to go up to the coal region just to get away from the city for a few days. Of course the slow pace does get to me after a while and I have to return to the hustle and bustle of Philly.
EU countries have different approaches regarding car ownership. In UK, there is a road tax which is engine power dependant (not sure about the details though).
France had such a tax but it was withdrawn in 2000 in order to make things simplier. There is still a car licence tax which increases with engine power, but it just amounts to a few hundred euros and is paid the first time one makes the car registration paperwork.
as recently as 1st january 2008, France set-up a system of Bonus/Malus which grants cash rebates when buying fuel saving cars as new, whereas buying gas guzzling ones require a surcharge that can go as high as 2600 Euros ( about 4100 USD). cars which emit between 100 and 119 g of CO2/ km are eligible to a 700 Euro rebate for instance, but there are other steps.
Every 2 years, the thresholds will be lowered by 2% I think . A car with less than 100g CO2 / Km is eligible for a 5000 Euro rebate, but such model is not marketed in mass yet (in Europe).
I am considering a Toyota Agyo / Citroen C1 / Peugeot 107 (all 3 cars being the same rebadged model), with the gas version at 51 mpg in mixed driving (sequential box). The high Euro makes the car cost equivalent to 18000 USD, but it is still an econobox here. (A Honda Fit would cost up to 28000 USD...)
>he other end of the scale is Norway. They are an exporter of oil and yet they charge the highest price in the EU for gas to their citizens. I find that more offensive than trying to stimulate the economy with one of your natural resources
I think Norway is a good example of a country which manages its oil resource in a very smart way. It is true they don't stimulate the economy much with oil, but otoh, they reallocate the oil tax on preparing for a future without oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Economy Looking at this, it seems that it is not a bad place to live in, and their continuous budget excesses ensure the future generations won't have to shoulder a burden as in so many other developed countries. Look at their unemployment rate. On top of that, their sovereign fund looks like pretty big.
While I would not claim cheap/subisdized gas is impoverishing nations, I believe this plays a role in a country slower development, including the US.
Perhaps this might make you look upon our herring gobbling Norwegians more kindly my friend.It's a small population country(4.7 million). And they have this really huge fund called the petroleum fund which is the state pension for all Nowegians.They invested 50% overseas because they didn't want to drive inflation up in Norway. It has a value of 1.93 trillion NOK. It is the largest pension fund in europe and the second largest in the world.And while they do charge and arm and a leg for retail gasoline it isn't all half bad. I want to be a Norwegian!
When you have as much oil as Norway and a closed society with so few people you can afford to be stingy. I don't think you will be let in unless you have a high degree of education in a field they are looking for. They do not have the illegal alien problem we have in the USA. I prefer our open and sort of free society.
Darn, dash my hopes and dreams why don't you ? So I guess liking sardines, cousin of the herring isn't good enough? Guess I'm fated to struggle though life as an American then.
Hey, someone should tell the 7 million foreigners who migrate to the United States every year (legally and otherwise) that they're wasting their efforts. They should focus on Norway, since life is so great there, and forget the U.S., since we're not "progressive" enough.
Maybe we should post signs at the airports and border crossings (legal and otherwise).
Ha 600,000 is cheap. Go check out the company Transocean their stock ticker is RIG. Cute ticker right?
They are the only company who can do true deep water drilling and it is a minimum 700,000 USD a day and yes their ships are booked out well past five years.
I was laughing my head off when Bush proposed drilling off the coast again because the only want to get any oil out of their in less then a decade would be to build our own drill ships. Everyone else is booked out and the best company at it in the world who can get the hardest to reach oil is booked out even further.
I am sorry if the way I wrote about Norway was offensive in any sort.
Of course, the US are the best country in the world by far and without any comparison possible.
I was just drawing attention to some point regarding energy policy that imho was pretty well managed in Norway and which would - if cleverly applied - improve an already excellent situation in the US.
You weren't offensive in any way. That's just my standard response any time I hear that some country has an edge over the United States.
The truth is that some countries do, but I'm not moving to any of them.
As far as taxing gasoline and "earmarking" that money for the benefit of the taxpayers, we already have a system like that. We call it "social security."
Anyone who thinks that our friends in Congress have done a good job managing that money is free to vote for candidates who will slap a $3/gal. tax on gas and re-distribute it to "the people."
