Which of the following measures would you support to keep gas prices down?

Question

They are listed in no particular order. Some are very minor and some are drastic. Please tell me which ones you would support:

1. more investment in public transit

2. reducing speed limits

3. car-free days on a rotating basis by license plate number

4. temporary suspension of gas taxes

5. higher mandatory fuel economy for new cars

6. more research on alternate fuels like ethanol

7. tax breaks for people who carpool or ride the bus to work

8. more oil drilling in the US

9. limit on number of miles driven on odometer per car per week

10. mandatory full tire inflation, with penalties for improperly inflated tires

Answer 1

# 11  The one you didn't mention.

Your issue is to KEEP PRICES DOWN.

This can only be done by increasing refining capacity.

Your other proposals are either conservation based, tax based or research based - non of which have anything to do with PRICES AT THE PUMP.

Answer 2

Probaly most all of them execpt3 why rotate you lincense plate number

Answer 3

7. tax breaks for people who carpool or ride the bus to work

^_^!

Answer 4

Excellent question, gomanyes!  I'd support:

1. Where public transit is feasible, we should be making it preferable to driving solo.  I've lived in a number of big cities and used mass transit every chance I got.  I actually prefer it in many cases.

2.  We'd probably have a better chance of getting Stedman to propose to Oprah, but if we work on point # 5, this becomes less of an issue.

3 & 9. (With a twist)  We have the technology to re-institute gasoline rationing like we had in WWII and the 70's gas crisis.  Every licensed driver gets a tag to activate gasoline pumps and they're limited to a certain number of gallons each week.  I'm betting people would come up with plenty of ways to economize if they were threatened with not having free access to gasoline.  Many pumps already have the ability to read and transmit data like this.  If folks carpooled, they could "pay their way" by putting gasoline in the driver's car, allowing everyone the ability to get to work.

4. Unfortunately, the government doesn't give up tax base easily, and these taxes go back into roadway maintenance.

5. This is completely doable.  Car makers get an average number and all they have to do to raise this number is sell fewer SUV's and pickups.  Precious few people actually need these gas guzzling beasts.  Tax incentives could help push folks towards higher efficiency vehicles as well.

6. Alternative fuels are a certainty, it's just a matter of time until we're out of fossil fuels.  My company is heavily invested in hydrogen and sees it as a likely frontrunner in the alternative fuels arena.

7.  This is a no brainer, except for the governments responsible for implementing the breaks.  Higher ridership means increased revenue, which offsets the additional costs and allows incentives.  Duh...  

8.  Tap every last drop, I say, s***w the NIMBY's!!  How are they going to drive to their NIMBY rallies if we don't have any gasoline??  We're going to tap it before we wean ourselves off the oil t*t anyway, may as well get it now.

10. Put some kind of flourescent dye in the tires that will show up if they leak, so police can easily find leakers and check them.  Or mandate pressure sensors that can be read with a proximity device, or even better, warn the driver for 72 hours, then disable the vehicle.  Also, put a luxury tax on all these low profile truck and SUV tires.  You want to roll like a thug?  Pay like a fool for the privilege...

Answer 5

1, 4, 5,6,7.

Answer 6

you forgot one!

#11  Outlaw SUV's

SUV's are gas hogs! and SUV's are killers!

and I agree with #2  reducing the speed limit to maximum speed of 55 MPH,  this was done back in the late 1970's and yes it did save gas.

Answer 7

I have my own answer to your questions if you like real answers by http://uk.360.yahoo.com/varsitythoo:

1) STRENGTHEN YOUR CURRENCY BY REPEGGING YOUR CURRENCY WHENEVER GOLD BARS ARE ADDED INTO THE INTERNATIONAL CURRENCY REVALUATION BANK, count how many years your currency never revalued (STAY STAGNANT) because of not making profit. WHEN CURRENCY IS STRONG, BUYING POWER WILL BE STRONGER IN TERMS OF "ECONOMICS OF SCALE"

