I found this article interesting.  Hybrid owners are allowed to use the HOV lanes - and they are infuriating the other drivers.  Why?  Because they go so slow.  

There's a good reason Prius owners may be tempted to ease off the pedal. They see the impact their speed has on the gas tank. When Jim Feichtl sped along at 75 to 80 m.p.h. in his hybrid, the trip-o-meter on the dash that gauges his gas mileage up to the second told him he was getting between 35 and 39 m.p.g. When he dropped to under 65 m.p.h., he got 46 m.p.g.

When Paul Burnett of Alameda, Calif., went 55 m.p.h. in his Prius on his Interstate 880 commute, he got better than 56 m.p.g..

The proof was right on the dashboard, right in front of their eyes.

Maybe we don't need devices that automatically limit vehicle speed, or platoons of extra cops...

I'm not holding my breath.

Kennedy continues to be an embarrassment, but as the article implies, hopefully all the attention energy issues have been getting recently will force the politicians to give the project a green light.

Five lawmakers yesterday filed a draft law calling on the government to limit oil production in line with actual proven reserves, which have been claimed to be lower than the officially stated figure of 100 billion barrels. The four-article bill stipulates that the new production figure should not exceed the percentage of actual output in the past two fiscal years divided by proven reserves. The bill was signed by MPs Ahmad Al-Saadoun, Mussallam Al-Barrak, Mohammad Al-Khalifa, Hassan Jowhar and Waleed Al-Jari, all members of the Popular Action Bloc.

The draft law was filed in light of the controversy raised recently on the actual size of proven Kuwaiti oil reserves after the Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) reported in January that Kuwaiti reserves were only half of the announced figure of 100 billion barrels. PIW also claimed that proven reserves amounted only to 24.2 billion barrels, citing internal Kuwaiti records it claimed it had seen. Kuwaiti oil authorities have denied the report, with Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd Al-Sabah saying that the report spoke only about 31 reservoirs which were being used by Kuwait while ignoring 74 other untapped reservoirs. MP Saadoun had sent a lengthy question to Sheikh Ahmad inquiring about the report but the question has not yet been answered.

Explaining the bill, the MPs said that Kuwait produced slightly below one billion barrels of crude oil in each of the past two fiscal years. Based on official figures on reserves of 100 billion barrels, the actual production each year amounted to just one per cent of the reserves. It added that actual production in the coming years must not exceed one percentage point of proven reserves based on authenticated official figures which must be supplied by the energy ministry to the National Assembly.

It further clarified that if Kuwaiti reserves were more than 100 billion barrels, the production ceiling will increase and similarly if proven reserves were less, the production ceiling must be reduced accordingly. But it left the door open to change the percentage in accordance with Kuwaiti economic interests. To become effective, the bill must be approved by the Assembly and endorsed by HH the Amir.

Dunno if it has a chance of passing or what...

A search of Google News on "The Oil Drum" only yields links for this story at Alternet and The Energy Bulletin.

Despite the truth and quality of this editorial, we can't seem to crack the MSM. Is our traffic up?

[Repeated from end of editorial thread]

To be honest, I think we are actually making good progress.  The "we are to blame" or "consumption is the problem" memes are spreading.

Anybody who has a blog should link to the "politics of oil" post, boosting its page rank.  I can claim "first link" but there are only currently six of us.

Anybody who hits this link should increment the search count for "the discourse must change"

... but anyway, I think the glass is half-full.  Keep up the good work.

How about a TiVo for electricity?

In an age of flextime, when workers increasingly commute outside peak traffic flows, the delivery of electricity seems a bit, well, static. When you need it most, so does everyone else, imposing big costs and occasional brownouts on utilities and their customers. But a Washington, D.C., startup called GridPoint has a better idea. Starting this spring, GridPoint is selling a "smart box," priced from $15,000 to $20,000, that will allow business owners to manage their electricity more intelligently - and cut down on power bills.

The system works thanks to "dynamic pricing" - a payment arrangement in which utilities charge customers more during periods of peak usage, such as dinnertime, and less when demand is low - say, 3 A.M. Though this option has been around for decades in some areas, it's still available to only about 10% of U.S. customers - but that's about to change. An energy law enacted last year requires that all utilities offer customers some form of dynamic pricing by February 2007.

