Gas Prices -- Help at last?

Martin Hotze wrote:
On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 17:51:25 GMT, Matt Whiting wrote:


mostly because of the ego. it is the same here, too. (but using the bus
here is not seen as being poor or something)

Shows how little you understand Americans.


Ot might be different in the big metros like NY/DC or LA (IIRC there is a
train connecting cities along the cost) - I've never been to the really big
metros; but the areas where I've been I never saw business-like dressed
people waiting or boarding a bus.

There are lots of reasons, but one is that many areas aren't served with
any decent mass transit system. Much of America is rural or suburban
and has no train service and marginal bus service if at all. The buses
run infrequently and don't always stop in convenient locations.

Also, they are very inconvenient compared to cars, except in the most
urban areas where car parking is a big problem. Cars take you where you
want to go, when you want to go there and do so in great comfort
compared to most mass transit.


Matt

Martin Hotze wrote:
On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 10:00:56 -0600, Newps wrote:


hydrogen powered vehicles might be a good solution everywhere,

You'll never see hydrogen powered cars in any number. It takes too much
energy to put the hydrogen in a bottle for my use in a car.


given the fact that there is no oil or gas available

I won't give you that as it will never happen.

what kind of energy and energy storage would you use for
powering small units like cars?

Yet to be developed. Hydrogen can work but it takes much more energy
than we use right now for cars to make it work.

HOLY CRAP!,
Martin it must be a very very strange day , a full moon coming up or
something...cause I agree with you! We need new refinieres! I think new
refineries could do the job cleaner, more efficant and more cost effective.
Did anyone else think it was funny to see the DemoRats whining because
the 5 min vote took longer? Strange how when they are running for election
"EVERY" vote should be counted....felons through illegals..all should count
(No matter how long it takes!). But when legislation is being voted on we
have to have a time limit and those elected officials "we the people" sent
there shouldn't have the opportunity to vote !
And for those who could not be there on time to vote....well if I showed
up at my job late..I would not have a job. Elected officials need to take
their jobs seriously..I don't think most do. Most know they have a free ride
and will always get re-elected no matter what. Until we change that we will
never change Washington.
MHO of course!

Patrick
student SP
aircraft structural mech


"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 09 Oct 2005 02:35:30 -0400, Roger wrote:

Environmental regs that are preventing new refineries, but new
refineries would be one of the worst mistakes we could make.

not really, IMVHO.

your current refineries work with high losses. a poor product, little
overall output and old technology. A new refinery will be able to work up
to current standards, produce better products at lesser costs.

Meanwhile you would be able to search for viable alternatives. Within the
next 20 or so years you should have applied them (this is true for all of
us).

#m

--
Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010920-8.html

Hee Hee,
They'll have to use the oil from the fries , because they will not be
able to afford to go to work for 6 bucks an hour when it doesn't buy the gas
to get them to work! Ah it's a tangled web we weave!

Patrick
student SP
aircraft structural mech



".Blueskies." wrote in message
...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:u802f.226888$084.41833@attbi_s22...

Somewhere down the road, when you're complaining that the only jobs for
American kids anymore is flipping burgers at Mickey D's, remember this
discussion.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"



Yup, and at least they could use the oil from the fries to run the car!
;-)

Another unfortunate conclusion is it's going to take fuel prices in
that range to make alternative energy sources widely competitive.

You make many good points, Roger, except this one. I keep reading (and
hearing) this statement over and over, from TV, radio and newspaper
commentators -- and everyone just blithely accepts it as "Truth" with a
capital "T".

Unfortunately, Europe -- supposedly home to some of the best minds in the
world -- has been subjected to gas prices two and three times what we are
currently paying, thanks to a generation of outrageous taxation. If your
statement were true, by now Europe should have developed many alternate
energy sources, rather than suffer gasoline priced at over $6.00 per gallon.

Where are they? What are they?

The frightening answer is: There aren't any -- even at $6.00 per gallon.
The only other alternative is that Europe simply doesn't possess the
scientific and industrial wherewithal to develop them -- which seems highly
unlikely.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The bottom line is this: If we've been unable to build new refineries
because we made them a regulatory nightmare, it's time to ratchet the
regulations back a notch or three.

That's not the measure of the worth of regulation.

Of course not. It's the measure of the disaster of over-regulation.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In case you haven't noticed, "Mass transit" is something most Americans
use
only as a last resort -- and for very good reasons.

mostly because of the ego. it is the same here, too. (but using the bus
here is not seen as being poor or something)

That's not the problem -- at least not in small-to-medium sized American
cities.

I, for example, would be a perfect candidate for mass transit. My home is
four miles from my office, and I arrive and depart work at about the same
times each day. (And I've got two vehicles at the inn to use, should I need
them in a pinch.)

The bus stops 1 block from my home -- which sucks in bad weather. It then
goes downtown -- a distance of 2.5 miles -- but takes forever to get there.
It travels down narrow city streets that were never designed for busses,
stopping every block, backing up traffic everywhere along the way.

Once downtown, I would have to transfer to another bus to travel the
remaining 1.5 mile to the hotel, with it once again stopping every 200 yards
along the way. The entire trip would take a bit more than an hour.

Or, I can drive to my office in less than 15 minutes.

The real, understated problem with mass transit is that productive people
have better things to do with their time.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Nice folks -- but we tend to avoid discussing politics with them...

this is a good idea if you want to keep your guests.

Actually, it's a good idea in Iowa City, period. There hasn't been a
Republican elected to office here since before I was born -- and I'm 47
years old!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Europe [...] has been subjected to gas prices two and three times what we are
currently paying, thanks to a generation of outrageous taxation. If your
statement were true, by now Europe should have developed many alternate
energy sources, rather than suffer gasoline priced at over $6.00 per gallon.

They conserve, by dint of not being huge. America has huge open spaces
to traverse. We live further from work than Europeans. The distance
from Iowa to New York is greater than the total size of entire
=countries= in Europe.

They don't need cheap fuel as much as America does.

Jose
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

That's not the measure of the worth of regulation.

Of course not. It's the measure of the disaster of over-regulation.

The ability to breathe clean air and drink clean water is a measure of
the success of "over"-regulation. New Jersey in the 1960s was the
disaster (as kids we held soaps up to our noses while driving down the
turnpike in order to not throw up).

I don't want to return to that ever again.

Jose
--
Get high on gasoline: fly an airplane.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.