We need to save gas expenses

I don't always agree with Gov. Granholm, but she is correct in this Detroit News writeup.


Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Granholm: State should look at lower freeway speed limits
Mark Hornbeck / Detroit News Lansing Bureau

LANSING -- Gov. Jennifer Granholm said today the state should look at lowering the 70 mph speed limit on freeways to conserve energy in the era of $4-a-gallon gas.

"It's something we should consider," she said during a news conference in Lansing.

Granholm didn't say what she thinks the lower speed limit should be.

"I'm not proposing something at this point," she said.

She added she also will talk to the Department of Transportation about adding bicycle lanes to state trunklines.

The governor made her comments after introducing a new state Web site that contains information to help Michiganians save money at the gas pump, on home energy costs and on college expenses.

At www.michigan.gov, click on SAVE MONEY to gain access to the site, which includes ride sharing and bus schedules, where to buy the cheapest gas in your neighborhood, how to reduce home heating and cooling bills and other information.

"People are hurting. We are trying to do everything we can to allow citizens access to information to help them save," Granholm said.

She said her family is driving two hybrid cars and she rides her bicycle to work two days a week to save on gas. She added that the first family is "greening the governor's residence" by putting in LED light bulbs, using timers and energy efficient devices.

"We're going to make the residence an example," she said.

You can reach Mark Hornbeck at (313) 222-2470 or mhornbeck@detnews.com

If she really wanted to help people she would lower the gas tax.

I know in this age of "get there fast" we forget that for every mile per hour we go over 55, we get less miles per gallon. In the late 1970's and until the 1990's we had a national speed limit of 55 to save gas. We need to go back to this!

But as people made more money, we became less concerned about fuel efficiency, and up went the speed limit and people bought bigger and bigger "gas hogging" vehicles. (me too, I went from Toyota corollas to Chevy Geos and now to a 10 year old Buick Century, now I want my 45 mpg Corolla back!!!)

Our Govt, under Reagan, tried to become more oil independent, and they forced Detroit to try to build more fuel saving cars. They lowered the speed limit, encouraged oil exploration in the US.

I don't know who the fools were that changed this, but today we are stuck with cars that are gas hogs again, and Detroit cannot sell their SUVs and trucks, which is causing tens of thousands out of work. (It is said that for each auto worker who loses their job, 7 more people also lose theirs in the supply line.)

Rich idiots are causing the oil futures to skyrocket, while they become mega-rich, and the rest of us become poor, or out of work. If we still have jobs, we cannot afford the fuel for our cars. And we are more dependent on other countries for our oil, while we have as much, if not more, in the US as the middle east! But the govt. and tree huggers will not let us drill for it, or build more refinaries. Boy is this one messed up country, and world!

So here's hoping Mich., will lead the way to lower speed limits, more fuel efficent cars, and oil refineries being built!

By the way, they keep telling us the price is up because of a shortage, yet I have heard from gas truckers that there is a huge glut and that all the tanks are full, ever the under ground ones at CLOSED gas stations! They are filling these too so they can hide the surplus!

SoulRat wrote:

If she really wanted to help people she would lower the gas tax.

And then you will not have money to fix the roads, catch 22. This is one big mess.

Didn't we try this once lowering the speed limit to 55? It didn't cut back on loss of gas and it didn't get people driving 55.

Want a better way to make people stop using gas?

Raise gas prices in medium-sized and larger (50,000+ people) cities by like 50 cents to a dollar and get a fancy public transportation system like the L in Chicago, Subway in NY, etc and make it FREE. That will get people off the road (that and ridiculously high gas prices) and still make money because the people that do pay for gas will be paying giant taxes.

This won't effect people that are going on long drives, because not every town has 50,000 people.....especially in most every state but CA.

catbox_9 wrote:

Didn't we try this once lowering the speed limit to 55? It didn't cut back on loss of gas and it didn't get people driving 55.

Want a better way to make people stop using gas?

Raise gas prices in medium-sized and larger (50,000+ people) cities by like 50 cents to a dollar and get a fancy public transportation system like the L in Chicago, Subway in NY, etc and make it FREE. That will get people off the road (that and ridiculously high gas prices) and still make money because the people that do pay for gas will be paying giant taxes.

This won't effect people that are going on long drives, because not every town has 50,000 people.....especially in most every state but CA.