And what's this?  North Carolina is considering a radical idea for dealing with its energy shortfalls.  Conservation.

Old-fashioned conservation has been revived as an argument against the six nuclear reactors and three coal-fired units Carolinas utilities may build. Customers typically pay for the expensive plants through higher rates.

What will they think of next...

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_gasoline.html

...A host of doomsayers--from James Kunstler in his "The Long Emergency" to Matt Savinar on his blog "Life After the Oil Crash"--predict the end of civilization as we know it with the end of our culture's life blood: oil. Not unlike Thomas Malthus predicting mass starvation based on an imbalance between population and food production in the 19th century, they believe that humanity cannot surmount its present addiction to oil.

Despite the title of the piece, it does take peak oil seriously:

They may be right. Just because humanity invented its way out of a food crisis to prove Malthus wrong is no reason to think that we can do it again when so much of our lives--the fuel to run our transportation, the electricity to power the computers that dominate our lives (and on which I am writing and posting this screed), and yes, our food production--rely on ever-diminishing and ever-polluting fossil fuel resources, primarily oil.

In essence, humanity is in a race against time. We need new, cleaner energies to power our modern lives. We will either solve the problem or, as Lovelock points out, the problem will solve us. As others like the Apollo Alliance have pointed out, it will take the financial commitment and persistence of the U.S. Apollo Project to reach the moon--and more. Thus far, that commitment seems to be lacking from the U.S. government.

Though they do seem to think some kind of new technology will save us; their main worry seems to be that we won't get working on it until it's too late.

Without the "www" I just wind up with an "illegal URL" error.  May be just my browser.

I am intrigued by the conversation in this thread that discusses MPG and its relation to the speed limit.  I feel that, given the mindset of the vast majority of the country (continued large volume of sales for SUVs and other high-volume engined, heavy curb weight vehicles), trying to reduce the speed limit, in the name of efficiency, would only invite hostility to that cause.  And hard-line, idealistic calls for the end of(or ingringement upon)the american car culture are well-intended, but would only serve to alienate us from the general public and are unlikely to have any real effect (until it is too late!).
It is my understanding, that MPG is related to RPM.  The vast majority of passenger vehicles today have 4-speed automatic transmissions, which are hugely inefficient in relation to CVT/Automatics or 6 and even 5 speed manual gearboxes. One simple way to increase fuel efficiency with CURRENT, ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE engine technology would be to create government incentives and/or consumer demand for these transmission options.  People would maintain their high speed-limits, and would not be aware of any difference except in improved performance and efficiency.  By introducing a more efficient gear ratio or an extra gear, we would have the best of both worlds, and the concept is both relatively cheap to manufacture, and extremely accessible IN THE SHORT TERM.
of course, this unfortunately does little to increase the efficiency of commercial trucking, in contrast to the reduction of the speed limit.
any thoughts?  does this seem like a more palatable alternative to the reduction of the speed limit?

Hi Senator,

I'm one of your constituents concerned about gas prices and our
dependence on oil.  Unfortunately I'm not a citizen yet, only a
permanent resident, but I'm working on getting the right to vote.

I'm very unhappy at the way the recent gas prices have been "framed"
with the blame being put upon Iran, Venezuela, Oil companies and
traders.

The reason for our rising gas prices is simply that demand for oil is
vastly outstripping supply.  Whether or not we are at or beyond the
peak of oil production is a moot point.  This is because India, China
and many other rapidly developing nations are demanding the easy power
that oil gives.

We should not be focusing on giving a tax break to folks as $100 is
just a week or two's gas usage for most working families.  Putting a
windfall tax on oil companies is also wrong as I believe it will
stifle investment in aging oil production facilities.

We need to wean ourselves away from oil, and it needs an effort
equivalent to the US and UK effort in world war 2 to accomplish this
goal.

The government needs to completely dedicate itself and the American
people over the next 10 years, starting immediately, to removing our
dependence on oil completely.