Just my own personal experience. Diesels, first of all, last a lot longer. I believe because there are less parts in a diesel engine. That is why big rigs are diesels. Besides the better mileage that they get. As for starting them, by now I am sure they must have easier starting systems for them. My diesel had 'glow plugs', not spark plugs, that was 1981, I dont know what they use now to start them. But in mine, all I had to do was wait like 5 seconds till the light went off on the dash, it meant the 'glow plugs' were hot and it started just fine. I would think someone has invented something more intelligent by now. But I dont know. IF you live in a cold part of the country, the new diesels must have automatic heaters for the fuel and engine to keep it easy to start.
It has been over 20 years since I had a diesel. I had a Diesel Rabbit in 1981, it got over 50mpg!!!! on the highway and over 40mpg in the city!! Yet new diesels VW's get no where near that mileage...I have no idea how they lost so much mileage over the years. Dumb move! They barely get anything better than any typical 4cyl car. My Aveo get nowhere near that mileage and it is a smaller engine and a lighter car! THAT I do not understand at all!
I would buy a diesel car in a flash if the fuel was not now so much more expensive than gas,...and for a lot less money, you can get a gas model of the same car, versus a diesel model. You can buy a 4cyl car that gets nearly the same mileage! Diesel use to be SO much less expensive than gas, AND you got so much better mileage in the same model car. The engine IS built much stronger, in my opinion. But until they get back to 50mpg...I'll stick to my expensive gas engine.
"There's one of their dealers that made a $5,000 challenge to the super critics . Do you want to put your money where your mouth is ? If they can't obtain a 50% fuel efficiency on an vehicle of your choice you'll be $5,000 richer . Easy money , right ? "
Hey, sounds good. I'll let them install one on my pickup for free. If there isn't a 50% increase in fuel economy, they can give me $5,000. Heck, if there is, I'll even pay for the dang thing since, at 50% mpg increase, my break even point would be about a year.
Please put me in contact with the dealer willing to do this as soon as possible. If they can make it work, I'll be the first one to eat crow and post the results on this bulletin board. I wouldn't "go silent" if you could make this thing work. I'd be telling everyone.
VW has just announced pricing on their new diesels to be sold in all 50 states in a couple of months. It's around $22K for the Jetta sedan, and $1500 or so more for the wagon. What I haven't seen announced is what their projected fuel economy is. But it stinks for them that they finally managed to get 50-state diesels to market just at the moment when diesel is $0.75/gallon more than regular unleaded. :sick:
And yes, that makes the diesel only 15% more expensive, while the cars themselves will hopefully do at least 30% better than their gas counterparts for fuel economy, but people will only see that $5.25 pricetag on diesel, and may stay away.
Not to mention that the VW diesel models are heavy and big-engined, so their fuel economy only barely beats the GAS fuel economy of some small Japanese models. Well, at least, maybe. As I say, we have yet to see how the new Jetta/Rabbit/Beetle diesels are rated. If they can get into the mid 40s under the new EPA rating regime, then they will offer at least 25% better fuel economy than the best gas-only cars for sale now, and about the same as the best hybrid cars on the market.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
That was maybe true if you have in mind an atmospheric diesel engine of the 1980s like for a MB 220D 240D or 300D which had amazing longevity with their iron cast blocks.
This is not true any more with current diesel cars, because the engine has become much more complex. Variable geometry turbo (sometimes 2) EGR, High pressure injection with individual cylinder management, many sensors, Diesel particulate trap, de-Nox, and I forget many other devices to lower consumptions and emissions.
Basically, for what I see in France (70% of new sold vehicules are diesel) Diesels encounter their share of technical issues in all brands and are not measurably more reliable than their gas counter parts. They command higher used value despite their higher mileage, primary because of the 30% fuel economy advantage.
This doesn't lower the interest in diesel though, as those still remain reliable in general, but issues met with lower quality diesel fuel and water condensation for instance yielded some expensive experiences. And when an injector goes wrong, this is also a pain to the purse.
even at $9 a Gallon in Europe, I still consider a gas car when I go back to France and reliablility is something I definitely consider among others
Diesels encounter their share of technical issues in all brands and are not measurably more reliable than their gas counter parts
I just figured that they became the default engine for truckers because of the torque. Diesel mechanics always seem to be in high demand. One outfit over in Portland is converting them to run on cheaper LNG, but you need a local fleet to justify the pump installation expense.