Lowering the speed limit DID work in at least 80% of the US. You are just in a state that ignored it, as did many in MI! Ohio, FL, WV, GA, NC, SC, TX, AZ, LA, and others, I drove in were following the limit, or at most going 60 mph. The key is enforcement for those who like to break the law!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

If she really wanted to help people she would lower the gas tax.

And then you will not have money to fix the roads, catch 22. This is one big mess.

There isn't enough money to fix the roads around here anyways. They did however make a stupid turtle fence on the highway over the river flats. Which, oh here's a surprise, needs to be repaired and there is no money to fix it anyways. If they really wanted to help people, they would do away with the gas tax for a few months. It's ridiculous that Michigan has the second highest gas prices in the nation and there is still no money to fix the roads.

I know how you feel Soulrat. We have high gas taxes in Ohio too. And WV (which is only a 6 mi drive for me) has at least 10 cents a gallon more tax than Ohio. Normally the gas prices are about the same in both places, which means the Oil companies are pocketing the 10 cents per gallon in Ohio! I would love to see a gas tax vacation on both the state and national levels, for a year or so, AS LONG AS THEY MAKE THE OIL COMPANIES PASS IT ON TO US! But without federal control, they will take the taxes off, but prices will remain the same, and the oil companies will just become richer!

I am a free market person, supply and demand controls prices, but in the area of utilities and necessities, I am starting to feel we need Gov. controls in place! In Saudi Arabia gas is 90 cents per gallon and government regulated. In Venezuela the Govt got fed up with our oil companies ripping off the people and they nationalized oil, and now the people there pay 17 cents per gallon! In Mexico, again Govt. regulated, gas is at least $1.00 less just across the border and the further inland you go, the cheaper it gets!

All these countries rely on their own oil supplies. Why can't we do the same thing. We have the oil and coal (coal gasification) that allows for us to be independent for over 200 years! You would think with us coming up with Nitrogen fuel cell cars and such, we could use our own oil (which is used in everything we use...plastic, rubber tires, ect) that we could stretch out the supply to over 400 years supply. By then they will be using something other than oil anyway!

(NOTE: Gasification of fossil fuels is currently widely used on industrial scales to generate electricity. However, almost any type of organic material can be used as the raw material for gasification, such as wood, biomass, or even plastic waste. Thus, gasification may be an important technology for renewable energy. In particular biomass gasification can be carbon neutral.)

God supplied the US with unbelievable amounts of oil and coal. We have more oil than Saudi Arabia!

Reagan wanted to go oil independent...... democratic congress shot him down. Clinton wanted to fix the problem..... Republican congress shot him down. If they had addressed the problem then, we would not be in this mess today! We need a WHOLE NEW CONGRESS! THROW OUT ALL THE BUMS! IT WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BE A LIFETIME JOB, ONLY FOR THE RICH. OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WOULD NEVER RECOGNIZE THE IDIOT GOVERNMENT WE NOW HAVE!

They did a survey of congress to see how they felt they were doing to help improve america and most said they failed, yet they do not change their ways. That tells me we need ALL NEW PEOPLE IN THERE, AND NOT JUST MILLIONARES! Congress was set up to be ran by the COMMON man!

Sorry for the rant, but this topic is making me very angry and crazy! It is the result of people with no forward thinking!

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Sorry for the rant,

LOL. I'm sure most of us wish gas was $20 a gallon so we don't like hearing people complain :haha: Good post though.

I predict gas will be 7 dollars a gallon in five years

You think it'll take that long?

Conservative Estimate

Could be higher!

I had a feeling this might happen again. It's just history repeating itself, big-ass long cars in the 70's, big-ass SUV's in the 90's and now. Gas crisis again, etc. etc. etc.
I know driving slower saves on gas but it is very difficult to do, I can't stand it. People are beyond in a hurry these days like never before, I'm sure it would generate tons of speeding tickets, maybe something productive could be done with that money, but I doubt it.

GoGetEmTigers wrote:

Sorry for the rant

LOL don't be. I was just saying that Granholm is a worthless bitch, but your post was good

On one of the signs that my brother's friend, Eddie, made for our 4th of July rowing float thing.... He wrote "Save gas, ride an erg" The problem was nobody got it except the rowers and their families and stuff.

Trying to do our bit...we only have 1 car (a Toyota), I telecommute, and my husband bikes to work 3 seasons out of 4.

Get rid of cars and ride horses



Like they did before cars were invented

I'm allergic to horses....

I say turn all the roads into rivers And you have to row... no motor boats.

gotta drag my bicycle out of the garage!