You are right, there are some positives to higher fuel prices. Some folks are walking more (I doubt it's a new rage yet), with high food prices maybe some are eating less. Car companies finaly (with emphasis) are working on more fuel efficient cars, including plug-in hybrids, and doing better on electric cars and battery technology.
So maybe we all have to suffer a lot to force us all to make a big enough change.
People are looking for ways to conserve. Gas hogs like the SUV land barges are being dumped for smaller more fuel efficient models.
That's all good.
But still, there hasn't been a real significant reduction in the amount of fuel we are using yet. No real impact yet.
The economy is starting to suffer too! When that happens we start loosing jobs. As society struggles to make ends meet, people stop buying. We buy nothing we don't absolutely need, we drive only when we have to, we eat less, we go without.
With the slow down in the market place, the gas crunch is already starting to affect jobs. Car mfg's are left with an ocean of SUV's and Pickukps on their lots. Some are now scaling down, laying off and shutting down plants. Chevy is scaling down right now, closing plants and laying off thousands.
Unemployment may have many more people "walking" and maybe going a little Hungary.
Another down-side, we are increasing bio-fuel production. While floods and drought have eliminated millions of acres farm land from production; Bio-fuel is using food to convert to ethanol, which means higher food prices and less food. Famine is a world threat now, so why are we using food for fuel.
Maybe a perfect storm is brewing.
Ethanol is a poor choice, it takes way too much energy to produce, for what you get back. Bio-fuel is 75% of the reason world food prices have gone up.
The food prices in the USA, due to high fuel prices, and bio-fuel production have gone up 150%.
The oil crunch has hurt many home budgets, especially among the poor.
What have you cut out of your budget to pay for gas go get to work?
The other down side; politicians continue to argue and do nothing positive to fix the problems. I write my state and federal reps at least once a week. All I get back is double talk.
Politicians simply have no viable solutions. They just argue and have personal agendas instead of working in the best interest of our country. They are not doing much, if anything, to resolve the energy crisis. Just more of the same.
Do something to reduce your fuel consumption: http://www.MPGdoubled.com
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