Know how all the shippers, airlines, etc. are tacking on fuel charges? Here's another:
I don't really have a problem with these fuel surcharges being tacked on to moving violations. What will bother me is if it turns out that the cops are writing tickets for violations that they would have overlooked in the past. For instance if a year ago a cop would only pull you over if you exceeded the speed limit by 10 mph and now the threshold is 5 mph. We'll see if that starts happening.
The EPA ratings on the new Jetta TDI is 29/40 for the DSG model and 30/41 for the six speed manual model.
That is about 10 percent better then the the new EPA ratings for the old TDI Jetta but most people could get mid 40s on the highway out of the old Jetta so I would expect the new one can do the same. My boss had a 2000 or so TDI Jetta with a manual and he could get high 40s or close to 50 mpg on the highway. Plus the EPA even admits that their current test underrates diesels by about 18 percent. I thought I had the link to the PDF where they explain the error margin for Hybrids, gassers and diesels but I am having a hard time finding it now. I will keep looking to see if I can find it.
Lastly the TDI Jetta should qualify for the same tax credit that some hybrids qualify for. So far the Jetta isn't on the list of vehicles for the tax credit but other diesels are with a note that they fail the emission portion of the credit requirement. The Jetta will pass the emission portion since it is 50 state legal.
I would love to know what the raw EPA numbers were for the Jetta before all the adjustments since that is the number I believe is used to figure out the tax credit. Does anyone know where to find the CAFE rating for the Jetta?
Interesting idea. The Straightline headline is a little misleading though, it is only one small town that charges this so far. I have a feeling it will spread to other cities quickly. The article says that Atlanta has already passed a similar ordinance that is just waiting for the mayor to sign.
People will [non-permissible content removed] about it, but it seems reasonable to me. It is an additional fine for a moving violation. Don't violate the law, don't incur the fine. Not dissimilar to collecting tax on drug money over and above any other penalties.
Police protection is hard to argue against as being a necessary and proper government service. (more fun to argue over traffic laws) Police budgets are being hammered because of fuel costs. I don't think I mind shifting some of the burden to those who violate the law.
The two tickets I got in Montana back in 1977 were speeding 75 MPH and 76 MPH within an hour of each other. Both times the cop took my $5 fine and the tickets read "Wasting Natural Resources".
It seems like most of the hybrid models were out and being sold a few months before the Tax Credit was posted. Are the new Jetta TDI models for sale yet? I could get interested in the Sportswagon TDI.
They were supposed to be out by now but got delayed for some unpublished reason. Now they are supposed to be out for sale in august with dealer demos out any week now.
Once our VW dealer gets a demo I will try to borrow it for the night to see how it does.
>I don't think I mind shifting some of the burden to those who violate the law.
We could say the problem also originates in the ridiculously low speed limits that beg to be broken in quite a few areas. If the SL were reasonably and realisticly set, the Police wouldn' t need to make so many chases at the first place. In turn this would allow to reallocate more resources to more serious crimes.
How about the Police use a helicopter to chase some "speeders" going 75+ instead of 65 and add a surcharge of the corresponding fuel bill ?
I support the idea of the surcharge for all traffic offense including car robbery not only the speeding ones.
Make law enforcement reasonable and logical. It's hard to argue that a spedtrapping cruiser idling around cherrypicking someone going 70 in a 60 is the best use of taxpayer funded resources nor fuel.
Police protection is hard to argue against as being a necessary and proper government service. (more fun to argue over traffic laws) Police budgets are being hammered because of fuel costs. I don't think I mind shifting some of the burden to those who violate the law.
Up front - I am not a fan of our speed laws, or the way they are enforced. That being said, police protection is a service paid for by our taxes. It is not selective, meaning I get a lower tax bill if I live in a safer, less resource-intensive part of town than you do, or vice-versa. Ironically, I'd be more supportive of actions like active enforcement - I' love to see patrols like I saw in Germany, where the cops were out driving, looking for unsafe behavior (tailgating, DUI etc), rather than the "gotcha" mentality that prevails.
