Quote:
Originally Posted by Diligent_d
You have people dying in Iraq for America's right to wholeheartedly and without consequence consume oil in large, fuel inefficient road behemoths. Up until recently there hasn't been an urgency to create or buy fuel efficient vehicles due to the cheap gas prices - and the auto-makers played along with an almost non-existent stagnation in improving the miles-per-gallon efficiency of their vehicles (from an average of 23.1mpg in 1980 to 24.7mpg in 2004).
But now, there's a sudden urgency. Many are starting to realize that there is a fight to the death for the last of the world's proven oil reserves - yet Conservatives still rant against John Edwards for saying people should be more aware of what they are driving and their fuel consumption.
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We rant and rave because John Edwards owns a house that is 10 times the average size of a house in the U.S. (2349 Sq. ft), and then preaches about fuel efficiency. Ironically, GW Bush, despoiler of the environment, has a much greener, 4000 sq. foot home in Crawford. That is not even twice the average size of a new house in the U.S. (I know people with bigger houses).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diligent_d
I know Conservation is a swear word for Conservatives and that market forces are king to them, but there are some instance where steps need to be taken. This isn't about simply encroaching on auto-makers "right" to sell profitable vehicles...this is also about the fact that America is engaged in a war to secure the last of the oil reserves. People are asked overseas to die for it, why can't people back home be asked to slowly start switching over to vehicles with better fuel efficiency?
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The marketplace is already doing that. I look around, and most of the newer cars I see are fairly fuel efficient. Also, IMHO, it's not the SUV that is the problem. It's the mid-sized sedans that are the big waste. Most SUV owners (at least locally) have kids or sporting needs for them. The best-selling SUV in America for most of it's existence has been the Ford Explorer. I own one. It gets 19 mpg combined city/highway. WHen I bought the Explorer in 2002 (when gas was $1.50 a gallon), I looked at some sedans. A Toyota Camry got about 25 mpg combined. What's the sense in that? At least with the Explorer I got a vehicle big enough to evacuate my wife, my two kids, my two dogs and my two cats in the event of a hurricane (I live in FL). I couldn't have done that in the Camry.
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A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
— Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
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