And he's requested to go again, as has his brother William. Interesting how THEY feel like helping the effort but our country's leadership seems to be very "invisible" over there..........ok, I forgot that Romney's kids were helping him to try and get elected and he said that was how "they supported" the effort.............. I know one of McCain's sons is a pilot for AMR, yet he despises pilots, and unions. (sorry for the thread drift).

 

I don't think it's difficult to see that the author is suggesting that Americans need to make a choice in the name of fiscal responsibility: buy a latte, or buy a gallon of gas? Since lattes are (more or less) luxury goods, and transportation is (more or less) a basic necessity, you can see where he's going with it. The argument in this context is certainly food for thought.

 

One could also argue that speculators are driving the price ever higher right now simply because there haven't really been many other viable investments lately. With the exception of today, the stock market has pretty much been tanking lately. I would expect the price of oil to back off, at least somewhat, once the economy gets back on track.

 

How about enacting strict laws that forbid idling vehicles. We have all seen all the hotel shuttle vans around airports that just sit there idling their engines, wasting fuel, and polluting the air. Funny how I step off the plane in Frankfurt, for example, and NOT ONE taxi is idling with his engine on! Not one!

Its time to change habits and stop wasting!

 

I know what he's pointing towards, but you don't get just ONE gallon of gas when you go to the station. I only buy one latte at a time unless I'm buying for the whole crew at which point it'd be cheaper to fill up with gas.

 

How about 50 airplanes waiting in line to takeoff, or waiting to be deiced? It's a bit on the ridiculous side if you ask me. Heck, we takeoff to the south in ATL and are climbing through 10,000' before we get turned around to head north back to EWR. Figured in the 737 we'd already burned almost $1200 in fuel just to get going the right way. What a waste.

 

I dont think you can compare an aircraft waiting for takeoff, which is contantly moving toward the runway, to a shuttle van, car, or taxi, that is parked idling for 10, 20, or 30 minutes waiting to pick someone up. However, Branson has suggested using tugs to tow an aircraft to the departure end of the runway to save on fuel. Maybe he is on to something...

Yes there are definately things we can do to improve efficiency in the ATC enviroment, but lets start with easier, more effective solutions now.

 

BINGO !we have a winner !Hey shark ya got it .now if the rest of you guys read his post you may understand whats going on !Let me embellish a little bit here .The SPECULATORS ARE THE ONES RESONSIBLE FOR THIS !they sit back and laugh about what they are doing to the rest of us and to americas industrys in general --- today i saw a sign for 3.85 for diesel and it will continue and guess who pays? WE DO so the government needs to step in and nail these ppl by the nads > now before i get flamed i will say i am not one for government intervention but these scum are really pushing this country into somewhere we really do not want to go again.1929 ring a bell?

 

I think a lot of people are missing the real issue - the dollar is in a death spiral right now.

Supply & Demand don't tell the whole story. Politicians talk about reducing demand, and sure, that's valid. Others talk about OPEC and the US Oil industry capping production, and that's also valid.

But look at the price of commodities - anything from wheat to gold to oil has more than doubled in price (in dollars), but if you look at the value of the same things in Euro, they've been fairly stable.

The subprime mortgage ship has sunk, so stop trying to save it by lowering interest rates and in doing so destroying the rest of the economy. And the plan to give everyone $1000 (or whatever the current planned economy-boosting tax rebate is) is ludicrous. Wise people will use it to save or invest, but that same "subprime" faction of our society will probably go out and buy another plasma TV.

 

[quote=waflyboy;338617]I wonder how many barrels of oil it will take to produce that many new hybrid cars.

The same amount it would take to create the same number of conventional cars which are goingto be built anyway. This argument doesn't work because the cars are still going to be built. They are to replace conventional cars not supplement.