While it is good folks have another option to small cars and hybrids, it is also true that 29/40 isn't a HUGE amount above the 27/35 that Corolla offers, or 29/35 Yaris, even the 25/36 Civic offers. And those cars can all be had in medium trims for $5K ($7K for Yaris) less than the Jetta diesel sedans. (and are not subject to mark-up as may be the case with VW diesels this year)
Now if the Jetta wagon makes the same numbers, that is very significant. Both for people who might be considering some of the smaller wagons like Matrix etc (25/31 is the best Matrix can do) as well as folks downsizing out of crossovers and SUVs where they have developed an expectation of having more interior space in their cars.
As far as I know, VW expects the diesels to be on dealer lots within 3-4 months, is that still correct?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Like I said it is much more fun to argue about the various laws, and also how they are enforced BTW. I agree that traffic laws often seem very arbitrary and appear to be nothing more than revenue generators, and I also don't like the gotcha mentality that seems prevalent and the apparent inconsistent enforcement. That's the hand we've been dealt though, and in my experience, most of the arguments fall on deaf ears. :sick:
The Sportwagen is supposed to make the same numbers as the Jetta Sedan. The TDI Jetta will blow those EPA numbers out of the water when they actually get driven by real people.
The TDI Cup cars that VW is using to promote the Clean Diesel are averaging 25 mpg per race with an average speed of 87 mph. The TDI cup cars have 170 hp and 300 foot lbs of torque so a little more power then the street TDIs will have.
So this is what racers are doing to save fuel? Is this a brand new series with the Jetta TDI? Maybe Toyota ought to challenge VW with the Camry Hybrid. My money is on the Jetta for fastest time and least amount of fuel....I am starting to get excited about the Sportswagon. I will have to go drive the gasser to see if I feel too cramped.
Comments
And what would you have them do when their elected officials refuse to speak with them and threaten to raise taxes even more? Throw tea into the harbor?
I find it interesting that people have no problem when various "activists" cause public inconvenience but when some hard-working blue collar people do it, it's a problem.
Albany has a long history of public demonstrations to redress real or perceived problems. Some I have agreed with, others not. All have cause a disruption of my schedule. I would never say that they couldn't petition their government because it was inconvenient for me.
For the record, the new governor (The one who didn't hang out with hookers) seemed to agree with me. He took the time to come outside and talk to the truckers while a lot of the politicos hid like rats. :sick:
2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible
I understand that these truckers are unhappy with high diesel prices. What exactly do they want the government to do? That's great that the new governor hung out with these disgruntled truckers. Does he have any suggestions?
When's the right time? 2:00 in the morning?
I didn't think I was hinting at that, but when I post early in the morning, who knows.
But yeah, I remember living in Anchorage during the inflationary mid-80's bust when 25 to 50 thousand people left town. There was a noticeable ease in traffic congestion.
Getting back to the bubble post, we may be pushing the envelope on the price of RUG right now, but you know prices never seem to fall all the way back to the level they were at before the run-up. So we could see $3 a gallon gas, but probably won't see it much below that, even though it wasn't all that long ago that we were griping about paying $2.50 for RUG.
And we'll probably continue to use some of the "highway" trust funds to keep "personal" transportation affordable, but personal is going to mean more bus type service.
I think that we have a ton of options to ameliorate the difficulties today. However I think that they will all take time to get to market. I too think that the market will find more economical solutions. But we have to get them to market first, then we have to accept them as reliable and cost effective, then we have to find vehicles to use them.
In the meanwhile I can see petro-fuel escalating faster and faster. The good 'ol days of 2008-09 when we only had to pay $4.00 for our fuel seems reasonable if we end up having to pay $6 in 2012 or can't buy any at all at $8 in 2015 due to spot shortages.
But I'd guess that right about then we will have more than 50% of the national fleet as hybrids or small efficient gassers. PHEVs and EREVs will still be premium niche vehicles IMO. Fuel cell vehicles will be really hot if there's no dino-fuel. But my best hope is bio diesel and celluosic ethanol which can be produced by every municipality on earth each for their local residents. Neither intrudes on the food supply and both can be made year-round. Both also use the current ICE technology only slightly modified.
My view is that the new price is still too low as there is barely any tax. Only my area is a bit more clever as the local government adds 1 RMB per liter to pay for infrastructure.
