OT Sep 1st Gas Day

I remember once, a construction crew pumping out a storm sewer, pump wasn't working well, so a guy went down in man hole, he died, as did a second guy who went to his rescue. These guys did not die from carbon monoxide but rather lack of oxygen. Precisely why the pump wasn't working well either, lack of oxygen. Man and other species have adapted well to harmful chemicals. He will not fare so well without oxygen. We would now have colonies on other planets if we just knew how to lick that oxygen problem.

As a society I see three areas we could substancially reduce our use of fuel (1) reduce air travel by 60% or more (2) get long haul trucks off the highway (3) reduce our personal use of fuel. Most of those folks flighting around the world by air are not getting anything out of the trip anyhow. I know a couple, they have been to every corner of the world, didn't learn a thing, went right over their heads. I met up with a trucker last week, he hauls Ontario hot house tomatoes to British Columbia, his back haul, British Columbia hot house tomatoes to Ontario. Really, how different can those tomatoes be? I've been told if you conduct a roadside survey most weekends, ask folks where they are headed when they left home, about 30% have no idea, just driving.

The rich investers of the world love habits like these. These are just a few minor examples. It's business, and it's called, "relieving over paid folks of their money". We had a gas station operator in my home town, kind of a Boss Hogg type of guy. That was his business philosophy, "relieving overpaid folks of their money".

Hugh:

Well said. Someday when I get a little older, I am only 51, so still a little wet behind the ears :-)), I will be glad to have a little of the wisdom you show in a lot of your posts.

Now for a comment -- yup, get the tractor trailers off the highways. That will save fuel, lower emmissions by orders of magnitude and save lives, never mind wear and tear on our nations highways. We need to use rail again -- unfortunately the railroads overpriced themselves out of the market and had to start shutting down lines -- CN and CP are prime examples... also, keep the government's fingers out of it.

Rail really is the best way to ship large amounts of materiel economically. The only other avenue - where practical is ship -- Great Lakes, East and West coast need to take more advantage of these modes.

Also, revitalizing our railroads and our ships will provide many more jobs in building/maintaining railroad infrastructure, equipment and of course ship building, which would be a boone for both of our countries. Course the US will have to modify the Jones Act to conform with NAFTA - that way best bidder wins for both sides.. also, both of our countries would have to modify how we flag our vessels -- instead of flags of convienence we need to make sure US ships are flagged in the US and Canadian ships are flagged in Canada - instead of Liberia or Panama as the case may be. We also need to make sure we use national crews - and not allow companies to use crews from Asia and other nations who will work for a pittance...

Ok, off of me soapbox now... :-))))

As a society we must learn to burn less fuel, and maybe we should concern ourselves about using less of the oxygen it takes to burn the fuel. Let me run this one by you, see how everyone feels about it. How would you like it if we banned all motor sports, not allow trucks to cross more than one state or provincial boundry, banned all but emergency air travel and last but not least ration personal use of fuel. It doesn't matter how you approach this matter, by this time next year your cost of living will be up 25%. Your added cost of personal fuel is quite minor. Wait until you get the bill for the added fuel cost of producing and moving goods we consume.

Then there is another approach, put controls on the price of fuel. Add air meters to all internal combustion engines and industrial plants, then charge them a tax based on consumption of oxygen. Earth's atmosphere contained 40% oxygen at the beginning of the industrial revolution. In 2005 that is now below 20%. It wasn't the smokers of the world that caused that one. However 30 years ago they were the ones using inhalers, today half the kids in elementry schools have them. Given the choise folks, I'll take the oxygen over gasoline and diesel anyday.

We have yet to scratch the tip of the ice berg. Our economy is going to change drastically. Are you ready? Maybe rather than buying those parts from Asia, you'll have to buy parts made by your neighbor who gets a comparable wage to you.

One of the major plays in the price of fuel right now is speculation. Gasoline futures are being bought and sold at unheard of levels by traders trying to play the market.

Of course the only way to control costs is by curbing the demand. Fuel efficent vehicles, shared commutes, public transportation, etc. are not going to happen unless gas prices stay where they are or increase. Of course most of us on this forum are rural people and high costs are going to affect us more than urban people who can use public transportation, etc.

I personally feel that we would be better of brainstorming on ways to save fuel than we would be by complaining about it.

My 2 cents. Nathan

• 2002 Gas Taxes by State

In the current economic climate the only way gas prices can drop is if people stop buying the stuff for MONTHS – i.e stop driving entirely. And that’s not likely to happen…

Sorry, but in my opinion, it's a waste of time.