[Ansteorra] Re: gas prices too high...sorry had to share this
Michael Silverhands
silverhands at sbcglobal.net
Fri Apr 21 12:58:37 PDT 2006
On Apr 21, 2006, at 2:29 PM, Shane B wrote:
> Never gonna happen. Even the last Administration did not do much.
> Or the one before. These prices are here to stay folks until we
> start using alternative fuels. Don't bet I am wrong- I always take
> sucker bets.
>
> Alastair
>
>
>> Until we elect an Administration and Congress that can properly
>> and swiftly handle these terrorist OPEC nations and stop playing
>> second fiddle to the enviro-wackos and open the vast US reserves
>> in Alaska and offshore, this situation is only going to continue
>> to get worse.
>>
>> Wolfgang
It's simple forces of supply and demand.
In the "good old days", we produced (locally, on-shore or just off-
shore) almost all of the fuel that we consumed. Distribution costs
were minimal, and fuel costs at the pump were really, really low.
What a coincidence.
Currently, we only produce 40-60% (depending on which numbers you
read, and what day of the week) of the fuel that we consume. Our
refineries are operating at 85% of capacity, or higher. And still it
doesn't keep up with our demand. Demand has exceeded supply, and fuel
costs are taking off like a race-horse. What a coincidence.
If everyone could carpool (or work from home) just 1 day a week, we
could cut our nation's consumption of automotive fuel by 10-20%. That
doesn't touch fuel used for shipping (via air, rail or truck) or for
generating electricity. But it would be a *huge* start, and make more
of an impact than *any* other measure on the table -- including
making war in foreign oil-producing countries.
But, to get back on topic: what can we do in the SCA to mitigate the
high fuel costs, so we can afford to travel to events and keep
playing our game?
Simple: consume less fuel per person.
There are two ways to do this: 1) travel less, but that would kill
our hobby over time. Or 2) increase our ratio of (people x miles
traveled) to (miles per gallon of fuel). In other words: carpool to
events. If one person drives to an event by themselves, their fuel
cost is $3/gal. If two people carpool, their fuel cost is $1.50/gal
each. *No* other single measure can or will have as dramatic a result
as the simple step of carpooling.
It also has the added benefit, if enough people do it, of reducing
demand. If we get demand low enough, then once again we are less
critically dependent on foreign oil, and once again have really,
really low fuel costs.
Michael
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