Prices before increase are 6 RMB / liter for 97 RON UL (7 RMB/L in my area) which is 3.28 USD /Gallon (3.84 USD/ Gallon)
I don't understand how CNN would claim one USG would cost $1.48. There is no reason filling-up in Shanghai would be such a bargain.
Maybe riding the bus would be a good incentive find a better job. Where is it written that someone making minimum wage has the inalienable right to a car and the gas to run it? If all the 20+ year olds running around in blinged out Tahoes & Civics were forced to ride the bus it would alleviate a lot of congestion.
Alaska in mid 80s was tough. The Exxon Valdez mess brought the state back to life. Not the best way to pull out of a recession.
Many countries have been kept in poverty by horribly corrupt governments. Countries like Iran and Venezuela are trying to make it look like they are helping the citizens with cheap fuel. Mexico has a lot of problems. I don't think keeping gas cheap is the biggest problem. It is the upper classes do not want to give up their power to the masses. The countries that have built factories down there have helped to establish a kind of middle class. These people are buying cars and living in decent homes instead of cardboard boxes. I think it would be a mistake to pull the rug out from their growing economy.
Of course we don't have the money to keep pace with maintenance now. We haven't maintained them worth a flip up til now. That happens when we neglect maintenance. We've done much the same thing with a lot of our infrastructure.
Obviously if you spread over a long enough period of time, maintenance costs will exceed construction costs. For any given period of time construction costs should always be higher. Thing is construction costs do get eliminated or retired at some point. Maintenance continues, but it should be relatively lower. I have to figure that a good portion or maybe the majority of our taxes and tolls are earmarked for new construction ( dancing girls with grapes :P ). There are 2 Interstates being built near me now, including upgrades to existing roads as well as new construction, so the project is hardly complete yet.
I've always been fascinated with the history of the anthracite coal region and its railroads. Shamokin used to have a big coal works called the Glen Burnie Colliery way back in the day. A little further north of Shamokin outside of Mahanoy City still stands the St. Nicholas breaker. Built in 1931, it was once the largest coal breaker in the world. It had a twin called the Summit Breaker in Locust Summit which unfortunately was torn down in 2002.
Hoping for a resurrection of King Coal...minus the horrible abuses of the evil coal barons of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries of course!
- current drill ships are booked for the next five years.
- the cost of a new drill ship is up 25% since last year to about $500 million.
- drilling costs can reach $600,000 a day, in 2002 it was 1/4 of that.
- Samsung has an order for an arctic capable ship, costing a cool $942 million!
- another drill ship, West Polaris, will weigh 12,400 tons more than the Battleship Bismarck.
A nice picture of the West Polaris
http://siliconinvestor.advfn.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=24687191
Now I know why it costs $70 a barrel to drill in deep water.
Politicians don't get many photo ops funding maintenance. But offer up a shiny new capital project, be it a brand new road or stadium and the money magically appears.
Of course, the operations and maintenance money never tags along with the new projects either.
Well you can wash it down with Soylent Cola.
FWIW I hear that Soylent Green now has more red heads.
Man I watch to much Futurama
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
France had such a tax but it was withdrawn in 2000 in order to make things simplier. There is still a car licence tax which increases with engine power, but it just amounts to a few hundred euros and is paid the first time one makes the car registration paperwork.
as recently as 1st january 2008, France set-up a system of Bonus/Malus which grants cash rebates when buying fuel saving cars as new, whereas buying gas guzzling ones require a surcharge that can go as high as 2600 Euros ( about 4100 USD).
cars which emit between 100 and 119 g of CO2/ km are eligible to a 700 Euro rebate for instance, but there are other steps.
Every 2 years, the thresholds will be lowered by 2% I think . A car with less than 100g CO2 / Km is eligible for a 5000 Euro rebate, but such model is not marketed in mass yet (in Europe).
I am considering a Toyota Agyo / Citroen C1 / Peugeot 107 (all 3 cars being the same rebadged model), with the gas version at 51 mpg in mixed driving (sequential box). The high Euro makes the car cost equivalent to 18000 USD, but it is still an econobox here. (A Honda Fit would cost up to 28000 USD...)
