Gas Prices -- Help at last?

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:0al2f.415579$x96.414573@attbi_s72...
The goal of preserving a clean environment is certainly worthy, sharply
limiting industrial pollution =is= consistent with a free society, since
"your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins", the likely
outcome of eliminating "onerous environmental regulations" would be
unfettered pollution and a country that smells like 1960s New Jersey.

Not that I have any interest in seeing America return to an industrial
economy, but there a millions of under-educated Americans who desperately
needed those long-gone blue-collar jobs.

It is they who have suffered the brunt of the crazy, over-blown
environmental regulations. That smell you and I haughtily disdained was
the smell of money to them and their families.
--

Those jobs are gone for good. Even if there were no enviornmental
regulation, low skill jobs are gone to low wage places.

Mike
MU-2

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:0al2f.415579$x96.414573@attbi_s72...

Not that I have any interest in seeing America return to an industrial
economy, but there a millions of under-educated Americans who desperately
needed those long-gone blue-collar jobs.

It is they who have suffered the brunt of the crazy, over-blown
environmental regulations. That smell you and I haughtily disdained was
the smell of money to them and their families.

Right, cost of labor has nothing to do with losing all those blue-collar
jobs. And it probably really was environmental regulations that led to the
average American hourly labor rate of $18 plus benefits versus about $1.50
in China.

Michael

Jay Honeck opined

Do they make snow tires for bicycles?

the tires on my mountain bike would make pretty good snow tires. Ice might
be a problem though.

I wonder if you can get spiked tires for bicycles, like the ones they used
in (that insane "sport") motorcycle racing on frozen lakes.

http://www.icebike.org/Equipment/tires.htm

Although, to be honest, I haven't seen one of those races in many years. I
wonder if they finally outlawed them?

I have a copy of /On Any Sunday./ One really wants to stay onthe bike.


-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Eliminate your wife's wasted time, and your country's productivity would
soar!

add in the additional car, parking fees, etc ... than you might be even.

You forgot to point out that people with any sense actually make use of the
time they spend on the bus, rather than just staring out the window wishing
they were driving.

The time is only wasted if one fails to do something with it. Contrast with
driving oneself, where you cannot (or at least should not) be doing anything
else.

Pete

Matt Barrow wrote:

WHINE !! BITCH!! MOAN!! NOT IN MY BACK YARD!! I want gas! I want cheap gas!!
I want this I want that!

Grow the **** up, America!!


Matt, let me know when you can debate something without resorting to
personal attacks or insults, then I will debate it with you.

And.. I don't work in academia. I actually work for a living.

I also dont consider myself whining about prices for gas. I pay for it
as I go. Its nice to have enough disposable income to do so without
flinching.

The refineries ARE in my back yard. They pay their share in property
taxes to the localities and school systems. They also provide jobs to
the economy. I'd love for them to expand, and provide more capital to
our infrastructure here. But not at the cost of polluting unnecessarily.

Anyways, unless you have something meaningful to contribute to this
rather than unwarranted insults, I will leave you to your rant.

Dave

Mike Rapoport wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:g7i2f.468745$xm3.183303@attbi_s21...

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.
--



In Europe they are about twice as efficient using petroleum for
transportation as in the US. Instead of developing alternative fuels, they
have become more efficient at using existing fuels. In contrast, Brazil has
replaced about half of gasoline with ethanol (made from sugar cane), so it
can be done, it just doesn't make sense everywhere. You need a lot of land
and the right climate to produce enough bio fuels to run a modern economy.

And do biofuels really make sense, unless you are using waste products
alone. It has been a number of years since I saw a thorough analysis,
but my recollection is that grown biofuels make about as much sense as
hydrogen, given today's technology. The energy required to grow the
biofuel (corn was the topic of the analysis I read years ago), including
fuel for the farm equipment, the fertilizer, transportation to a
processing plant, and the processing energy itself made the biofuel at
best energy neutral compared to directly buring the oil used to make the
biofuel, and typically it actually used more oil to burn biofuel than to
burn the oil directly in the form of gasoline.

Maybe this equation has changed with better technology, but I really wonder.

As a subsidy to farmers, biofuel probably makes more sense than paying
them to not plant a field, but I'm not even sure about that!

Matt

JohnH wrote:

I, for example, would be a perfect candidate for mass transit. My
home is four miles from my office,


Your route sounds like an even better candidate for a bicycle commute.



Yes, if you live in the south. Bikes only work about half the year here
in northern PA.


Matt

Bob Noel wrote:

In article , "JohnH"
wrote:


I, for example, would be a perfect candidate for mass transit. My
home is four miles from my office,

Your route sounds like an even better candidate for a bicycle
commute.

Yeah, that would be a sight in January... :-/

And what "sight" would that be? Some warmer clothes?


Do people really bike on snow and ice?

Some do, but it is pretty dangerous. It isn't so bad when the temps get
below zero as the traction then increases quite a bit as compared to
temps between 25 and 40. However, the wind chill at 0 and lower makes a
pretty uncomfortable ride.


Matt

There is also a factor of arriving to work so sweaty in the summer,
that nobody can stand getting near you for the rest of the day.
Also, it does get really hot there, and you can't take enough off to
stay cool, unlike rutting more on for the cold. Cold is also a real
excuse, when you talk about getting frostbite from a half hour
outside, in the wind. Oh, did we mention that it gets windy there?

You may have missed where jay said his commute is only 4 miles. After a
couple weeks of conditioning, he probably wouldn't even break a sweat. He
also has the ability to take a shower when he gets to work.

It's unfortunate most Americans would rather live with refinery effluent to
power their 1 occupant SUVs than consider (shudder) using their own power to
move themselves.

"Eduardo K." wrote


2.0 FSI Audi: http://www.audiworld.com/news/01/iaa/fsi/content.shtml

quote:

The FSI engine's special combustion principle is critical to its
efficiency. On this engine, fuel is not injected into the intake port, but
directly into the combustion chamber. The injector, which is supplied by a
single-piston pump and common rail fuel line, is in the side of the cylinder
head, and controls the injection time to within thousandths of a second, at
injection pressures of up to 110 bar.

COOL!!!
--
Jim in NC