Five reasons to love $4 gal gas!

[Buck]

"Sure, it's ruining the global economy and making everyone miserable, but there's an underappreciated upside to the high price of oil."

http://www.alternet.org/story/91628/?ses=e82411f5cffdf2dbe3e048a5402dd941

I guess America just need a kick in the wallet , and not the pants, to
get moving on energy independence.

[tufhelp]

I can't wait for the mass transit transportation station to open up in Redrock, New Mexico - It is only 30 miles past the middle of nowhere... Boy will I be saving gas money then! Lovein' it...

[walls0stone]

who will ride that with you and the conducter?

[chloe3388]

Good more fuel for us that live in the country!! The nearest mass transit is 75 miles..

No problem with obesity here I work!!

Yeah a bike will work on a rocky country road 20 miles from no where.

No change in my driving habits, still make my 2 to 3 trips to town a month..

But glad to hear some are enjoying their bikes and buses..

[docsoos]

I can't wait for the mass transit transportation station to open up in Redrock, New Mexico - It is only 30 miles past the middle of nowhere... Boy will I be saving gas money then! Lovein' it...

;D ;D ;D

DocSoos

[Buck]

Good more fuel for us that live in the country!! The nearest mass transit is 75 miles..

No problem with obesity here I work!!

Yeah a bike will work on a rocky country road 20 miles from no where.

No change in my driving habits, still make my 2 to 3 trips to town a month..

But glad to hear some are enjoying their bikes and buses..

Living so far out I'd guess you might want to hedge your bets and
get a mule team and buckboard. Crazy as it sounds I don't think
that you'll be alone if you do. ;)

[walls0stone]

sssoooo I guess we'll all be fat a little longer if the price of crude keeps falling...hhh-mmm? ? ?

[Clair_Schwan]

I have always thought that the "kick in the wallet" would be at $5 a gallon, and this would get us motivated. The problem is that the kick has to be swift, not 75 cents to a dollar rise each year. We get accustomed to higher prices and soon forget that pre-Katrina gas was $1.69 a gallon (at least here in Wyoming).

America in general is reactive. If it isn't in our face, then it really doesn't exist. Oil embargo, Pearl Harbor, September 11th, black outs, anthrax, E-coli, AIDS and so on are things that get us moving. It's because we are not good managers, and we don't believe clear and logical thinking, no matter how well it is articulated. (Some do, but most of us don't.)

Thomas Paine told us long ago, "time make more converts than reason", and he didn't just make that up...he had lots of experience with it, even 250 years ago.

If we have a crisis, we know what to do because it is staring us in the face or kicking us in the ass. At that point we can all agree to react. That is what creates the Al Gores and that is what fuels our media events.

I welcome higher fuel prices. It is the only way to get us motivated to do something about our situation. And, what gets done will not be because of the government, it will be in spite of the government.

We had a big push for hydrogen research with Carter, and Bush pledged the same thing just days before the invasion of Iraq, but technical limitations of hydrogen (and the big money of oil) keep us right where we are. Remember that oil is "the color of money".

Until the price of that commodity makes others fuel sources more cost-effective, we won't budge from our comfortable position, even at $8 a gallon.

The only thing we can do is respond to the marketplace. My long term response includes:

-wind turbines and PV
-solar hot water panels
-hydrogen generation and storage
-scrap wood fired outdoor furnace
-electric vehicle

I have been moving forward on my plans for about 5 years. My resources include a 125 foot free-standing tower in 8 pieces that should allow me to put up at least 2 wind turbines. I plan to build these myself.

I have 20 used 4 foot by 8 foot solar panels for DHW and greenhouse ground heating.

My supply of scrap wood will last about 10 years, and I have 9 wood stoves (3 installed). I also have a large and heavy iron tank that I will convert to an outdoor furnace. The design will be inverted gassification for complete combustion, low smoke and low fuel consumpton, and fed from the top. The furnace will heat water for my hydronic system and heat exchanger in the furnace air plenum.

In a few years I will be in a position to disconnect from the utility company. In a few more, I won't have much need for fossil fuels either. (I have already cut my fuel consumption by 75% since Katrina.)

It is all a choice - participate in the marketplace or create an alternative. I am looking out for myself by making investments in my future. I believe most of us are here in this forum to help others with a similar mindset to look out for themselves.

Good fortune to all,

Clair

[Buck]

"America in general is reactive. *If it isn't in our face, then it really doesn't exist."

THIS is the root cause that America is so far behind the rest of
the world in changing both our lifestyle and our infrastructure.

That and all the crazies that poo-poo the very idea of "change".

And America has more than it's share of crazies that pass as
"normal" people. >:( >:(

[walls0stone]

I don't know they say drill and the prices drops 16 cents here in our town...HHHMMM I say Capitalism is the answer and if you don't think that inclues all the new products your selling... you'd be wrong.