I think Norway is a good example of a country which manages its oil resource in a very smart way. It is true they don't stimulate the economy much with oil, but otoh, they reallocate the oil tax on preparing for a future without oil.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norway#Economy
Looking at this, it seems that it is not a bad place to live in, and their continuous budget excesses ensure the future generations won't have to shoulder a burden as in so many other developed countries. Look at their unemployment rate. On top of that, their sovereign fund looks like pretty big.
While I would not claim cheap/subisdized gas is impoverishing nations, I believe this plays a role in a country slower development, including the US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Government_Pension_Fund_of_Norway
Maybe we should post signs at the airports and border crossings (legal and otherwise).
They are the only company who can do true deep water drilling and it is a minimum 700,000 USD a day and yes their ships are booked out well past five years.
I was laughing my head off when Bush proposed drilling off the coast again because the only want to get any oil out of their in less then a decade would be to build our own drill ships. Everyone else is booked out and the best company at it in the world who can get the hardest to reach oil is booked out even further.
Of course, the US are the best country in the world by far and without any comparison possible.
I was just drawing attention to some point regarding energy policy that imho was pretty well managed in Norway and which would - if cleverly applied - improve an already excellent situation in the US.
The truth is that some countries do, but I'm not moving to any of them.
As far as taxing gasoline and "earmarking" that money for the benefit of the taxpayers, we already have a system like that. We call it "social security."
Anyone who thinks that our friends in Congress have done a good job managing that money is free to vote for candidates who will slap a $3/gal. tax on gas and re-distribute it to "the people."
It has been over 20 years since I had a diesel. I had a Diesel Rabbit in 1981, it got over 50mpg!!!! on the highway and over 40mpg in the city!! Yet new diesels VW's get no where near that mileage...I have no idea how they lost so much mileage over the years. Dumb move! They barely get anything better than any typical 4cyl car. My Aveo get nowhere near that mileage and it is a smaller engine and a lighter car! THAT I do not understand at all!
I would buy a diesel car in a flash if the fuel was not now so much more expensive than gas,...and for a lot less money, you can get a gas model of the same car, versus a diesel model. You can buy a 4cyl car that gets nearly the same mileage! Diesel use to be SO much less expensive than gas, AND you got so much better mileage in the same model car. The engine IS built much stronger, in my opinion. But until they get back to 50mpg...I'll stick to my expensive gas engine.
Hey, sounds good. I'll let them install one on my pickup for free. If there isn't a 50% increase in fuel economy, they can give me $5,000. Heck, if there is, I'll even pay for the dang thing since, at 50% mpg increase, my break even point would be about a year.
Please put me in contact with the dealer willing to do this as soon as possible.
If they can make it work, I'll be the first one to eat crow and post the results on this bulletin board. I wouldn't "go silent" if you could make this thing work. I'd be telling everyone.
I'll be waiting...
And yes, that makes the diesel only 15% more expensive, while the cars themselves will hopefully do at least 30% better than their gas counterparts for fuel economy, but people will only see that $5.25 pricetag on diesel, and may stay away.
Not to mention that the VW diesel models are heavy and big-engined, so their fuel economy only barely beats the GAS fuel economy of some small Japanese models. Well, at least, maybe. As I say, we have yet to see how the new Jetta/Rabbit/Beetle diesels are rated. If they can get into the mid 40s under the new EPA rating regime, then they will offer at least 25% better fuel economy than the best gas-only cars for sale now, and about the same as the best hybrid cars on the market.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
That was maybe true if you have in mind an atmospheric diesel engine of the 1980s like for a MB 220D 240D or 300D which had amazing longevity with their iron cast blocks.
This is not true any more with current diesel cars, because the engine has become much more complex. Variable geometry turbo (sometimes 2) EGR, High pressure injection with individual cylinder management, many sensors, Diesel particulate trap, de-Nox, and I forget many other devices to lower consumptions and emissions.
Basically, for what I see in France (70% of new sold vehicules are diesel) Diesels encounter their share of technical issues in all brands and are not measurably more reliable than their gas counter parts. They command higher used value despite their higher mileage, primary because of the 30% fuel economy advantage.
