Going to try Kottke style…

Simple device increases diesel engine efficiency by 19% for less than $200.

We’re trading carbon credits in NY now. Going for $3.07 per ton….

Here’s how they fall:

• Rising gas prices cause Americans to drive less, a lot less. In April it was 1.8% less, in May 4.3%. 40 billion less miles this year.
• Less driving means less gas purchased
• Less gas purchased means lower tax revenues from gas taxes
• Gas taxes are commonly used for improvements to transportation infrastructure including desperately needed public transport systems, bridges, roads, etc.

Just another example of how our economy was built to support oil companies on every level, to the point where we cannot extract ourselves without major sacrifice.

I don’t think it’s my imagination. I now have a 12 mile commute, mostly on a freeway that starts as a 55 and changes to 65 as it gets further from the center city. Ordinarily drivers start heading up toward 80 about a mile before the signs change to 65. But recently I’ve noticed a big change- drivers are actually driving under the limit, averaging around 60, obviously because of gas prices. There is a significant savings by going 55.

Now my observations take place in a relatively wealthy suburban area where big cars and SUVs are still dominant. I’m guessing these guzzlers are becoming real financial liabilities. In the car business when you owe more for a vehicle than it is worth you are ‘upside-down’, a very bad place to be. If you’re upside-down when you go to trade-in the excess liability is often added to the loan for the new car- meaning you’re still upside-down even if you down-sized to something more efficient.

This is problematic for our economy. The rising fuel prices are a tide that raises all boats in ways we couldn’t have predicted. Even if you want to trade your SUV for a Civic it’s going to cost you and a lot of us are going to be even more in debt meaning we won’t be spending as much.

I drove by a local Hummer dealer the other day. It was a forlorn sight: A lot full of dinosaurs that had an extinction event and a showroom devoid of humans. Given the morons that typically bought these things one can’t help but feel that karma has kicked in. Unfortunately no one, no matter how righteous, is exempt from the karmic effects of our criminally conspicuous consumption.

The tide is rising.

 Techcrunch takes a scientist’s data and speculates about the economics of replacing all the cars in the country with electric cars.

* total oil consumption in the U.S.: 21 million barrels every day (CIA Factbook)
* cost per barrel: $130
* days in year: 365
* total spent per year: $1 trillion
* percentage of oil consumed by passenger cars: 40
* total spent per year on oil for passenger cars: $400 billion
* at 5 interest, how much we could we borrow and pay $400 billion every year in interest: $8 trillion
* number of registered cars in the U.S.: 250 million (Wikipedia)
* cost of a new electric car, if mass-produced: $20,000
* value of a used car, if exported to Latin America or China: $5,000
* cost to upgrade average existing American car to a brand-new electric car: $15,000
* number that could be converted for $8 trillion: more than 500 million cars (i.e., twice as many as we have now)

Of course this leaves out Americans’ unwillingness to give up vehicle choice.