# We should put millions of people to work building clean nuclear
power plants, solar panels, wind generators and tidal power
generators.
# We should create a government programme to replace all gasoline
consuming cars with electric cars and recycle the old vehicles into
raw materials.  This programme should be as low cost as possible for
all ordinary people.
# We should create a high tax credit incentive for ordinary lower wage
folks to put solar panels and small wind turbines on their homes.
# We need to heavily invest in 2 or more line electric high speed rail
lines to replace our airline-based cross country transportation
network.
# We need to solve the problem caused by our lack of light rail
investment, either by creating and renovating rail links in towns
across the country, or by creating low cost, low emission electric
buses.
# We need to stop looking at each problem our country faces in
relation to which industry to subsidise or tax.
# We need to work cross party to stop partisan ideology preventing
action on these issues.
# We need to make hard and unpopular decisions now to keep our country
running in the future.  This includes Defense spending that has so far
been sacred.  We spend hundred of billions on various military
projects that we need to start spending on getting ourselves off oil.
# The alaska drilling and canadian oil sands are temporary and
expensive measures that will not help America in the long run.  These
projects as well as the coal gasification project are environmental
disasters that will lead to more Katrina level disasters across the
US.

I would very much like a response on these points.  I would also like
to draw your attention to http://www.theoildrum.com/ - while they are
very much focused on peak oil, this technical and imaginative
community has some very good ideas on how to stop our national
dependence on oil.

Thank you for your time, Anthony Clark.

Drivers run out of gas to save money

Some California drivers are resorting to desperate measures to beat the surge in gas prices at the pump -- deliberately running dry on the state's freeways and simply waiting for rescue.

"Every time fuel goes up, we start noticing it. But right now we are noticing it a lot more," Andy Lujan, owner of California Coach Towing in Orange County, said Tuesday.

Lujan's 20 trucks roam the busy freeways of Orange and Los Angeles counties as part of a publicly funded patrol that gives a free gallon of gas to drivers who have run out of fuel. It also offers other basic assistance to drivers whose vehicles have broken down.

D.C. prayer rally to seek lower gas prices

A U.S. Christian group has grown tired of escalating gasoline prices and is set to stage a national prayer rally to lower the numbers at the pumps.

Various Christian clergy from around the country will convene around a Washington, D.C., gas station Thursday at noon to pray. For those who can't attend, a live Internet site and toll-free prayer line have been established.

In a release, the Pray Live group said many people are "overlooking the power of prayer when it comes to resolving this energy crisis."

I noticed that Matt Yglesias at Tapped, the blog over at The American Prospect (magazine), has posted on the issue of the Democrats' proposed legislation.  He suggests that, since they're the opposition party right now and in the minority, they're better off persuing strategies that help them attack Republicans so they can eventually be the majority party again, with the idea being that legislation they propose now is not really what they want to happen, but rather geared towards making Republicans look bad.

The idealist in me hates this but what with the rules of the game having been all but obliterated by conservatives over the past few decades I can't help but think this may well be the correct thing for the Democrats to do.

Which is not to say that those of us outside the fray shouldn't keep talking about what should be being done, but that perhaps we should phrase things slightly different to Democrats when we press our case with them, imploring them to address these issues properly when they're back in power...

Or something...

The current system mandated by the SEC for reporting "proved reserves" has become antique, and the information it provides to investors increasingly diverges from the actual resource position of many companies.

The real beneficiaries from reforming the system for disclosing proved reserves will be investors, of course -- and the consumers who are counting on the availability of future supplies.

Basically, the article is a repeat of Yergin's previously stated argument that the SEC 1970s-era "proved reserves" disclosure rules should be updated to account for modern technology, etc.

Finances delay roadwork

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) - State highway commissioners say some roadwork will have to wait if lawmakers don't provide some money for the agency.

"We are in dire straits; there's no question about that," said Commissioner Bob Harrell Sr., chairman of the Transportation Department board's finance and administration committee. "I don't think I've seen it this bad."

The financial crunch is a result of increases in the cost of materials, lack of growth in the agency's primary funding source - gas taxes - and lower-than-anticipated federal highway revenues, said Mo Denny, the agency's chief financial officer.

Some commissioners say it may be time to raise the gas tax, which has been unchanged since 1987. But that is unlikely in an election year.

I don't see any of those factors improving much.  Our roads may die long before the car does.

I've sent the PDF version of the press release to my Congresscritters, and am now considering others.  Like maybe the DOT commissioner?  Lou Dobbs, as someone suggested in another thread?

