Quote:
Originally Posted by Nyororin
Get a car with decent mileage, don`t drive if it`s unnecessary, and don`t leave the car running while parked.
We fill our car 3 times a month at about $50 a tank. We drive quite frequently.
It`s not that horribly expensive, which is why it irritates me a bit when people in the US cry about $3 something a gallon gas. Use common sense, and you can manage. People use WAY too much gas to begin with. (SUVs.... for one example)
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It's not really fair to say "We have it so much worse because we pay XXX a gallon." because the American economy (like many other world economies) is hurt in so many ways with the price of gas doubles in two years. This effects the price of food and milk, which has gone up noticeably, the price of airline tickets, just about everything. So it's not only the price of gasoline going up but the price of everything that uses or is transported by gas. In a place like Japan it is a lot easier for many citizens to live a gas-free lifestyle, and i think that is commendable, but the US is 25 times larger than Japan, and for many people living without a car simply isn't an option.
But on the other hand, there have already been good results. Our president just went to Saudi Arabia and got on his hands and knees and begged them to make more gas. Their response? Not interested. It really showed aware Americans that we DEPEND on people that are barely our allies to keep our country funtioning. A lot of Americans are taking notice, and some that scoffed at alternative fuels are now seeing that we need to find ways to be more self-sufficient and not depend on foriegn oil so much.
People are already starting to use less oil and use more alternative fuels. People are starting to dump their SUVs and, I believe, Toyota is the number 1 selling car manufacturer in the US now. Just like anywhere else, people don't change until it affects them personally and that is starting to happen now. It may cost you 50 dollars to fill your car in Japan, but it costs me $75. Like I said, this is almost double from two years ago, and I remember when I could fill it for about $20. So, like you suggest, I am looking at getting a more fuel efficient car (I drive a '94 Jeep, which I love, but it's embarrassingly innefficient).
So, Americans are going to get more efficient cars. The laws are changing to require more fuel-efficient cars. No one believes the American car makers that say that can't make a decent 50-mile-per-gallon car because the Japanese and Europeans are doing just that (sometimes much higher, even). SUVs that were 50,000 dollars in winter are now selling for 30,000 or less. Dealerships know this gas-guzzlers are lemons, and they need to dump them. So change is happening...and quicker than you might expect from America.