The Tire Gauge Controversy-Saving Gas?

So we are talking about 3-5% of the vehicles on the road, that would actually benefit from checking the tire pressure... so... which is a better solution, adding 1% (at an extremely low ridiculous estimation) to the fuel supply, or saving 3% on 5% of the vehicles out there?

Prices go up when supply and demand are out of balance, if we are in a 1-2% deficit daily, which is causing prices to rise... I'll take that 2% increase in supply... in a freaking heartbeat. We're not in a 90% deficit, we are in a 2 or 3% deficit.

So if ANWAR is potentially 5% of the daily needs (North Slope 15 miles away is about 10% of daily needs), and the Gulf of Mexico generates most of what the Southeast uses... I would have to believe the ocean shelf produces more than 1%... let's call it 5% of daily needs.

If we 10% of daily needs between ANWAR and the shelf, that is 2 million less barrels bought from people that don't like us. I'm ok with not giving away $200,000,000 a day to Hugo Chavez or Iran.

We need to look at the big picture... Terrorism and world instability will decrease when we are reducing our cash-flow to those areas. Let them go back to being desert nomads in tents for all we care. By not producing ourselves, we don't "Not Use" the oil... it's just produced elsewhere.

This has been a good wake up call that we need to change, and it is obvious we are, but with a nuclear mushroom cloud hanging over New York or Los Angeles, I don't think anyone is going to give a rip about a couple of oil rigs 20 miles off the beach.

And wake up... The oil is delivered to existing refineries, whether or not it comes from off shore rigs, or halfway around the world. If it is from offshore, it is piped in below the surface, not on ocean going vessels... subject to problems.

Obama has just showed everyone how short sighted, and or out of touch with reality he is. Another poster pointed out that new cars don't require a tune up and most alert you when your tires are low. That's great, so I'll take a moment and argue for the people with 'crappy' cars! lol

I drive an 87 Firebird, and a 65 Chevy pickup. I drive these vehicles for a couple reasons. 1, the truck was purchased new in 65 by my grandfather. I only drive it on the weekends when I play music and need a truck to move my music equipment with. Otherwise I drive an 87 Firebird daily. I like this vehicle because it was cheap ($1200) looks and runs like new and is very easy to work on when problems do occur (2 years ago, I had to change the water pump - took about an hour under the shade tree). Overall - even though I make more money now than I was when I was 16, I still can not afford a vehicle that is going to cost a monthly payment. Anything over $3000 and I simply can not afford to buy it.

Anyway my argument would be that in the country as a whole, most of us who drive older vehicles are aware that you shouldn't drive with low or flat tires - most of us know how to check and maintain are vehicles. Of the friends I have, if they don't know how to work on an old vehicle - they go and get a new one so that they don't have to worry about it, and those of us that do have older vehicles do know how to maintain them.

I realize that there are those who don't know how to maintain older vehicles, who do own them. These are usually people who are pretty poor in the first place, and saving a couple cents off of their gas mileage is not going to do them any significant good - nor is the promise of an electric car 3 to 10 years from now that might cost 20 or 30 thousand dollars. I have been poor like this myself, in High School we couldn't afford TP and had to use the gas station across the street. When you're that poor, it is an insult to hear someone like Obama say that you're problems with gas will be solved if you will only properly inflate your tires.

I'm about as environmentalist as the rest of the people in my neighborhood... but there are a lot of facts here to consider:

1.) We will need oil for the foreseeable future. About a 1/3 of the vehicles on the freeway between urban areas are semi trucks hauling cargo which is the lifeblood of US commerce, are you going to haul 40,000 pound loads with a hybrid? No, of course not. Are you willing to pay another $15 for the $12 squeaky toy for the dog at PetSmart?

2.) The math used above assumes everyone drives in an old piece of junk. My car warns me when my tires deflate below about 30 psi, it gives an annoying chirp every time the car starts up and does it for 20 minutes. It's a relatively basement level Nissan, nothing special. I don't have flat tires.

