We're looking at solutions to the problem defined by seven passengers and a tow capacity of between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds. The Honda Odessey, which neatly solved the seven passengers problem, is in the 20/28 mpg range for city/highway operation. The tow capacity moves this down to the 14/18 mpg range for solutions to the complete problem, which the tow itself drops another two or three mpg, which translates into navigational shock at the contraction of distances between gas pumps as we plan our year of living vagrantly.
Celebrating Earth Day week in its own unique way, the House Energy and Commerce Committee rejected a proposal to increase average fuel efficiency (CAFE standard) 20% by 2014. That proposal would have raised the CAFE standard for cars from the current 27.5 mpg to 33 mpg. The Republican spin on CAFE is that it's government intrusion in the private economy, ergo a bad thing, but the vote in committee was 36–10, so quite a few Democrats share the view that conservation isn't good energy policy, and an industry that has focused its profitability on gas guzzlers like the Hummer H2 (10/13 mpg), the Lincoln Navigator (13/18 mpg), the Chevrolet Suburban (14/18 mpg) and the Cadillac Escalade ESV (13/17), is well managed and needs little in the way of government intrusion. Oddly, the UAW agrees that Big Three management are not intractible boneheads.
The French investment bank IXIS-CIB celebrated Earth Day week slightly differently, releasing a forecast for oil demand through 2015, which Al Jazeera published and was on the Friday morning breakfast table, along with coffee and coissants, of every OPEC minister, giving what I suspect is good cheer. It is the most emailed story of the week for Al Jazeera. The IXIS-CIB oil analysis forcasts a price level of $380 per barrel in 2015.
Writing for the NYTimes, Jad Mouawad argues that higher energy prices are a hohum, after taking inflation into account, prices would have to reach $80 a barrel to match the record of March 1981, and besides, there is no manufacturing left in the US anyway, so who cares?
But the best part of HR 6 is the determination by the Majority in the House that MBTE, like Mercury, is not in fact toxic.
Posted by EBW at April 23, 2005 08:40 AM | TrackBackWould you happen to know if it's still a closely guarded secret or not -- exactly which US oil co.'s are still exporting oil[and how much]?
More bush era earth day news included also word that at least 6 of our wild horses have been slaughtered. :(
I guess we shall have to start assuming anything our govt. tells us not to worry about -- is exactly the opposite.
Posted by: desi at April 23, 2005 10:38 AMI tried to set a trackback, but the server returned an internal error. Anyway, I commented on this post at http://deepblade.net/journal
Posted by: Eric at April 23, 2005 11:24 AMHi Eric,
I turned off MT's trackbacks after we picked up over a hundred trackback spams one over-night during the Koufax period.
That is a lovely work on Howard Dean's capitulation. May I put it on Wampum?
Posted by: Eric at April 23, 2005 03:08 PMI see the trackback problem on the other blog site we have that my wife runs using Expression Engine (weblogs.practicalpantry.com). We too had to turn off trackback. Never have had a problem with Haloscan at deepblade.net, though. Maybe they just haven't found me yet.
About that Monk/Dean photoshop, I have to give credit to Evil Pundit (http://evilpundit.com/archives/005196.html) for that. At least it looks like the piece originates there. I probably should not just use it, so I've likewise emailed for permission.
Posted by: Eric at April 23, 2005 07:17 PMNice of BATES/BOWDOIN/COLBY students and faculty to tell the rest of us what and how to drive; but a reality spin around their parking lots quickly reveals where all the gas is going....into their gas guzzling SUV's, Jeeps, and volvo station wagons.
For the rest of us to take their GREEN'ness seriously, they need to clean up their own act with real policies, not those pathetic token symbols on ERF DAY. Vehicle free campuses are a start, centralized housing clustered within walking distance of administrative/classroom/lab/rec. buildings would be a good start. Even banning vehicles for all but seniors, and then registering only livid Green cars w/over 30 mpg. would be a nice example for the rest of us to follow.
Dave Vail's vision of $6/gallon would result in the equivilent of cultural genocide for Maine's poor and elderly.
fjh.
Posted by: fjh at April 24, 2005 10:23 AMI've no clue who Dave Vail is or why he has visions, but Elizabeth Trice, who ran as a Green for District 116 (Portland/Deering) in the last cycle put a lot of thought into development patterns, regional busing, and service delivery like in-home nursing to rural Mainers, and the total cost of suburban sprawl.
As for the little Ivy League, well, as socially useful as the big Ivy League, neh?
Posted by: Eric at April 24, 2005 11:40 AMIf the report cited in the Aljazeera story is to be believed, the US pump price will be $12-$15 per gallon in 2015. At that point driving a guzzling SUV will be such an embarrassing ostentatious display of wealth that the population of such in even the private college lots will be reduced -- with motorbikes and tiny cars taking their place. The economics of sprawl development will change drastically as well, not necessarily ending it completely, but look for patterns favoring close-in urban zones where people are close to locally-produced goods, services, and their jobs.
Incidentally, the blogger who posted the Monk/Dean thing tells me to use it however I want. Likewise, please use my post on ``To hell with Howard Dean'' on Wampum as you please.
Posted by: Eric at April 24, 2005 12:56 PM