Fuel prices and how to help.

[ROGER/DODGER]

What the hell is the matter with this country? The people in Washington sit there and rub there hands and say what to do, what to do. It's not that difficult. If you can find somebody with the balls to start the U. S. independence of the middle East, and the oil yoke we all wear!

1 We start fast tracking building nuclear plants NOW, and stop using natural gas to make electricity. Once NG is gone, there is no more!

2 We shelve the space exploration program till we settle things her in our own back yard. We use that money and scientific brain power to do a all out moon shot of sorts, of building massive coal to syn-fuel plants. NOW not five years down the road. The tree huggers will have to get over it, and the costs be damed! South Africa doesn't import any fuel, they make all there own syn-fuel and it is a high test diesel, like 80 cetane rated fuel. They are not held hostage by the arabs, like we are!!

3 We go all out to find out how feasible it is, and how long of a time line to get hydrogen kits (water/electrosis) in our cars and trucks. I believe they are on the cusp of a break through in this tech.

I'm not the only one who thinks this way. It is a real pity none of the three clowns running for President have a clue, or the balls how to start getting us out of this oil hole, till this country goes down the tubes. God help America!

 

[BHolm]

I really think it needs to be a two pronged attack. We need to immediately find our own dang oil here at home, get it out of the ground and refine it.



I absolutely agree it is time to find some more sensible alternatives as well, all of the above sound pretty decent to me.



I do think we need to buy some conversion time though. There is no way the economy will withstand a wholesale immediate transition to new sources of power. It MUST be the ultimate goal though, and the sooner the better.



The greenies can kiss my butt. We are heading for serious crisis here and I am also amazed how little play it gets in the media and how little attention the politicians give it. These fuel prices are going to kill us and quick.



EVERYTIME I have bought fuel in the last several months the price has increased from the time before. The prices jump twice a week right now. That is insane.

 

[BHaden]

My thoughts from several areas of the previous posts;



Beater car; I went this route but didn't get a beater. I looked around for a while and finally scored a 98 Mustang with a 3. 8 V6 and 5 speed. It has a lot of extra stuff like KYB adjustable shocks Eibach springs, B&M shifter, slotted and crossdrilled rotors, etc. The driveline is stock except for a K&N filter and a flowmaster muffler. I have yet to get less than 26 mpg on my commute (85 miles RT) and usually 27+. I had to do something as my fuel bill for me and my wife was pushing $550-600/mo even with us carpoling every chance we could. I got the Mustang for $3000 and it required nothing but some new plugs and wires. Insureance and registration average about $50/mo, but I'm saving $250 or so. A side benefit is I'm not racking up huge mileage on my truck anymore. I bought it for retirement usage

(still a couple years away) and the thought of already having 100k on it when I retire wasn't a good one. If you have a real short commute, it might not make sense, A second car is a balancing act depending on your situation.



Oil supply; we have enough oil already discovered to drown the middle east (where we actually only get smething like13%of our imports-I think). We actuually get more of our oil from Mexico and Canada than the Arabs. I think it IS supply and demand. The developing countries, China mostly are sucking it up as fast as they can, and I think we just don't have the leverage we used to.



Washington; NOBODY in govt has the political courage (balls) to tell the environmentalists to pound sand. If they did and we started sucking our own fuel out of the ground, the import prices would drop real quickly and sharply. Oil is the most efficient energy source we have. The cars (and now trucks) are so clean that in some parts of the world the "air" coming from the exhaust is cleaner than what goes in. Hybrids only make sense in a stop-and-go environment and Hydrogen, fuel cells, ethanl, etc are frought with problems and most give back less energy than it takes to produce them for a large net loss compared to just refining oil and putting it in your tank.



Fuel prices;

last night on the news (FOX) they did a story on local (San Diego) truckers who have started going to Tijuana to buy their fuel. #2 in San Diego is $4. 35 at the cheapest and tyically $4. 45-4. 49. In Tijuana it's just a little over $2. 00. Even having to buy a special Mexican permit for something near $1000, it's worth it when they can save $500 or more on a complete fill. They said it's either do this or park the truck and find a diifferent job.

 

[JesseJ]

If you look around carefully, you can find a nice Honda Civic for $1000-$2000. Honda makes a good car that will last forever and the civic will get 38-45MPG. With the huge difference in mileage and price of gas over diesel, the beater car will pay for itself quicker than you think, even with the added insurance, maintenance, etc. of another vehicle. Parts are cheap and maintenance is low for those little hondas. I have a beater 88 Accord, I get 30 MPG, which is 12 MPG better than my truck and fuel is $. 65/gal. cheaper. Insurance is very cheap on the little cars and my insurance was extra cheap because the third vehicle gave me a mutli-car discount on my insurance so it would be worth it to check w/ your insurance company. I only pay $15/month for insurance. I hated to park the truck but there's only so much you can do to squeeze mileage out of them.



I agree w/ DavidC, to all the speculators out there, they should be hung. To the morons at the Federal Reserve that are devaluing our dollar, driving up the price of oil also, hang them too. #@$%!

