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ssgtakeo
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Name: Takeo
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: Bay Area
Birthday: 8/23/1977
Gender: Male
Interests: Paintball, Singing, Flying RC planes, teaching, playing with soldering irons, computers, games, read, Shooting sports
Expertise: Information Systems, Software QA, Tech Support, IT support, Wireless networking, Project planning, V
Occupation: Military
Industry: Computers (Software)
Message: message meEmail: email me
AIM:  ssgtakeo
MSN: ssgtakeo@hotmail.com
ICQ:  12080451
Yahoo:  ssgtakeo
Member Since:
3/2/2003
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| Colorless World..."For those of you who don't know, last week Yaya-chan was out with me
and a couple of friends. It was at night and Yaya-chan staggered on
the crosswalk and was hit by a car. She didn't make it.
I've already called her mom. We both didn't stop crying. I'm still crying."
I don't know why my life keeps getting touched by death, especially for people I care about so much.
I'm tired of seeing people younger than me go ahead, they still had so much to live for.
Kana at 17, Mario at 26 and now my dear Ayane at the tender age of 19.
I won't be able to see color in the world for a long time to come.
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| Why $5 gas is good for America A lot of you look at the above statement and think "WTF???", but I believe in it wholeheartedly.
Many people compare the current rise in energy costs so the energy crisis in the 1970's, but here's the major difference. The '70's energy crisis was caused primarily by OPEC (lead by mostly Arab countries) squeezing off supply in the aftermath of our very timely support of Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war. In effect it was a very artificially produced, politically driven shortage of petroleum. Things are a bit different today because of the nature and scale of oil usage by regions outside of the United States. My assertion is that the current crisis (while undoubtedly driven by some commodity speculation) is a REAL "shortage" of oil.
So how does this tie in with gas prices at the pumps? For one $5/gallon gas is a reflection on the declining world supply and the forever increasing demand (driven mostly by the developing world) for oil.
With a population of 300 Million people (out of an approximate world population of 6 billion) the US consumes 25% of the world's daily available oil supply. In other words we use this resource far in excess of what the size of our population would otherwise suggest. In a nutshell the statement that America is "addicted" to oil is probably a true one. What's worse we import a sizable portion of the oil we use from countries that don't "like" us (say what you will about the Saudis, but remember MOST of the hijackers on 9/11 are of Saudi nationality, as is Osama Bin Laden himself). As a result we are sending an increasing amount of our GDP overseas to countries where, at best, we are contributing to their political and social instability (and at worst funding means for their unconstrained citizens to inflict casualties on us).
The impact of $5/gallon gasoline are as follows:
1. Increase in price= more controls imposed on consuption. Whether these are external (regulations) or internal (individual conservation) is immaterial. The cost of gasoline has an impact on usage. If we use less, less needs to be imported, which speaks to the point about GDP I talk about above.
2. The shift in consumer demand will, through the mechanism of the free market, drive the development and production of more energy efficient means of transportation. In cars, technologies originally deployed exclusively on hybrid cars will make their way into the mainstream. Even if all cars are not "hybrids" in the sense we know them now, all cars will adopt some of the fuel saving technologies currently available on hybrids. For instance, traditional cars have a power steering pump driven by an accessory belt that is drawing a small amount of engine power to make movement of the steering rack easier. Now power steering is accomplished electrically so that there is a. no direct load on the engine (reducing efficiency) b. power can be utilized strictly on-demand. In addition various methods of "start-stop" engine tech is being pioneered. In the original hybrid cars engines would be stopped at lights and stop signs and re-started using a powerful electric motor. In a recently developed Mazda system the engine control computer senses which piston is top dead center and injects fuel and spark into that cylinder to instaneously start the engine. The system is estimated to save 8% on fuel milage. Advanced materials will make their way into cars to save weight, and improve handling.
These are all technologies you will soon find in normal cars because the cost to develop and implement them is now justified by the price of gas.
3. Most tiers of American society will re-examine the utility and usability of public transport. Where feasible, this increase in public focus and usage will prompt governments and municipalities to re-invest in public/mass transit infrastructure. Again, as in passenger cars, new technologies will be brought to bear on the problem.
4. Long term increases will prompt a continuing attitude towards conservation. Idealy I'd love to see the amount of conservation I saw evident in Japan but I realize this is a bit optimistic.
I'm at a point where I see a few people mostly guys in HUGE suspension-raised pickups or teeny women driving MASSIVE SUV's hauling ass around town when I automatically think "Big car, little brain". Honestly I'm glad we live in America where there is a real, financial cost for stupidity. I love it because when I find myself sitting at a pump these idiots are the same ones that complain the loudest. I ripped a woman a new one a few weeks ago when she complained about it next to her GINORMOUS Chevy Tahoe.
For me personally the increase hurts, yes but I'm able to absorb the price difference, as you can see from my pulses I've changed some habits to increase efficiency.
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