Yeah, I just discovered what "miasma" means. So!
Anyway...found this online. You know how the saying goes: "If it's too good to be true..."
Any of you early Gen-Xers know if a similar situation occured during the drama of 1973? I could Wiki it, but I like to hear people sound off instead. Just curious.
Read on,
Troy
FROM MSN:
Cheap Gas: Blessing or Curse?
Recent drops in prices at the pumps have many questioning whether Americans will continue on their path to efficiency or go back to their old, wasteful ways.
By Jacob Gordon of TreeHugger
The national price for unleaded gas has dropped more than 125 percent from a year ago. Diesel prices have fallen more than 80 percent.
If you're looking for a ray of hope during these dark economic days, plummeting prices at the gas pumps isn't it. In fact, this pump-side reprieve might just be a curse in disguise. Cheap gas is as much a sign of a sick economy as home foreclosures or the mess that's unfolding in Detroit with the Big Three American automakers. It also gives motorists an excuse to go back to their gas-guzzling ways, by fostering the perception that it is no longer a financial imperative to be efficient. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to the experts.
Low Prices Are TemporaryAfter topping $4.00 a gallon just a few months back, gas prices have fallen to their lowest levels in almost four years. And some experts forecast that unleaded will drop as low as $1.50 a gallon in coming months.
Although there is still heated debate over how low gas prices will actually fall, all of the experts we talked with agree on one thing: Cheap gas is not here to stay.
View Pictures: Top Hybrids
"Continued volatility in gas prices should be expected," says Kelly Sims Gallagher of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School. "Gas prices will increase again. Reduced demand based on the economic downturn is only temporarily pushing them down."
Cheap Gas Also Has ConsequencesWhile a return to $2-a-gallon gas is a nice break for cash-strapped Americans, it remains to be seen how this cheap gas will affect our future vehicle purchases and our government's policies toward fuel economy. Will lower costs at the pumps send us "from shock to trance," as President-elect Barack Obama recently put it, sending Americans running back to their gas guzzlers, or will the public continue to embrace smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and hybrids?
In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Obama said that with oil under $60 a barrel, doing something about the energy predicament is more important than ever. "It may be a little harder politically," he said, "but it's more important."
Why, you ask? We could be looking at a setback for high-mpg, low-carbon auto technology. "I believe the future will bring unnerving volatility, not permanently higher oil prices," says Vijay Vaitheeswaran, environment and energy correspondent for The Economist. "And that can be the enemy of greener fuels and clean technology because, as happened in the 1990s, low oil prices lead to lack of investment in green fuels."
Don't Look BackSales statistics don't lie. They clearly show that high gas prices have consumers driving smarter and turning away from SUVs and other gas guzzlers and toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles such as the MINI Cooper and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius. And the larger utility vehicles people are buying tend to be smaller crossover models, such as the Honda CR-V and Ford Escape, that get better gas mileage and offer a better ride than their more hefty siblings.
"Consumers should continue to purchase a vehicle that fulfills their needs in as fuel-efficient a model as they can find," says Michael Quincy, an auto expert for Consumer Reports. "People will need to look long and hard at need versus want."
Discuss: What do you think about cost of fuel in America? Are we better off paying less?
A bonus for those who do choose to stay on track and choose more fuel-efficient rides is reduced maintenance costs. Consumer Reports' recent reliability ratings found that the most dependable cars are often the most fuel-efficient, with hybrids scoring exceptionally well.
Break the AddictionCheap gasoline comes as a break for a country suffering some of the worst economic blows in recent history. But if we go back to our old habits, and Detroit keeps pumping out gas guzzlers, we haven't really progressed, but merely moved back into our comfort zone. As Obama said during his recent 60 Minutes interview: "We start filling up our SUVs again. As a consequence, we don't make any progress. It's part of the addiction."
Fact is, the best way for consumers to defend themselves against future price turmoil at the pump and to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil suppliers is to choose gas sippers instead of guzzlers. "The main thing that drivers can do is to buy more fuel-efficient cars so that high gas prices are not as burdensome when they return," Gallagher said.
Jacob Gordon is a freelance writer, a blogger for TreeHugger.com and a producer of TreeHugger Radio. He can be reached at jacob@treehugger.com.