 

[Dbonzi]

I can't buy into the supply and demand crap

We have more oil reserves than we have had in the last five to seven years.

And if you can truly buy fuel in Tijuana for around 2. 00 a gal then where is the demand? Here is a link to Youtube that needs to be watched

The non energy crisis

It seems to make sennse of what is going on.

My 2 cents











YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

 

[hsmith]

I just want to add a note about the Gear Vendors as I have run one for over 10 years.

It would be hard to justify just for mileage increase. If you run tall gears, 4:10 for example, you will see a significant increase using 5th over. With my 3:54's, 4th over and fifth direct is almost the same ratio. To use 5th direct, I have to be hauling butt to keep from lugging the engine.

I bought mine for the splitting gears advantage when towing, and pull in 4th over rather than fifth.

Have also replaced mine twice in 190k miles.

 

[TAbbott]

One other thing to consider about a Gear Vendors or any other auxiliary transmission is that they, like any other mechanical device, are not 100% efficient. If you put 50 hp into it, you may only get 48 hp out. The other 2 hp are consumed in mechanical, parasitic losses (heat) but you still have to pay for generating them. So, even if you were to make the engine use less fuel by running at reduced rpm, a substantial percentage of that savings gets used up in the process.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

I can't buy into the supply and demand crap

We have more oil reserves than we have had in the last five to seven years.

And if you can truly buy fuel in Tijuana for around 2. 00 a gal then where is the demand? Here is a link to Youtube that needs to be watched

The non energy crisis

It seems to make sennse of what is going on.

My 2 cents



YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

That's a very powerful and interesting video series - well worth a look...

 

[JMetzger]

K5IP said that $5. 00 fuel isn't coming soon, oh ya Today it is $5. 09 in Bridgeport, CA. The sad part is retired people & poor people can't afford it. I went to the Dr today & he said that in the last two weeks he is having more people cancel their appointments because they can't afford the gas to come to the office & a waitress at the local Chilies restaurant said that there a less people coming in to eat. She said that Mon night she only made $10. 00 in tips. Sad, something has to be done.

 

[K5IP]

K5IP said that $5. 00 fuel isn't coming soon, oh ya Today it is $5. 09 in Bridgeport, CA. The sad part is retired people & poor people can't afford it. I went to the Dr today & he said that in the last two weeks he is having more people cancel their appointments because they can't afford the gas to come to the office & a waitress at the local Chilies restaurant said that there a less people coming in to eat. She said that Mon night she only made $10. 00 in tips. Sad, something has to be done.

K5IP, didn,t say $5. 00 wasn't coming soon, I said it was here in some parts of Hawaii. I am supprised to see it this quickly in CA.

Rog

 

[JHardwick]

What the hell is the matter with this country? The people in Washington sit there and rub there hands and say what to do, what to do. It's not that difficult. If you can find somebody with the balls to start the U. S. independence of the middle East, and the oil yoke we all wear!



1 We start fast tracking building nuclear plants NOW, and stop using natural gas to make electricity. Once NG is gone, there is no more!



2 We shelve the space exploration program till we settle things her in our own back yard. We use that money and scientific brain power to do a all out moon shot of sorts, of building massive coal to syn-fuel plants. NOW not five years down the road. The tree huggers will have to get over it, and the costs be damed! South Africa doesn't import any fuel, they make all there own syn-fuel and it is a high test diesel, like 80 cetane rated fuel. They are not held hostage by the arabs, like we are!!



3 We go all out to find out how feasible it is, and how long of a time line to get hydrogen kits (water/electrosis) in our cars and trucks. I believe they are on the cusp of a break through in this tech.



I'm not the only one who thinks this way. It is a real pity none of the three clowns running for President have a clue, or the balls how to start getting us out of this oil hole, till this country goes down the tubes. God help America!

You lost me on #3 ... ... ... . it takes FOREVER to get hydrogen out of water!

 

[DonFitzwater]

I picked up a high mileage Nissan Maxima, 3. 0 v-6, power everything. It's a nice car and I only paid 500. 00 bucks for it! 24 mpg. I'm averaging 16 right now due to alot of 4x4 in town driving and high idle time so the little Nissan is going to get the crap run out of it locally and the Ram will be the traveling vehicle only. The car did take some getting used to. I am going to put a Gear Vendors on the 98 though... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2400 rpms at 70 mph is CRAZY!

 

[BHaden]

And if you can truly buy fuel in Tijuana for around 2. 00 a gal then where is the demand? Here is a link to Youtube that needs to be watched



Don't forget, Mexican fuel is supplied by STATE-OWNED Pemex and labor in Mexico is dirt cheap. Why do you think Dodge Builds Rams in Saltillo?









YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. [/QUOTE]

 

[CoastyAV8R]

If your commute is only 1. 4 miles to the bus stop, that's a no brainer. Walk or ride a bike rather than but a car you have to insure and do maintenance on.



I bought a mileage chip for mine that should get an additional 2 mpg. I have a beater car that gets 35 mpg for my 40 mile roundtrip drive so for me it's worth having a beater car.



