[Spam] Re: [Vision2020] oil supply/demand

[roger hayes]

Dick:
  Thanks for your public and private reply. I too remember 29 cent 
gasoline. Indeed, I remember paying 25 cents a gallon at one point. I 
also remember Moscow as a quieter town where not every college student 
had a car, most high school students rode the bus or walked, and 
pedestrians could ply the crosswalks with little fear. Ah, times have 
changed.

That said, my largest concern is that our nation will not have the 
tools to deal with the looming oil decline. Many studies show that we 
have passed the apex of new oil discoveries. According to some studies, 
new oil discoveries come in at 4 barrels to every 10 currently 
consumed.  Within 10 or possibly fewer years, the price of gas may 
create vast hardships for us. Yet, few are willing to acknowledge that 
some planning must be done in order to prepare for this event. 
Certainly, no leadership seems forthcoming from the current 
Administration or Congress.  Then who should begin dealing with the 
problem?  The answer is us. The consumer and citizen. Therefore, your 
suggestions for conservation are well taken.

Precious oil is being wasted frivolously in gas guzzling vehicles 
driven without thought for the future. What will prices of goods be if 
transportation companies have to charge 2, 3 or more times the current 
cost of fuel?  No matter how much money we make, this good life we 
enjoy now will certainly change, and not for the better.

I do hope science, and citizens come up with some alternative, 
workable, affordable fuel, but we must keep in mind that fuel energy is 
not easily created.  While we have ample reserves to tide us over until 
the infrastructure can change to provide this alternative, we should be 
conserving our resources. We do not have enough to waste.

Sincerely,

Roger Hayes
Moscow





On Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 07:51 AM, Dick Schmidt wrote:

> Roger,
>
> You hit the nail directly on the head. We have to decrease use of fuel 
> in
> order for the price to decrease. There are many ways to help conserve 
> fuel.
> 1. Don't let your car sit and idle for 15 to 30 minutes to warm it up 
> in the
> morning. It is better for your car if you scrape the windows and get 
> in and
> drive it. It will warm up sooner and it is better for the engine. 
> Don't go
> out and drive 70 until the engine has warmed though.  (I spent most of 
> my
> life in Michigan hearing that from the automotive engineers) Some 
> areas are
> now forbidding you to warm your car up in the morning to cut air 
> pollution
> and conserve fuel.
> 2. Roger's idea of riding a bike and walking are excellent. Short 
> trips in a
> car usually give you very poor gas mileage. I think the bus idea would 
> work
> a little better here if they started about 6:30 AM and more people 
> would use
> it to go to work.
> 3. Planning trips and making a "need list"  can cut out 3 or 4 trips 
> to the
> stores each week.
> I'm an old guy and can remember when gas was $0.299 a gallon so it 
> really
> makes me set up and take notice when last spring break we paid over 
> $2.00
> for gas in California and it is headed that way here.
> I have a very large "bee in my bonnet" over the fact the technology is 
> here
> today to increase gas mileage by 15% and cut pollution by 15% but 
> Detroit
> won't spend the $100 or so per vehicle to install it. CAFE standards 
> must be
> raised to force the issue!
> Do you know there is a combination spark plug/fuel injector which 
> injects
> fuel directly into the cylinder? Developed by Orbital Engine an 
> Australian
> Technology company and GM.
>
> Dick Schmidt
>