This doesn't lower the interest in diesel though, as those still remain reliable in general, but issues met with lower quality diesel fuel and water condensation for instance yielded some expensive experiences. And when an injector goes wrong, this is also a pain to the purse.
even at $9 a Gallon in Europe, I still consider a gas car when I go back to France and reliablility is something I definitely consider among others
I just figured that they became the default engine for truckers because of the torque. Diesel mechanics always seem to be in high demand. One outfit over in Portland is converting them to run on cheaper LNG, but you need a local fleet to justify the pump installation expense.
Know how all the shippers, airlines, etc. are tacking on fuel charges? Here's another:
Georgia cops charging speeders fuel surcharge (Straightline)
That is about 10 percent better then the the new EPA ratings for the old TDI Jetta but most people could get mid 40s on the highway out of the old Jetta so I would expect the new one can do the same. My boss had a 2000 or so TDI Jetta with a manual and he could get high 40s or close to 50 mpg on the highway. Plus the EPA even admits that their current test underrates diesels by about 18 percent. I thought I had the link to the PDF where they explain the error margin for Hybrids, gassers and diesels but I am having a hard time finding it now. I will keep looking to see if I can find it.
Lastly the TDI Jetta should qualify for the same tax credit that some hybrids qualify for. So far the Jetta isn't on the list of vehicles for the tax credit but other diesels are with a note that they fail the emission portion of the credit requirement. The Jetta will pass the emission portion since it is 50 state legal.
http://www.dieselforum.org/policy-insider/energy-efficiency/federal-clean-diesel- -tax-credit/
Not sure how much the tax credit will be but it will probably be enough to cover the extra cost of the diesel over the gas engine.
The IRS hasn't even updated their list to cover 2009 MY vehicles yet.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=157632,00.html
Here is the most up to date list for tax credits.
It was done up in April so the EPA testing for the Jetta wasn't even done yet.
I would love to know what the raw EPA numbers were for the Jetta before all the adjustments since that is the number I believe is used to figure out the tax credit. Does anyone know where to find the CAFE rating for the Jetta?
Interesting idea. The Straightline headline is a little misleading though, it is only one small town that charges this so far. I have a feeling it will spread to other cities quickly. The article says that Atlanta has already passed a similar ordinance that is just waiting for the mayor to sign.
People will [non-permissible content removed] about it, but it seems reasonable to me. It is an additional fine for a moving violation. Don't violate the law, don't incur the fine. Not dissimilar to collecting tax on drug money over and above any other penalties.
Police protection is hard to argue against as being a necessary and proper government service. (more fun to argue over traffic laws) Police budgets are being hammered because of fuel costs. I don't think I mind shifting some of the burden to those who violate the law.
Once our VW dealer gets a demo I will try to borrow it for the night to see how it does.
We could say the problem also originates in the ridiculously low speed limits that beg to be broken in quite a few areas. If the SL were reasonably and realisticly set, the Police wouldn' t need to make so many chases at the first place. In turn this would allow to reallocate more resources to more serious crimes.
How about the Police use a helicopter to chase some "speeders" going 75+ instead of 65 and add a surcharge of the corresponding fuel bill ?
I support the idea of the surcharge for all traffic offense including car robbery not only the speeding ones.
Up front - I am not a fan of our speed laws, or the way they are enforced. That being said, police protection is a service paid for by our taxes. It is not selective, meaning I get a lower tax bill if I live in a safer, less resource-intensive part of town than you do, or vice-versa. Ironically, I'd be more supportive of actions like active enforcement - I' love to see patrols like I saw in Germany, where the cops were out driving, looking for unsafe behavior (tailgating, DUI etc), rather than the "gotcha" mentality that prevails.
Now if the Jetta wagon makes the same numbers, that is very significant. Both for people who might be considering some of the smaller wagons like Matrix etc (25/31 is the best Matrix can do) as well as folks downsizing out of crossovers and SUVs where they have developed an expectation of having more interior space in their cars.
As far as I know, VW expects the diesels to be on dealer lots within 3-4 months, is that still correct?
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
The TDI Cup cars that VW is using to promote the Clean Diesel are averaging 25 mpg per race with an average speed of 87 mph. The TDI cup cars have 170 hp and 300 foot lbs of torque so a little more power then the street TDIs will have.
or at least they were at VIR.
They were using the full course which is 3.27 miles long. The full course has too long straights one 4,000 feet and one 3,000 feet.
http://www.virclub.com/the-track/