Yeah... well done. And I did enjoy it. Still bugs me that it ALL revolves around the price though. No other reason to do something smarter earlier... it is only a problem now because of the price. Should have listened to Al Gore... to save money now? :sigh:
Still most people are so short sighted. I will admit that the main reason for my conservation has more to do with saving money. Which includes the 3 R's Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. Back in 2002 when I bought my house the first thing I did was buy all CFL bulbs, I told a few friends and they were like those things are a ripoff. People just can't see that the bulbs pay for themselves with the reduced energy. Same thing with gas. I mean back in 2004 it became obvious to me that fuel prices would continue to soar, its not like $4 gas happened magically overnight.
Lighten up, folks! It's only satire. Can't expect factual precision with this sort of stuff. Anyhow, I thought the 'toot toot' at the end was kinda funny, as those of us who aren't so enamored of the Prius's horn sound can attest.
Those of us who bought a Prius in '04 or earlier (or even more 'crazy', an EV) were usually thought of as weirdos back then. Now? The very same people who'd say, "I don't care if gas hits $10/gallon, I aint giving up my SUV" ... are now asking, "what'd you say your mileage is?" ... "how long do the batteries last?" ... "you don't have to plug it in?" ... etc. Prices got them thinking differently. What gets me are people who still think prices are an oil company conspiracy ... rather than simply realizing the basics of supply & demand are at work. Still not realizing we are in the twilight of cheep oil. "We need Congress to investigate !!" Pure emotion ... it makes people feel like we're doing something, if we think Congress is investigating. Uhhhh ... didn't congress investigate the last price hike? and the ones before? No evil empire found. "But what about all those obscene oil company profits?!?" Isn't if funny, that people who have NO idea how much it costs to drill on the bottom of the ocean floor, miles down ... or how much it cost to buy drilling equipment, or maintain it, or figure out where to drill ... that these folks who CLAIM obscene profits, have no idea how much it takes to reinvest back into the company? ... or how much stock holders, pension fund holders etc expect on their return? All driven by emotion ... feeling out of control. Well, it IS out of control. We don't force Congress to fund electric / mass transit. We get what we deserve.
The market place works. High fuel prices = more ingenuity in alleviating the problem. It happened in the 70swith 40 to 60-cent gas (combine trips, get smaller cars, buy the cheapest gas to make a point). The situation has accelerated now because of even higher prices matched against standard of living, technical ability to use alternate energy, better cost-saving vehicles that have comfort features Americans just gotta have.
Here is one I got today. To describe the situation a couple of my co-workers were talking aloud about organizing some car pools. Then I heard one of them go I ought to just go get a Hybrid like Travis (me). So someone goes oh those things they are so expensive its a waste, I just read that if you buy the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid it would take you at least 12 years to make up the difference in price of the non hybrid. Of course this was my cue to stand up at my desk and but in. So I just said well Thats GM for you take a look at the Toyota Prius, they cost the same as any comparable midsize car and get twice the mileage. Show me another midsize that isn't stripped that costs less then $22 - $24K. Response was, I don't care if you got 100 MPG, I'd never buy a japanese car. LOL
Yeah, whatever. Considering that half the time their mouths didn't really reflect the words they were saying.
My problem with it is that it IS factual and precise. This is basically how the motoring public things. I'm not complaining about the satire - I'm complaining about the reality that it reflects.
don't forget the falling US dollar...another reason for high prices, euro is what trades deal with now ever so more with oil over our 70 cent dollar. it's a mixture of demand across the board not only in fuels, but day to day items also putting the risk up. from the research i have done we have a good 30 years of somewhat "easy" oil, till it's to late. Of course with China and it's booming oil age, who knows about that number.
Ah, I understand. Yes, it gets to me at times too, but it annoys my wife more. Here in Texas we have more than our share of monster trucks. And they love to tailgate folks for some strange reason. BTW, heard on the radio today that sales of cheaper beer are going up. I guess higher gas prices are eating into people's drinking habit. (Ha!)
