Gas prices going even higher???

[phisigprincess]

All I know is my credit card bills are astronomical and most of it goes to gas.

 

[marlasmom]

There used to be a law that car manufacturers had to achieve a certain gas mileage over their entire fleet. That, coupled with personal habits, brought the gas crisis in the 70s to a halt. What happened to that law?

I also drive a big car - it's a Lincoln - because it's the only car that my husband with his bad knee can get in and out of with a minimum of pain - although he still has pain.

 

[Charade]

There used to be a law that car manufacturers had to achieve a certain gas mileage over their entire fleet. That, coupled with personal habits, brought the gas crisis in the 70s to a halt. What happened to that law?

It's still there. CAFE is the name of it.

Welcome to the CAFE web site. First enacted by Congress in 1975, the purpose of CAFE is to reduce energy consumption by increasing the fuel economy of cars and light trucks.

Regulating CAFE is the responsibility of two federal agencies: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). NHTSA sets fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks sold in the U.S.; EPA calculates the average fuel economy for each manufacturer. This site contains an immense amount of information about the CAFE program, including a program overview, related rulemaking activities, research, fleet characteristics and summaries of manufacturers’ fuel economy performance since 1978.

 

[BuckNaked]

There used to be a law that car manufacturers had to achieve a certain gas mileage over their entire fleet. That, coupled with personal habits, brought the gas crisis in the 70s to a halt. What happened to that law?

The law is still in place, but I don't think it ever covered the entire fleet, i.e., I think that light trucks were not part of equation. When SUVs came along, they were considered light trucks, so they aren't included in the equation either. At least, that's the way I understand it.

And it wasn't the CAFE standards that brought the 1973 gas crisis to a halt - it was the end of the embargo on oil exports to the United States.

 

[Charade]

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/cafe/overview.htm

 

[toto2]

I drive an SUV. It's not a huge gas guzzler, but it is an SUV and uses more gas than the previous cars that I owned. I have no choice. Where I live, I need 4 wheel drive in order to drive to work in the winter. That was the only reason I bought it.

In my province ( and the whole Canada in fact) we can pretty much go around in cars ( there are a lot of SUV here too , that is not my point) and there is a lot of snow and people manage to get to work safely anyway. You dont NEED to have an SUV to get to work in winter , you prefer to have an SUV , you FEEL more comftable or more safe in an SUV , but you dont have to have an SUV. I am sure that there are no places south of the border ( of Canada) where it snows non stop between the end of october to the end of March. I am not trying to be sarcastic , just realistic. Now , It sounds like I am attacking you or something , and I am not , I am using your post because alot of people feel they dont have choice when there are choices. It like people when people say: I dont have a choice to have an SUV , we have three childreen and need to carry a lot of stuff , we just dont have a choice ! And you say , get a Mini-van , cheaper on gaz and more space, but they dont whant to get caught in a mini-van !

 

[CarolA]

I used to drive a Volkswagon. I lived on a very high hill. When it snowed... I could get up the hill... the SUVs got stuck and thier owners hiked.... I had a friend who was always giving me grief for not owning an SUV... until I wizzed past her as she walked.

Plus of curse our normal "winter precrip" here is ice.. NOTHING works then.

 

[SillyMe]

In my province ( and the whole Canada in fact) we can pretty much go around in cars ( there are a lot of SUV here too , that is not my point) and there is a lot of snow and people manage to get to work safely anyway. You dont NEED to have an SUV to get to work in winter , you prefer to have an SUV , you FEEL more comftable or more safe in an SUV , but you dont have to have an SUV. I am sure that there are no places south of the border ( of Canada) where it snows non stop between the end of october to the end of March. I am not trying to be sarcastic , just realistic. Now , It sounds like I am attacking you or something , and I am not , I am using your post because alot of people feel they dont have choice when there are choices. It like people when people say: I dont have a choice to have an SUV , we have three childreen and need to carry a lot of stuff , we just dont have a choice ! And you say , get a Mini-van , cheaper on gaz and more space, but they dont whant to get caught in a mini-van !

Yup, okay, then I guess it was my imagination that I couldn't make it up the hills on my roads in the last car I owned.

 

[Charade]

In my province ( and the whole Canada in fact) we can pretty much go around in cars ( there are a lot of SUV here too , that is not my point) and there is a lot of snow and people manage to get to work safely anyway. You dont NEED to have an SUV to get to work in winter , you prefer to have an SUV , you FEEL more comftable or more safe in an SUV , but you dont have to have an SUV. I am sure that there are no places south of the border ( of Canada) where it snows non stop between the end of october to the end of March. I am not trying to be sarcastic , just realistic. Now , It sounds like I am attacking you or something , and I am not , I am using your post because alot of people feel they dont have choice when there are choices. It like people when people say: I dont have a choice to have an SUV , we have three childreen and need to carry a lot of stuff , we just dont have a choice ! And you say , get a Mini-van , cheaper on gaz and more space, but they dont whant to get caught in a mini-van !