3.) Most modern cars, say in the last 7-10 years, don't require tuneups. They do it themselves with the on-board computers, the only thing you can do is change the spark plugs every 100,000 miles. A tuneup these days is changing the radiator fluid, oil, etc.

4.) I don't actually know anyone that drives a junky old car, except the teenager down the street with the mid-90's Mustang. California has smog checks to get your license plates, if the car is a piece of crap, it doesn't pass, so it's unlikely to have the problems Obama talks about. We can just do that in every state and save a bundle - no need for massive tire-checking stations.

5.) Most of the oil imported into the US is not used for transportation - only about 1/3 is, and there are different types of crude. Middle East crude works pretty good for plastics, light sweet Texas crude is great for gas, as is the Gulf of Mexico, and probably the continental shelf, as well as the North Slope of Alaska (we've been pumping for 30 years there and it is 15 miles from the "Pristine" ANWAR... the neat thing about ANWAR is that the Alaskan pipeline is only 15 miles away.

200,000 barrels makes an impact on the psyche, it's not an answer, but it's a step toward independence.

6.) Moving "transport containers"? It's usually piped... is it somehow safer to ship it half way around the world or is this a NIMBY thing?

7.) Climate change happens... fossil fuels are formed from fossils.. meaning, animal & plant matter. It's no accident that there is a crap-load above the arctic circle, the last ice age was within human experience - about 10,000 years ago. We're in an intermediary time, it is warming up, Canada & Russia will have some jungles again in the tundras where we are pulling out millions of barrels from, and then the process will reverse again. The earth has done it 1000's of times according to the fossil record. The rapid acceleration if ice melting happens with or without CO2 in the atmosphere, once the cycle starts, the oceans gradually warm (more exposure) and the ice melt accelerates. The emissions have little to do with that process, other than probably kick-starting it initially.

8.) I am 110% on board for new energy sources - but we're not going to power America with used corn oil, and I'm leaving on a 3600 mile road trip tomorrow - I don't see myself doing it with a battery-operated car either.

9.) The super-greenies like to point the finger at conservatives... but I live in Granite Bay, California... about 99% Republican, we have a couple of democrats, they protest once and a while in front of Starbucks. I've seen in the last 6 months, almost a 50% rollover of vehicles at the grocery store - what was about a year ago about 90% SUVs, is now about half VW Passat Wagons (TDI's), Prius's, Hybrid Altimas, and a lot of Volvos all of a sudden. Realistically... there was a simple economic benefit to changing.

10.) $4.00 gas is unhealthy, I'm pretty sure someone has swiped gas from my tank several times now (probably the teenager with the junky mustang down the street). It puts desperation into those less fortunate and will lead to many economic problems. When people are losing their homes and defaulting on credit obligations, I doubt they give a flying f*ck about buying a new hybrid to preserve the environment. It needs to push back to around $2.90, where the economy can function. At 4.00, we are probably looking at an unemployment rate of around 8% in the US... after the airline, travel, trucking, and other failures. Not to mention further slowing of real estate... are the agents going to cart around a semi-ok buyer at $200 / day in fuel? Heck no, they will want a check in hand before the engine starts.

At $2.90, there is still incentive to continue cutting back, and continue to move in the right direction, but we need to be able to function in the meantime.

I think people would prefer to have off shore drilling because it doesn't require any work from them whatsoever. They'd rather have someone destroy the environment than take the 2-5 min to check their air pressure and lightbulbs. Then, take even more time, gasp, to fill up the tire or change the bulb.

Why people doubt the simple logic of learning to conserve, or to make sure your tire pressure is correct and your car is tuned up is beyond me.

Look at the alternative (I'm just saying, I don't really know all the steps involved):

a. Construct an offshore oil drilling rig
b. Drill thousands of feet into the ocean floor
c. Pump out thousands of barrells of oil
d. Put the oil in big transport containers
e. Transport the oil to the refineries
f. Refine the oil at the refinery
g. Export the refined gas, fuels and products to China & India.
h. Harm the ocean life and shorelines in the process.

I can't believe this makes sense to people!!!!!!!

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I'd rather be camping!