Maybe we should try a Google bomb, perhaps on the phrase gas prices?

http://www.theoildrum.com/user/6vs8

This one, too:

http://www.theoildrum.com/user/hcy0331

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/04/23/ccliam23.xml

The threat to a fistful of petrodollars
By Liam Halligan (Filed: 23/04/2006)

Excerpts:

From Russia, you might say, with love. This weekend, Alexei Kudrin, Russia's finance minister, dropped a bombshell in Washington.

 Attending the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Kudrin caused hisAmerican hosts discomfort by openly questioning the dollar's pre-eminence as the world's "absolute" reserve currency.

 The greenback's recent volatility and the yawning US trade deficit, "are definitely causing concern with regard to its reserve currency status," he said. "The international community can hardly be satisfied with this instability."

For historic reasons, the dollar remains the world's "petrocurrency" - the only currency for the settlement of oil contracts on world markets. That makes the EU and Russia dependent on it. But with central banks switching to euros, the logical next step would be for fuel-exporting countries to start quoting oil prices in euros too.

Fuel Prices Have U.S. Workers Eyeing Telecommuting

With gas prices near all-time highs, telecommuting is becoming a win-win for companies and their staff--leaving workers paying less for gas and offering hidden benefits for employers.

Telecommuting has moved beyond a scheme to ease the struggles of stressed-out workers to a system that saves money for company and employee alike, companies and experts say. Companies can keep workers they might otherwise lose, while workers can count the benefit in terms of cold, hard cash, they say.

Opting to let employees work from home as fuel prices have risen, Florida's Kissimmee Utility Authority managed to retrieve the experience and skills of a veteran employee in the billing department who quit last year.

She now telecommutes from a new home 746 miles away.

High gas prices propel a new 'moped madness'

The moped and its bigger, flashier cousin, the scooter, are swarming out of Jimmy Carter's America and into George W. Bush's republic - a movement propelled by soaring gasoline prices surpassing those of the late 1970s and by legions of Americans who take seriously the call for oil independence. If the serious intent is mixed with a little fun from "moped gangs" who call themselves the Heck's Angels or the Hardly Davidsons, so much the merrier.

It seems to me that a simple tax on fuel is the simplest and fairest.  If you have a large car but drive little then you won't pay much.  If you think that owning a hybrid lets you drive 40,000 miles a year with no guilt, well, perhaps you can avoid the guilt, but not the tax.  Taxing fuel now will impact the behavior of all drivers, while all proposals that relate to the sales of new cars will impact the big picture only slowly and gradually.  Moreover, as the economy goes downhill, I think we're about to see much slower turnover of "the fleet".

Regarding that $100 per person rebate, I actually like it!  It's more progressive than reducing the flat-rate payroll taxes!  Taxing by the gallon and rebating by the person is exactly what we need to do to encourage conservation.  Capitalism (the global pyramid scheme) is the real problem, but  market mechanisms do work in some situations.

Watching C-Span, looks like it's about to end though.

With the price of oil skyrocketing, Tokyo may have to make friends with some of Washington's enemies.

For most of the past century or so, Japan has enjoyed remarkable popularity within the Muslim world. In stark contrast to European countries or the United States, Japan has no burdensome history of colonial-style intervention in the region's affairs (with the possible exception of Tokyo's brief wartime occupations of Malaysia and Indonesia). And if there was ever a time when Japan needed to maintain that good will, it's now, when spiking oil prices are threatening to undermine its economic recovery.

Japan needs lots of oil--it's the world's second largest importer of petroleum. But much of the increasingly costly commodity--which hit a high of $75 a barrel last week--comes from countries that have poor relations with America, which just happens to be Japan's foreign-policy mentor, protector and chief ally. That's creating problems for Tokyo, which may soon find itself forced to decide which is more important--its energy security or its relationship with the United States. "Until now, Japan's energy diplomacy has never been independent of U.S. policy," says Koichi Iwama, a professor and energy policy expert at Wako University. But it may become so as Japan seeks to adapt to an era of tight energy supplies--especially at a time when archrival China is cutting deals with resource-rich countries around the world, no matter what their political orientation may be.