Why should anyone be concerned about what others need or want when it comes to the vehicle they drive?

Do you have the same feelings when someone buys a 4000 sq ft home for a family of 3? And they have a heated pool too.

What if they have that home plus a "vacation" home somewhere?

Should people not be able to spend their money on whatever they want and can afford?

In the "big picture" of life when it comes to gas guzzling SUVs, they have an insignificant impact on worldwide fossil fuel consumption. They are unfairly targeted by the treehuggers and environmentalists because they are highly visible.

 

[toto2]

Why should anyone be concerned about what others need or want when it comes to the vehicle they drive?

Do you have the same feelings when someone buys a 4000 sq ft home for a family of 3? And they have a heated pool too.

What if they have that home plus a "vacation" home somewhere?

Should people not be able to spend their money on whatever they want and can afford?

In the "big picture" of life when it comes to gas guzzling SUVs, they have an insignificant impact on worldwide fossil fuel consumption. They are unfairly targeted by the treehuggers and environmentalists because they are highly visible.

If you read my post , I just said that the poster had a choice , contrary to what she was thinking ( that she had no choice). And that I never stated that she had no problem going up that hill with her previous car . Just that she had a choice and the problem was with the car she had. In the choices she had were cars with better traction , Suv , snowmobile etc , and she chose the SUV , but yes , she had the choice.


I was very care full not to start to write about polution and all that , since that was not the subject of the thread , but gas prices. I went in that direction on another gas thread , and , unfortunatly for me , I ended up insulting someone , so I was not going there , I was just again speaking about choices .

People can have the house the size they want and do what they want with there driving habits. I live in a 3000 sq feet house , and we are two , with two cats and five gold fish. In winter , we dont heat the whole house , only the rooms we are using, our thermostat are on timers , so that I dont heat when we are out the the house or in the middle of the night when we are under down covers. We use to partly heat with a slowburning fireplace to save on electricity , but we stopped all together last year when Montréal had a smog problem in winter. We now will use this fireplace only in emergency situation.. We dont have air conditioning ( I hate the feeling of air conditionning). We sleep in the guet room in the basement when it gets to hot in the summer ( wich was almost every day this summer !). I try to dry some of my clothes on the cloth line and I bike to work (20kl total in the day) Those are my choices.

 

[Charade]

If you read my post , I just said that the poster had a choice , contrary to what she was thinking ( that she had no choice). And that I never stated that she had now problem going up that hill with her previous car . Just that she had a choice and the problem was with the car she had. In the choices she had were cars with better traction , Suv , snowmobile etc , and she chose the SUV , but yes , she had the choice.

I read that but you went on to say that she doesn't NEED an SUV, she WANTS one. How did you get from "she had a choice" to that if it wasn't to imply that you thought she didn't NEED and SUV whereas a different car would have been a better choice (by your standards)?

People can have the house the size they want and do what they want with there driving habits. I live in a 3000 sq feet house , and we are two , with two cats and five gold fish. In winter , we don't heat the whole house , only the rooms we are using, our thermostat are on timers , so that I don't heat when we are out the the house or in the middle of the night when we are under down covers. We use to partly heat with a slowburning fireplace to save on electricity , but we stopped all together last year when Montréal had a smog problem in winter. We now will use this fireplace only in emergency situation.. We don't have air conditioning ( I hate the feeling of air conditioning). We sleep in the guet room in the basement when it gets to hot in the summer ( wich was almost every day this summer !). I try to dry some of my clothes on the cloth line and I bike to work (20kl total in the day) Those are my choices.

Why did you just need to justify to me the house you live in? Why go through all that trouble to live in a house that big? Why didn't you choose a smaller house if there are only two of you (and your critters)? You don't NEED something that big, do you?


My point is, why are some people (not specifically you) so hard on people that make the choice (regardless if they don't think they have another choice) who drive SUVs but seem to be ok with 2 people living in a 3000 sqft home? Or someone else owning a second home? Or owning a boat? Or owning a motorhome?

The answer is simple. A lot of people hate SUVs because of the false impression that they a major contributor to high gas costs. That's patently untrue.

 

[skiwee1]

Yup, no justification needed, but don't judge people like me when we laugh as you drive away after spending $70 for a full tank

Who really cares what anyone else thinks when buying gas? For some folks spending $70 is a drop in the bucket. We have no problem filling up the tanks. I'd only judge someone that laughed because they'd look like an idiot.