2).HAVE BETTER TECHNOLOGY LIKE POWER SAVING

    TECHNOLOGY USING KINETIC DYNAMO ELECTRIC  

    GENERATOR TECHNOLOGY ON EVERY FOUR  

    WHEELS ROTATING ON THE MAGNET PASSING

    ELECTROMAGNETIC CURRENT THROUGH

    A DIFFERENT CATEGORY OF TRANSFORMER ON

    LOW OR HIGH VOLTAGE SUPPLYING TO DIFFERENT

    CAR PARTS. EXTRA ELECTRICITY NOT CONSUMED

    TO BE CHANNELED INTO A RECHARGABLE

    BATTERY CONTROLLED BY THE ALTERNATER AND

    CIRCUIT BREAKER TO PREVENT OVERCHARGING

    AND USING FUSES AND VOLTAGE REGULATOR TO

    CONTROL OVERLOADING ON THE RECHARGABLE LI-

    THIUM ION BATTERIES TO ASSIST FUEL POWER ON  

    LOWER BURNING TO MOVE THE MOTOR AND MADE

    ECONOMICAL FOR EXTRA MILES ON STEADY

    ACCELERATION  

3) SINCE WE DO NOT HAVE REFINERY FACTORIES FOR

    FUEL, WE HAVE TO FIND CHEAPER MODES OF

    TRANSPORTATION SO THAT OIL PRICE CAN BE

    CONTROLLED BY COST SAVING LOGISTICS  AND

    THE HONEST PERSON WHO CAN HANDLE YOUR

    BUDGET IN SHIPMENTS TO AND FROM the refinery

    FACTORIES

I might loose my job for being too honest to all of you. Goodnight and take care.

Answer 8

I not too long ago had a guestion in which I tried to push suggestion #4.  I did not get much traction on it. Maybe because of other things I had said in the post.

Answer 9

Are you out of your ****ing mind?

1) Public trasit where I live is a farce, and they've been working on it for more than 20 years.  The ride to work would mean a mile walk, and two hours in commute, with three bus changes.

2)No, I wouldn't.  Some of us have cars that achieve their best economy in fourth gear lock up.  Having learned to drive on the authobahn, and faced 55MPH limits when I came home, not on your life.

3) As a bachelor and well away from public transport or coworkers going in the same direction, my car is as much a part of keeping my job as remembering to show up.

4) Take I-35 through Oklahoma City and seriously tell me you want to stop road taxes on fuels.

5) We've been mandating higher economy for cars for the last 20 years, it hasn't changed the fuel economy as more power is demanded from smaller engines from falling.  There have also been mandates to improve air quality without appreciable compliance.

6)  While ethanol is viable, the mid-west's corn crops, and all the vegetable oil from restaraunts with fryers is never going to be able to replace dinosaur based oil as a source of fuel.

7) Tax breaks currently exist for people who invest in green technology in the form of electric or hybrid cars.  You're proposing I use a bus pass, in a system already losing money, to justify a tax break I'm already paying for with the taxes on my home, for a service I can't use.  How do you propse to prove that someone carpools?

8) To my great chagrin, we're drilling where we can for anything recoverable.  The East Texas Lakes and Permian Basin are active again as Canadians are trying to figure out the most efficient means of recovering oil from bitumen.

9)  Limiting the number of miles a vehicle operates in a single week would be akin to limiting the number of times a person is allowed to have s*x in a week; it ain't gonna happen.  Sometimes, I need to drive 200 miles in a day, sometimes I need to drive over 800.  Sometimes for fun, sometimes for work, if I, or my company can afford the expense, who are you to tell me how far I can drive in a week?

I put about 20,000 miles a year on my Jeep, and the current record is about 60,000 miles on a work vehicle in a year.  (It was a long year.)

What are you proposing for rental cars?

10)  Tire inflation is a myth.  For vehicles with standard equipment, you inflate the tires to the pressures listed for the front and rear tires that's posted on the driver's door post.  Over inflating them for the vehicle decreases safety and controllabily in panic braking, slides and possible roll overs; I'd personally rather burn an extra gallon of gasoline than go through another roll over.

JT

Answer 10

I support all except 4 and 8

Answer 11

Most important is higher mandatory fuel economy.  If we had continued raising CAFE standards that Carter started - we wouldn't need to buy a drop of oil from the Middle-East by now.  And if a Prius can get 45 to 55 mpg and only cost a couple thousand more than a similar car - then all cars could probably double their fuel economy and still get great performance.

Answer 12

#'s 1, 5, 6, 7, 10.

#1 is the easiest one to implement; the problem is most people are not as willing to use public transit even if it's widely available.  Americans are too entrenched in their "car culture."  

#5 is another simple solution;  the problem is politicians are not willing to force the auto industry to boost its standards.

#6 Alternative fuels are still quite some time away from being fully realized, though it is still necessary to research viable alternatives regardless.

#7 This would encourage many of the most hesitant commuters to use public transit at least some of the time, if not regularly.

#10  Well, you might be thinking, "This is just another nitpicky law that will only siphon more hard-earned money from taxpayers." However, improperly inflated tires are not only bad for fuel economy, they also lead to many accidents on the roadways.  Think of this as a public safety issue.  (If I'm not mistaken, don't some jurisdictions already have statutes regarding this?)