PHIL BOYER: 40% OF AOPA MEMBERS ARE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASING THEIR FLYING DUE TO FUEL PRICES

Jay Honeck wrote:
Americans are a reactive bunch. If prices were to come back down, those
SUVs would probably start flying out the door again. When prices
spiked
back in '03, smaller cars became the top sellers in the U.S., but only
for
about 6 months. As soon as prices came back down, the trucks and SUVs
went
right back to the top of the shopping list.

That's because trucks and SUVs are more useful than itty-bitty cars.

Bottom line: SUVs can do all sorts of things that econocars cannot,
while SUVs can do everything that the econocar can do, better. With one
exception: Fuel consumption.

I think we'll see a short-term boom for small-car manufacturers, as
consumers shift to multiple vehicles, and use the ones that make the
most sense for the task at hand.

I think you are wrong here. Gas is never going to be $2.00/gal again
and probably not $3. Around here, and we are at the low end of the gas
price spectrum, they can't give away all the SUVs that they have taken
in on trade in the last month or two. There is a car lot down the street
from my office and they have prices slashed on the things. When I say
slashed I'm talking 30 - 50% below current Blue-book.

There is a middle ground between SUVs and econocars. That middle ground
is good old mid-size and even large cars. I'd bet that 90% of the SUVs
on the road could be replaced by those cars and with the exception of
soccer Mom's having to spend 30 more seconds properly loading the trunk
they would see no difference in utility.

"Jay Honeck" wrote:
Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling
for quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't
being exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

This says it all, I'm afraid:

Democrats reject call to lift ban on off-shore oil drilling:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/...h/offshore_oil

Your summary sentence failed to take into account this:
"Bush's brother, Jeb, fiercely opposed offshore drilling when he was
governor of Florida."

He, like the other elected officials of other coastal states where off
shore oil drilling is viable, was merely reflecting the desires of the
populations of those states.

Jay Honeck schrieb:
At current prices, almost all known oil reserves in the US are viable.

but this will then won't bring the price *down*

Economics have little to do with our domestic energy policy, or our
dependency on foreign oil. The Left has, over the past 30 years, made sure
that their environmental policies have become intertwined throughout our
bureaucracy (the folks who REALLY run this country, day-to-day), knowing
that this day would come. And come it has, as inevitable as the rain.

hmm, it is not policy but bureaucracy? and not economis?
*wow*

We now find ourselves completely paralyzed by these regulations, and unable
to respond in any logical, timely, or responsible way. All according to
plan. It's been remarkably predictable.

true. you still cry for cheap oil (instead of investing in insulation,
renewable energy, etc. etc.).

My father -- who worked with gas & electric utilities for 38 years --
predicted this day thirty years ago with remarkable clarity and accuracy.
He knew then that all the laws being written back in the '70s (ironically
during the "energy crisis") would one day come back to haunt us -- and, wow,
was he right!

yeah, you din't change very much over the last 30 years.

You've got to ask yourselves this: At what price level do "We the People"
rise up and throw the bums out? At what price point do "We the People"
take control of our government and reassert common sense? At what point do
"We the People" start making use of our known domestic energy resources, and
say "To hell with the snail darter"?


what will "you, the people" do? cry for cheap oil? or something with
more clue.

#m

Jay Honeck wrote:

That's because trucks and SUVs are more useful than itty-bitty cars.

Bottom line: SUVs can do all sorts of things that econocars cannot, while
SUVs can do everything that the econocar can do, better. With one
exception: Fuel consumption.


That depends on what you need them for. Here in Phoenix, they are used as
nothing more than oversized commuter vehicles. Even with gas prices the way
they are, I still know people who refuse to stop solo commuting in completely
empty Suburbans and Excursions.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:40:45 -0500, Jim Logajan
wrote in :

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Democrats reject call to lift ban on off-shore oil drilling:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080618/...h/offshore_oil

Your summary sentence failed to take into account this:
"Bush's brother, Jeb, fiercely opposed offshore drilling when he was
governor of Florida."


Word is, that the current Florida governor is backing McCain with an
eye toward becoming the RNC Veep candidate.

On Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:06:57 -0500, Gig 601Xl Builder
wrote in
:


There is a middle ground between SUVs and econocars. That middle ground
is good old mid-size and even large cars.

Here's an even better alternative:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007...ell-power.html
Fuel Cell Powertrain in the Honda FCX Clarity Is Significant
Advancement over Predecessors

Honda's FCX Clarity utilizes Honda’s V Flow Stack in combination
with a new compact and efficient lithium-ion battery pack and a
single hydrogen storage tank to power the vehicle’s electric drive
motor. The fuel cell stack operates as the vehicle’s main power
source. ...
http://world.honda.com/news/2008/408...w-FCX-Clarity/

And you can make your own fuel:

http://world.honda.com/news/2003/c031002.html
Honda Begins Experiments with Hydrogen Home Energy Station and
Improves Solar-Cell Technology for Production of Hydrogen

http://world.honda.com/FuelCell/FCX/station/
In addition to a solar cell-powered hydrogen refueling station,
Honda is operating an experimental Home Energy Station that
generates hydrogen from natural gas for use in fuel cell vehicles
while supplying electricity and hot water to the home as part of
its ongoing research into development of hydrogen production and
supply systems for a hydrogen-based society of the future. ...


Honda's already got fuel-cell cars in the hands of consumers. Where
are GM and Ford? Laggin'.

Bob Fry wrote:


- Get a clue, any fookin' clue. Please.


Fry, if you had a brain or cognitive though capability you'd be dangerous.

Dylan Smith wrote:

Not all crude is the same, and the United States is already drilling for
quite a lot of oil. The remaining large oil fields that aren't being
exploited currently are not *cheap* oil, but expensive oil.

And oil from other countries is cheap?


In any case, the oil companies that prospect and drill and refine this
oil will sell it on the world market along with all the other oil.
Unless the US takes the socialist approach of nationalizing it.


Oil is a worldwide commodity, just like corn or anything else. Tell us
something we don't already know, or stop wasting bandwidth.

well stated.

wrote:


You don't plant a barrel of oil in the ground and grow more which is
your implication...and no, we don't have proven reserves to accomplish
more than fractionally what you suggest and that's not a matter open
to unbridled (read: uneducated) speculation.

Please provide some proof.

Oil (or gas or coal) is nothing more (and nothing less) than stored
solar energy. We can bankrupt the nation chasing a religious fad or we
can put our people to work increasing our GDP. Its a very simple choice.

It requires leadership which is non-existant in this country today, and
you sir, are a gleaming example of the lack of it.