 

[skiwee1]

I'm not going to flame you because I completely agree. I had to fill up this afternoon and gas is $2.47 a gallon! It was $2.33 on Friday. I was really pissed to see this Hummer in front of me. I'm not even going to say what I want to say about that car and its kind. It's obscene.

Oh please do. We own a hummer. Thankfully we are more mature then you to judge those simply because you don't like what they drive. THAT says a lot about you and it isn't very nice.

 

[skiwee1]

You don't need to justify to ANYBODY why you bought an SUV.

Exactly. Why does anyone have to explain what they chose to drive? I don't hear anyone here accusing someone of wasting fuel heating a larger home. We purchase our vehicles based on our WANTS. Sure we could drive a puny little economy car but we don't WANT one of those.

 

[Charade]

I'm not going to flame you because I completely agree. I had to fill up this afternoon and gas is $2.47 a gallon! It was $2.33 on Friday. I was really pissed to see this Hummer in front of me. I'm not even going to say what I want to say about that car and its kind. It's obscene.

So what other big ticket items do "it's kind" buy do you feel are obscene?

 

[BuckNaked]

So what other big ticket items do "it's kind" buy do you feel are obscene?

I more curious about why she would be "really pissed" to see a Hummer sitting in front of her? Do people really do that? I mean, are there really people that get angry because of what someone else is driving?

 

[skiwee1]

I more curious about why she would be "really pissed" to see a Hummer sitting in front of her? Do people really do that? I mean, are there really people that get angry because of what someone else is driving?

There are apparently nutty people everywhere in this world. Why someone would be even remotely angry because someone is driving a vehicle they do not like is beyond me. I do not like those little mini coopers but I would never laugh or be angry as someone for having one. Their money, life, and choice.

 

[toto2]

I read that but you went on to say that she doesn't NEED an SUV, she WANTS one. How did you get from "she had a choice" to that if it wasn't to imply that you thought she didn't NEED and SUV whereas a different car would have been a better choice (by your standards)?


Why did you just need to justify to me the house you live in? Why go through all that trouble to live in a house that big? Why didn't you choose a smaller house if there are only two of you (and your critters)? You don't NEED something that big, do you?

My point is, why are some people (not specifically you) so hard on people that make the choice (regardless if they don't think they have another choice) who drive SUVs but seem to be ok with 2 people living in a 3000 sqft home? Or someone else owning a second home? Or owning a boat? Or owning a motorhome?


The answer is simple. A lot of people hate SUVs because of the false impression that they a major contributor to high gas costs. That's patently untrue.

It was just to say that : a lot of people think they have no choice when they do have one.

I was justifying my self justto say that , like you say , I dont need that big a house , I choose one that i liked , at a price i could afford , and that since I dont like paying a lot of money to the electricity company , and I feel that If I use energy wisely , I contribute to a better environement , I do things to use less energy. It is my choice.

I am all right to any choices people make : it is what they make with these choices that I sometime have problems with. If today , on augustb 15th 2005 , you buy a big SUV ( I know the pster has a small SUV) , you almost forfeit your right to complain about gas prices , because you made a concious choice to buy a vehicule that uses a lot of gas. But it is a choice and It is none of my business.

I dont agree with this: half of the vehicule bought in Nort America are SUVs, and while there are many factors in the fact that the prices are rising as we saw on another thread about gas ( I am amaze at all the knowledge of our co-disher ! gas providers are still there for the profit , and I am sure one of the component of these prices increase is : See they are willing to pay for it , so we are going to charge for it !

 

[brerrabbit]

I don't want to get into the middle of a SUV discussion, but this reminds me of Ariana Huffington and a huge push she had a year or two ago saying that we needed to all drive hybrids to help with oil prices and shortages. She went to the extent of suggesting that people who drove larger vehicles were stupid, or Un-American. She was asked if lessening energy consumption was so important to her, why did she live in like a 6,000 sq ft home that had to be heated and cooled? Why did she take private jets so often when she traveled? She totally ignored these questions and continued to rant about people driving cars that were to big. At the end of the day we can have a long and heated discussion about the need for SUV's but the real discussion should be about total lifestyle. How efficient is you heating and cooling equipment at your house? Do you recycle? How conciensense are you of where you set your thermostat in your home? How well is you home insulated? What products do you buy and how many hydrocarbons does it take to manufacture those items? The whole energy price discussion is about a lot more than just how much gas your vehicle uses.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

No need for the snotty remarks or eye rolling. I don't normally care what others drive. I don't care what you spend your money on. It's your money and your free to do with it whatever you see fit. But yesterday when gas was almost $2.50, I was pissed. It's gone up almost a dollar since Feb.