For eons Detroit was protected by aggressive laws overtaxing any foreign cars. Without competition, the big industry dint find the need to build quality cars. Now, this sorry state of affairs is bitting their bottom line.

Do I have any sympathies? Not at all. The guys at Detroit paid the lobby machine to maintain their haven and the elected officials accepted all their whims. They have painted themselves into a corner, now they need to get out.

Thanks for the video!

I am exercising my inalienable American right to haul ass in my retina searing yellow Audi TT. The little computer tells me I get ~25 MPG. I don't know how much I spent on gas.

Chill.

Also, see this (via Reynolds). Compare and contrast this "minimally acceptable level of wellbeing" with Amy's frequent use of the word "necessary".

Guys, people like oil. There's no need to be ashamed of it.

But Crid, doesn't that imply that as long as the price of everything remains constant, its OK? That's not the way things usually go. As technology improves, costs often fall. If the price had just risen with inflation, it wouldn't be such a big deal. It's this spike that's cause for concern. Did supply all of a sudden shrink that much? Did demand all of a sudden rise that much? Or did someone drop the ball and leave us open to an unfriendly regime? We're paying $1.40/l (about $5.60/gal) in the province that produces the stuff. What up with that?

> as long as the price of
> everything remains constant

Dude/Gal, your life is the envy of human history. You have food and medicine and clothing and education and shelter and travel and peace and ten thousand other blessings that people couldn't have dreamed of before the oil economy. Oil makes shit go...

To ascribe all that fabulous wealth to "constant prices" is not proportionate.

Live by the libertarian sword, die by it, Amy. "Detroit" made big cars and SUVs for all those years because the public bought them. The public bought them because gas was cheap. Any effort to raise CAFE standards was fought bitterly by Detroit and (we can assume) libertarians like you, who generally feel markets should decide prices, not governments.

You won't find me defending the auto industry for much. But they know their customers pretty well. And you are not their customer.

BTW, that guy wouldn't last long here -- you NEVER, EVER leave your keys in your car at a gas pump in the D. I know someone who had a nice late-model Caddy ripped off in a gas station just this year.

Oh, as for Saudi Arabia: They're our partners in peace! Don't you believe the president of our own United States?

Raise CAFE standards, and you'll be driving this

If you think it's so easy to engineer a car that gets 100 mpg, why don't you give it a shot?

Amy - How many miles did you drive last year? I'd bet that I drive more in a month than you do in a year.

If we factor in transoceanic flights, who burned more fossil fuel?

Here's how to have fun while conserving our planet's precious petrochemical resources.

I've been a truck guy my whole life. In 2005 I got rid of my truck for a smaller more efficient Audi. I couldn't stand driving it around. I couldn't load my drums into it, or anything larger than Amy's dog, and the back seat was a joke for anyone taller than 5'10".

In December I got a 'family' deal on a new truck. Yep, full size gas guzzling deal. 0% interest, 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty. Average gas cost about $500 per month. The price you pay to have something you want and periodically need. And I try to be courteous behind the wheel because I know that I will kill anyone in a Smrt car with my truck if I'm not careful.

Enter January, I find myself a nice vintage Honda motorcycle. My first motorcycle owned in my lifetime. I pay a very reasonable dollar amount for a 34 year old bike with 3,300 miles on it. I ride it whenever I don't need the cargo space my truck provides. Average monthly gas cost, $32 bucks. I'm averaging about 175 miles per week driven...

I'm not riding the moto for the environment or any of that stuff, merely to save myself some coin. When I need the big rig, I have it at my disposal. If you don't like the price of gas, either elect people that will do something productive about it (if at all possible) or change your personal habits. Worked for me and I now have the best of both worlds. Personal fulfillment, as well as efficiency.

I know we're the luckiest SOBs in history, and I am extra grateful to be born in a province that stays rich off the stuff in the ground. I just don't think that graph does more than say, "See, the price isn't that bad." (The slight whine in the tone, was probably just in my head.)

I don't actually complain about gas prices much, we're fortunate where we're at and hardly the picture of environmental friendliness. We have two street bikes, three offroad bikes, a souped up 67 Chevy truck, a 3/4 ton to haul our bikes & travel trailer, my PT Cruiser plus my husband's work truck. But I guess I am still confused why the price has risen 40% in the last year. And a pat on the head saying it isn't that bad, doesn't really satisfy me.

But I guess I am still confused why the price has risen 40% in the last year. And a pat on the head saying it isn't that bad, doesn't really satisfy me.

There's this place you might have heard of - China. They're buying Benzes, Buicks, and Caddys at a ridiculous rate of speed. They're also growing economically at a stupid pace.

Gasoline production world-wide hasn't increased, but demand has. And the speculators don't see any new capacity coming on line, nor any decrease in the growth of demand.

We start drilling and building new refining capacity in the US, and the price will drop precipitously.