Anyway...found this online. You know how the saying goes: "If it's too good to be true..."
Any of you early Gen-Xers know if a similar situation occured during the drama of 1973? I could Wiki it, but I like to hear people sound off instead. Just curious.
Read on,
Troy
FROM MSN:
Cheap Gas: Blessing or Curse?
Recent drops in prices at the pumps have many questioning whether Americans will continue on their path to efficiency or go back to their old, wasteful ways.
By Jacob Gordon of TreeHugger
The national price for unleaded gas has dropped more than 125 percent from a year ago. Diesel prices have fallen more than 80 percent.
If you're looking for a ray of hope during these dark economic days, plummeting prices at the gas pumps isn't it. In fact, this pump-side reprieve might just be a curse in disguise. Cheap gas is as much a sign of a sick economy as home foreclosures or the mess that's unfolding in Detroit with the Big Three American automakers. It also gives motorists an excuse to go back to their gas-guzzling ways, by fostering the perception that it is no longer a financial imperative to be efficient. Nothing could be further from the truth, according to the experts.
Low Prices Are TemporaryAfter topping $4.00 a gallon just a few months back, gas prices have fallen to their lowest levels in almost four years. And some experts forecast that unleaded will drop as low as $1.50 a gallon in coming months.
Although there is still heated debate over how low gas prices will actually fall, all of the experts we talked with agree on one thing: Cheap gas is not here to stay.
View Pictures: Top Hybrids
"Continued volatility in gas prices should be expected," says Kelly Sims Gallagher of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School. "Gas prices will increase again. Reduced demand based on the economic downturn is only temporarily pushing them down."
Cheap Gas Also Has ConsequencesWhile a return to $2-a-gallon gas is a nice break for cash-strapped Americans, it remains to be seen how this cheap gas will affect our future vehicle purchases and our government's policies toward fuel economy. Will lower costs at the pumps send us "from shock to trance," as President-elect Barack Obama recently put it, sending Americans running back to their gas guzzlers, or will the public continue to embrace smaller, more fuel-efficient cars and hybrids?
In a recent 60 Minutes interview, Obama said that with oil under $60 a barrel, doing something about the energy predicament is more important than ever. "It may be a little harder politically," he said, "but it's more important."
Why, you ask? We could be looking at a setback for high-mpg, low-carbon auto technology. "I believe the future will bring unnerving volatility, not permanently higher oil prices," says Vijay Vaitheeswaran, environment and energy correspondent for The Economist. "And that can be the enemy of greener fuels and clean technology because, as happened in the 1990s, low oil prices lead to lack of investment in green fuels."
Don't Look BackSales statistics don't lie. They clearly show that high gas prices have consumers driving smarter and turning away from SUVs and other gas guzzlers and toward smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles such as the MINI Cooper and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius. And the larger utility vehicles people are buying tend to be smaller crossover models, such as the Honda CR-V and Ford Escape, that get better gas mileage and offer a better ride than their more hefty siblings.
"Consumers should continue to purchase a vehicle that fulfills their needs in as fuel-efficient a model as they can find," says Michael Quincy, an auto expert for Consumer Reports. "People will need to look long and hard at need versus want."
Discuss: What do you think about cost of fuel in America? Are we better off paying less?
A bonus for those who do choose to stay on track and choose more fuel-efficient rides is reduced maintenance costs. Consumer Reports' recent reliability ratings found that the most dependable cars are often the most fuel-efficient, with hybrids scoring exceptionally well.
Break the AddictionCheap gasoline comes as a break for a country suffering some of the worst economic blows in recent history. But if we go back to our old habits, and Detroit keeps pumping out gas guzzlers, we haven't really progressed, but merely moved back into our comfort zone. As Obama said during his recent 60 Minutes interview: "We start filling up our SUVs again. As a consequence, we don't make any progress. It's part of the addiction."
Fact is, the best way for consumers to defend themselves against future price turmoil at the pump and to help reduce our dependence on foreign oil suppliers is to choose gas sippers instead of guzzlers. "The main thing that drivers can do is to buy more fuel-efficient cars so that high gas prices are not as burdensome when they return," Gallagher said.
Jacob Gordon is a freelance writer, a blogger for TreeHugger.com and a producer of TreeHugger Radio. He can be reached at jacob@treehugger.com.
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