The United States, France and Britain say if Iran does not meet the U.N. Security Council's Friday deadline to stop enriching uranium, they will seek to make the demand compulsory.

Bee County urges gas boycott until prices decrease
Elected officials hope the effort starts a trend, but critics say the plan won't work

Associated Press

BEEVILLE - Spurred by rising gas prices, elected officials in Bee County are urging motorists to boycott fuel pumps in hopes of sparking a state trend.

"Hey, the American people are tired," Judge Jimmy Martinez said. "What we did is we simply took action instead of complaining. <u>We're offering our residents a beacon of hope.</u>"

Officials planned to ask other counties to join the boycott set to begin Monday and said they hope it will attract the attention of oil companies.

(more at link)

Of course the Democrats would bray louder, but, with education of the public, would made to look like the fools they are (in general). See Kerry critize Bush for Iraqi after he voted for the adventure. Kerry fooled by Bush? Bob Graham saw the same intelligence and wasn't fooled at all.

Peak oil makes it easier to sell a long-term US commitment to Iraq. I can't believe most Americans care whether Iraq is a democracy or not. Of course the demos would say Iraq was about oil all along. But most believe that already.

PITT AND JOLIE TO TEAM UP FOR ATLAS SHRUGGED?

After years of delays, AYN RAND's famous novel ATLAS SHRUGGED is being made into a feature film starring BRAD PITT and ANGELINA JOLIE, according to media reports in the US. Lionsgate Films has bought the rights to the film version of the 1957 novel, considered in many polls to be one of the most influential books in history. According to Hollywood trade paper Variety, the MR AND MRS SMITH co-stars, who are both fans of the Russian novelist, would play the lead roles of DAGNY TAGGART and JOHN GALT. The story revolves around the economic collapse of the US sometime in the future and espouses Rand's philosophy of objectivism. RAY producers HOWARD and KAREN BALDWIN will adapt the 1,100 page novel into a feature film. CLINT EASTWOOD, ROBERT REDFORD and FAYE DUNAWAY have previously been attached to the project over the years.
27/04/2006 20:53

Lawmakers talk gas, drive away in SUVs

This gist is that a lot of lawmakers are driving a block in their SUVs to hold press conferences to rail against gas prices. Priceless commentary on why real solutions aren't being offered.

RR

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/27/feedback.gas.solutions/index.html

Franken came up with a list of 3 things.  First we need to give up ANWR.  Second we need to dramatically increase CAFE standards up into the 30's or 40's.  And third we need a crash program on alternative fuels.

Scarborough was in complete agreement.

Every so often you hear someone say something that actually makes sense.

39 million reasons why $3 gas may change America

Just how big a deal is $3 gasoline? For those with six-figure household incomes it's an annoyance, but little more. Evian spring water goes about $6.80 a gallon when purchased in one-liter bottles.

For those in the tap-water brackets, the situation is a bit different. For many of the 39 million households making less than $30,000 a year, the difference between $2 gas and $3 gas is the difference between spending 10% of income on gas and 15%. In a word: Ouch!

I don't know if they "get" peak oil, but they seem to be sensing something in the offing:

If all the posturing seems inevitable, it is because the truth -- that everyone will need to adjust to a new reality -- is politically unpalatable. But people will learn that truth anyway, and perhaps what follows can give rise to leaders with a longer vision. Or, in a darker view, to a more ominous national division.

In a society with acute differences of wealth, it's not hard to see other economic developments becoming political flashpoints. The surging cost of health care -- and its unavailability to many -- could easily trigger a hostile class fight. In many areas, housing costs are creating a wealth divide between those who own and those who can no longer afford to buy in. And, in the long run, the unsustainable amounts of money the government spends on retirees could trigger more generational resentment than sound policy discussion could.

Demagogic politics go hand-in-hand with class division. And those divisions are bad and getting worse. According to a Federal Reserve study last month, the 56 million households that make up the bottom half of the economic ladder owns just 2.6% of the nation's wealth. That's down from 3.6% a decade ago. The top 10%, meanwhile, accounts for almost 70% of the wealth.

That will likely fuel contentious debates for many years to come. You can hear the shouts beginning when people pay $3 a gallon at the pump.

http://www.scsuscholars.com/2006/04/hewitt-show-prep.html