Investor612

'Pickens Plan' Comes in the Nick of Time

I admire Pickens for trying to help his country. Some comments:

1. We don't need government mandates for high mileage vehicles. let the marketplace work. Government mandates will only make it more expensive and difficult for those who need high horsepower vehicles for specific purposes. The average mileage of vehicles being sold this year is much greater than last year and auto manufacturers are already busting their butts to meet the demand for vehicles that get more mpg.
2. Pickens plan is multifaceted-more nuclear,wind,solar, ng, more domestic drilling. 5% here, 2 % there,3% there ,4 % here and 5% yet somewhere else and pretty soon there's significant savings.
3. How about some painless conservation? Last week I did a little experiment on a 72.1 mile trip and back on the interstate using my 2002 Chevy Astro van. I chose that particular trip because there was little wind that day. Going there I set the cruise at 75, the speed limit. When I left I filled up taking care to top off the tank. When I arrived I again filled up again topping off the tank. I uswd 4.06 gallons for an average mpg of 17.8. My appointment was a half block from the gas station so going back the trip was 72.2 miles. Going back I set the cruise at 65mph and filled up at the same station I used when leaving. Again taking care to top off the tank I used 3.64 gallons which means I got 19.8 mpg. Quite a difference.
Simply lowering the speed limits to 65 on interstates, 60 on all other 4 lanes, and 55 on 2 lanes would lower gas consumption significantly, cut oil imports by at least 10%. That's 70 billion less a year in wealth transfer Pickens is talking about. The question is, are we Americans so spoiled and self-indulgent that we won't accept even a slight sacrifice and/or inconvenience?