Jul 07, 2008 07:46PM GMT
Question
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Politics - United States
55 MPH speed limit or start drilling?
The 70's are back baby!!! The high price of gasoline may mean that Congress will now tell you to slow down. Republican Senator John Warner of Virgina has asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to calculate what speed would provide optimum gasoline efficiency under current technology. In a letter to Bodman, Warner cited studies that show the 55-mile per hour national speed limit saved 167-thousand barrels of oil a day — after it was imposed by Congress in 1974 because of the Arab oil embargo. That speed limit was repealed in 1995. The letter read "one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater." An Energy Department spokeswoman says Warner's letter will be reviewed but that "if Congress is serious about addressing gasoline prices, they must take action on expanding domestic oil and natural gas production."
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raves posted Jul 22, 2008 01:57PM GMT
Answered Start drilling - We can't even enforce 65 MPH, lets just drill here and strictly enforce 65 MPH
People are free to go as slow as they want, as long as it is no slower than 40 mph on the highway. Leave the speedlimit where it is as no one pays attention to it anyway. -
raves posted Jul 13, 2008 10:15PM GMT (edited)
Answered 55 MPH - Save Gas Save Lives, Drive 55`
Cars are less efficient with gas once they go over 60 MPH.
It could save a lot of fuel. Some estimates indicate up to 5%; In 1983, it saved 2.5 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel, or 2.2% of the total fuel used.
It could save a lot of lives. Speed kills. A study examined the impact of higher travel speeds on US rural interstates after the repeal in November 1995 of the national speed limit. Researchers found states that had increased their speed limits to 75 mph experienced a 38% increase in deaths per million vehicle miles than expected, compared to deaths in those states that did not change their speed limits. States that increased speed limits to 70 mph showed a 35% increase in fatalities.
It will reduce the cost of cars and could save some of us with a lower speed limit. Cars could be lighter and cheaper and take up less space.
It could solve our infrastructure problems and save on taxes. As we noted in an earlier post, "Transportation officials know many of the national 600,000 bridges are in need of repair or replacement. About one in eight has been deemed "structurally deficient." Lighter vehicles travelling at slower speeds do far less damage to our roads and bridges.
It would spur innovation and investment in alternative transport if trains go four times as fast as cars, there is a lot more incentive to use them. -
raves posted Jul 13, 2008 01:54AM GMT
Answered Undecided
the minivan i just bought can't decide whether to stall out at a traffic light or go 85 on the highway i can't drive 55 my vehicle won't allow me to seriously interesting that warner brings up 1974 because thats when the energy policy we currently don't have should have been implemented leave it to congress to be 35 years too late -
raves posted Jul 12, 2008 03:39PM GMT
Answered Undecided
Start drilling and don't change anything. If you wish to drive 55 to save your money on gas then by all means do it. But do it in the right hand lane so those of us who don't really care about the price of gas can get where we are going! -
raves posted Jul 12, 2008 03:51AM GMT
Answered Undecided
There should be multiple lanes:
1) I go so slow you can count the number of times my tires rotate on the ground. (My mother)
2) I am a nice, mini van driving mother who wants to save the environment
3) I could care less about the environment, let's just race and see who can get from point A to point B the quickest. -
raves posted Jul 11, 2008 01:15AM GMT
Answered Undecided
55 Mph is meaningless as is the demand for more drilling. If people can afford the extra dollars that is caused by the higher speeds than let the economics determine their choice and not regulations. Regarding more drilling this is just a knee-jerk reaction to requyired fundamental changes in our energy policy and energy use to address the real issue here. It is time for pain in order that the normal primitive survival instincts kick in. Until humanity is pressed against the wall, it will not address large issues. -
raves +2 posted Jul 09, 2008 07:45PM GMT (edited)
Answered Start drilling - We can't even enforce 65 MPH, lets just drill here and strictly enforce 65 MPH
Going 55 MPH wastes over 400,000 lifetimes a year going slow on highways, not counting the increased traffic deaths caused by some going 55, many going 65 or more.
This is figured on 300,000,000 people, going 10,000 miles/yr at 55 MPH vs 70 MPH with 75 as average lifespan. -
raves +2 posted Jul 09, 2008 03:35PM GMT
Answered Start drilling - We can't even enforce 65 MPH, lets just drill here and strictly enforce 65 MPH
Drill. We DO have onshore oil reserves. The only reason we aren't tapping into them is because the Major gas companies are sitting on the land. They should be forced to drill or be fined. Monopoly is only fun when it comes in a box. -
raves Jul 11, 2008 01:48AM GMTThey can't get the permits to drill. The congress has been voting against the drilling in the ANWR or off shore. The environmentalists keep fighting it. Here in the last few days they are trying to get the ok to expand a BP Oil refinery in IN but the environmentalists are fighting it saying it will create too much polution. Same thing with Conoco's rifinery in IL. What good is drilling going to do if we don't have the refinereies to process it? Want things drilled, stand up to an environmentalist or democrat. These are the 2 groups stopping it since at least 1995.
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raves +1 Jul 11, 2008 09:04PM GMTMy local congressman (a democrat) is pushing for domestic drilling. I don't think the democrats are the ones holding us back. Enviornmentalists sure. But there are more people who want to drill, than those opposing.
We are at the mercy of the oil companies now.
Please sign the petition to take force congress to take action to end the oil crisis:
http://www.americansolutions....
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raves posted Jul 09, 2008 01:50AM GMT
Answered Start drilling - We can't even enforce 65 MPH, lets just drill here and strictly enforce 65 MPH
We cant conserve our way out of this. We need to flood the market with oil or at least tell the world that we are.