I heard the same thing about the gas prices are way over inflated which considering just a couple of years ago, gas was $30 a barrell, is very likely. It will come down once the dollar earns some respectability again but how much will it come down? Anybody's guess. Kind of makes me sick to think I have to drive my truck accross country when I get stationed in New Jersey this summer. I quit adding up how much it's gonna cost to drive 3000 miles in my truck...

 

[ROGER/DODGER]

There are a couple of companies, one who advertises on one of the turbo diesel web sites has a device already to retrofit on any car or truck. A hydrodgen / water device. Computer controlled and powers off of the cars electric system to seperate the two elements. The price is steep $10000! Snake oil ? I don't know. There is another company who can, and do provide power to hospital sized buildings in S. Calif. that is powered by algae. A completely self contained system that powers it's self from the waste of the initial process. I guess what I'm driving at, is there are many approaches we are not even trying to make work on a large scale. We just keep sending money to the arabs, who hate us to the core. This is one strange world!

 

[DShore]

I found this in a small Arizona newsletter: “AN OIL SIT-IN PUSHES OUT MEXICAN CONGRESS! A sit-in protest over energy reform plans has forced the Mexican Congress to vacate their offices and move to a new location for the 1st time in 20 yrs.



Lawmakers had to cram in small conference rooms to conduct their regular session of government because an advocacy group took over the podium and began a sit-in demonstration last Thursday and are still at it. They are protesting the government's plans to open up currently restricted state handled oil status to private involvement.



PEMEX is an oil giant that is currently doing production for oil in Mexico. The Mexican government has said that PEMEX needs outside investment to boost falling production. The reform bill would give PEMEX more freedom to make decisions , contract work out and reinvest in production and exploration. The protestors feel that this move would go against the Mexican Constitution that states that the ‘oil industry must remain in state hands' and this suggestion of more power being shifted to the PEMEX company would undermine the current law.



The group that is protesting also believes that if the government follows through with this legislature the future will see more foreign oil companies coming into the area and taking a share of Mexico's oil profits.



Currently, oil revenue brings in approximately 40% of the federal budget of Mexico, and with Mexico being the world's sixth biggest oil producer in 2007, this brings major concern to the political groups in Mexico.



PEMEX's representative made a statement Tuesday that ‘the company would face inertia and stagnation if the bill did not get approval. ' With this situation the protestors have asked for a 120-day debate to bring their opinions to the table before the Mexican Congress passes such an important bill. ”



This is one of the variables that controls the law of supply-and-demand in the oil market. And we (USA) have no control over this.

 

[JesseJ]

We in the U. S. need to do something about it because Mexico is our biggest oil supplier behind Canada. Yes the great state owned Pemex in Mexico is somehow losing money, when all the other oil companies in the world are making lots of it. (Partly due to being state run, thanks to inefficient government. Another example of government screwing something up) I've been reading about this situation down in Mexico. Basically Pemex needs the constitution amended so that they can bring in outside investors, i. e. public oil companies, with the money and the equipment to do deep sea drilling and get access to more oil because the oil that Pemex is sitting on right now is not going to last very long. People in Mexico think that's a travesty because their grandparents contributed what little they had to form Pemex way back in the 1930's when they kicked out all the public oil companies and started Pemex. If people down there had any brains they would let it go. Oil revenue is such a huge part of the country's income that if they run out because they're not allowed to bring in other companies to help them find more then they will slip back towards a worse third world country. We in the U. S. should do something about it and you know why? I read in our paper last week, a higher up in the Mexican government who is involved with this situation said "if this deal can't go through then Pemex will run out of oil to sell and that will ruin the economy of our nation, sending another tidal wave of immigrants to our neighbors to the North, regardless of a bad economy there. A bad economy there would still be better than no economy here. " #@$%!#@$%!#@$%! Just what we need! More illegals!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!#@$%!

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

The Mexican government - like MOST Latin governments, is so full of graft, greed and corruption, I seriously doubt that the intended percentage of the oil revenue they get ever sees it's intended use! Even at that, they have managed to keep consumer cost at about HALF what ours is - and I can flat-out GUARANTEE you all that will change as soon as an additional layer of private sector greed, graft and corruption is allowed into the mix...

 

[JesseJ]

I'm sure you're probably right Gary. Being an oil company right now and not being able to make money is just about impossible, unless of course you're the Mexican government. Whats even scarier is people in this country want the government to do more and more stuff and they think they'll be able to do it better than the public secotr companies. Take a look around! Every government run enterprise is nothing but problems!

 

[ACoyle]

A suppose that I have a very myopic view of all of this. Here are my assumptions:





Whoever it taking my money will continue to do do.



They most likely will want even more of it.



I have no leverage to do anything about it.



The election will not help. Just different people getting my money.



My only intereest in the price if Diesel in Mexico is that it is way less than it is here, which proves that I am being ripped off.





My summary:



I want to determine whatever is the best way to stretch what money I have and still get where Ineed to go.





I am sorry if this is sour and cranky. It is pointed at no one here, just frustration speaking. After all, we are all driving the same diesel trucks. There is a TMTT post detailing all of the various places diesel affects our economy it is very eye opening. I am fearful of the outcome.