Fuel Irony
I have spoken to many of the people at my school and in my welding class and at various social events. People refuse to accept oil is coming to an end. They refuse to change their driving habits or give up their cars for efficient ones. They like the luxury or the "security" feeling of the sports car or SUV or Monster Truck. The moron section of my welding class (the other half are engineers and some are smarter than me) have monster trucks or shit kicker vehicles and they do "hey Bubba, watch this!" stuff more often than not. Welding has really deflated my happiness thanks to the economy downturn. I like it well enough, but I'm a newbie in the welding job market and they aren't hiring us right now. They want 25 year experts, not newbies. Its not like they don't have time to train us to spec for their jobs, its just that the use of web-based bidding has gutted the profitability in welding and you either get contracts or you get screwed. Thus most are closing shop and moving out, as best as I can tell. Its really depressing for a new grad like me (new for welding) and looking at taking extra classes just to keep my skills up and ear to the grapevine for jobs and not find anything. I could take more classes next summer. I really wish there was a bike frame company I could work for. That would suit me and it would be useful in the real world. Pretty soon everybody will be buying a bike and if we made them here, cheap enough, then we'll have something. Then again, I still wish that they offered Machining courses, though three of my classmates do that and all of them are on the verge of losing their jobs. Sad panda.
Anyway, people say they'll pay whatever it costs for fuel until you cite a number they know they can't afford, then they call you crazy. I'm not crazy, its just a number you can't afford. And the saddest part is that $20/gal seems to be that number, though I think people are overestimating their resources and inflation. In the real world, most of the people I've asked will be unemployed before gasoline reaches $10/gal. And that's a very plausible number when $200/bbl oil is the firm expectation from OPEC. Do they know something or do they just have better accountants than I can do on the back of a napkin? Yeah, that's probably it. Oil is down for a second day in a row thanks to the restart of the Ineos refinery in Scotland, or at least the process is ongoing anyway.
If we all started carpooling or bought a fuel efficient car instead of the SUV or rode a motorcycle then we'd cut our use of fuel by around 25-30%, right away. Instead we keep doing what we want out of ignorance and grim idiocy "Because I ain't gonna change, dammit. President said our way of life is non-negotiable.". Trouble is W is dead wrong about that. We don't have a choice about changing. We do have a choice about how much we suffer. The irony is that fuel hunting SUV owners will use up the last of the fuel while you're on your motorcycle dodging them or in the hospital healing from their last non-miss. Americans don't change until its too late. Not before. And unfortunately, things are such that change will come at the worst possible time, namely a regional shortage of fuel brought about by shortages at the refinery when the Chinese and Indians finally outbid us. And that's only a year or two away, as best I can figure. So those new 31 mpg CAFE standards W announced last week? Too effing late. Should have done that a year ago and put the due date at 2009 or 2010. No later than that. And announced 45 mpg and 55mph max speed limits last month due 2012. Instead we get disaster all at once. So stock your pantries with rice and beans, keep any canned food cool (it spoils faster above 70'F) and get a motorcycle license and a helmet. It might not matter if they don't ration fuel, but once they do a motorcycle is going to be the only reliable personal commuting vehicle. Otherwise you gotta carpool or smell the hoi polloi on public transit. In the summertime, with water more expensive to pump and heat, that's going to be nauseating.
Anyway, people say they'll pay whatever it costs for fuel until you cite a number they know they can't afford, then they call you crazy. I'm not crazy, its just a number you can't afford. And the saddest part is that $20/gal seems to be that number, though I think people are overestimating their resources and inflation. In the real world, most of the people I've asked will be unemployed before gasoline reaches $10/gal. And that's a very plausible number when $200/bbl oil is the firm expectation from OPEC. Do they know something or do they just have better accountants than I can do on the back of a napkin? Yeah, that's probably it. Oil is down for a second day in a row thanks to the restart of the Ineos refinery in Scotland, or at least the process is ongoing anyway.
If we all started carpooling or bought a fuel efficient car instead of the SUV or rode a motorcycle then we'd cut our use of fuel by around 25-30%, right away. Instead we keep doing what we want out of ignorance and grim idiocy "Because I ain't gonna change, dammit. President said our way of life is non-negotiable.". Trouble is W is dead wrong about that. We don't have a choice about changing. We do have a choice about how much we suffer. The irony is that fuel hunting SUV owners will use up the last of the fuel while you're on your motorcycle dodging them or in the hospital healing from their last non-miss. Americans don't change until its too late. Not before. And unfortunately, things are such that change will come at the worst possible time, namely a regional shortage of fuel brought about by shortages at the refinery when the Chinese and Indians finally outbid us. And that's only a year or two away, as best I can figure. So those new 31 mpg CAFE standards W announced last week? Too effing late. Should have done that a year ago and put the due date at 2009 or 2010. No later than that. And announced 45 mpg and 55mph max speed limits last month due 2012. Instead we get disaster all at once. So stock your pantries with rice and beans, keep any canned food cool (it spoils faster above 70'F) and get a motorcycle license and a helmet. It might not matter if they don't ration fuel, but once they do a motorcycle is going to be the only reliable personal commuting vehicle. Otherwise you gotta carpool or smell the hoi polloi on public transit. In the summertime, with water more expensive to pump and heat, that's going to be nauseating.