Rasulo tells analysts he doesn't expect gas prices alone to deter Disney vacations

Ok. I just found it funny that somone implied you'd only hear it on Fox/EIB and you posted an NPR link!

"The Obama energy policy to me seems very clear. It's to increase the cost of energy so Americans will use less of it," Barbour said ...

Does NPR think this is a provocative comment? Cap and trade would do exactly that--doesn't Obama support cap and trade?

Brian Noble said:
That's not to say Fox doesn't also do real reporting. But, most of the stuff that makes it into the viral-blogging space is more op-ed/host commentary.

Too bad more people don't understand this.

Detroit is run by morons if they still think people are OK with inefficient cars. Given the investment in the Volt and the Ford hybrids, I think they get it. Toyota can't be the only one (though I can tell you that looking around the Northwest, I'd wager that Prius sales are among the top 5 models, at least). Look at how Hyundai is now pushing the new Elantra. Biggest focus of the TV ads is that they can do 40 mpg (highway, at least).

I personally think that the market is already pushing for higher fuel efficiency, it's just that some people are stupid and/or have poor memory. SUV sales started to really tank in 2008 and 2009, only to rebound significantly in 2010 as people apparently got used to $3 gas. Now, in the last week, I read a story somewhere that said traffic in Toyota dealers looking for a Prius was up 35%. In one week!

I don't know if the cultural shift is going to happen. Americans are too into their cars. I'm guilty of it too. I moved here, and found a place about 11 miles away from work. One of my former co-workers, from India, I recruited him in, and he got a place across the street from work. In a very international work force, that's pretty common. We just don't get it.

I think the auto execs are smart enough to distinguish between what the buying public pays lip service to and what they actually want to buy. There are large numbers of folks who have absolutely no interest in fuel efficient vehicle unless gas is expensive. Makers have been building fuel efficient vehicles since the late 70s/early 80s. But large portions of the auto buying public has had no interest in buying them. Gas prices spike and there is increased interest but it never lasts (at least not to date). Gas prices go down (at least relative to inflation in general) and folks are back to buying big, inefficient vehicles again. Too many folks say they want fuel efficient vehicles but also want 500 hp engines that will do 0-60 in 2.6 seconds and carry 25 passengers and all their luggage for a month long vacation.

In general, I think Americans will be dragged away from large inefficient vehicles kicking and screaming. Permanently high gas prices is one way to do that. Its tough to get investment in alternative fuel sources if there are real concerns that future prices will favor oil again. I would never favor government forcing higher gas prices. But the markets may make it happen anyway. Part of the reason for high oil prices right now is what is happening in Libya. But I think there is more unrest on the horizon for the OPEC countries. So that issue will get worse before it gets better. Global demand is also up and that should trend up for the foreseeable future. Future supplies will get more expensive to find and refine. I am not convinced that our ability to cut our consumption domestically is sufficient to offset the increased demand in other economies of the world that are growing rapidly. And right now, oil prices are higher in part because of a weaker dollar (the Fed's stated goal right now is inflation). How long that continues will depend at least in part on our fiscal policies going forward and the continued use of the US dollar as a reserve currency.

Jeff said:
One of my former co-workers, from India, I recruited him in, and he got a place across the street from work. In a very international work force, that's pretty common. We just don't get it.

That's exactly it. Abundant freeways have made it easy for us to live far from where we work, shop and play.

Link GoBucks89:
In general, I think Americans will be dragged away from large inefficient vehicles kicking and screaming.

Cash for clunkers?

The disappointing thing is that as gas prices rise, public transportation funding continues to get cut.

I live a good 30 miles from where I can find a decent job, not by choice. Everyone who lives here drives to "town", which is the large city of Huntington WV, to go shopping, work, or college. It's pretty normal.

And because we live in the sticks, people here believe that they need to drive big, gas-guzzling puck-up trucks, for some reason.

eightdotthree said:
That's exactly it. Abundant freeways have made it easy for us to live far from where we work, shop and play.

But that's not it... it's not easy. If you spend more than half an hour each way commuting to where you need to go to work, you're spending almost a day a month driving. That strikes me as insane. This poll is a few years old, but it seems crazy to me. Seattle is particularly troublesome, because the downtown area is essentially an island (that's why Microsoft set up its main campus in Redmond, on the "mainland"). Cleveland had similar problems because one bridge carries much of the load into downtown for most of the west side. And in LA, people live in their cars because you can't get anywhere. The entire city is freeway and it doesn't help.

I didn't communicate that very well I guess. We should be urbanizing more, living closer to where we work and play. I can look out my window and see 376 and it's always busy. That's easy access.

Pretty much all of Europe was developed before the advent of the automobile. Most of the development in the US (including our biggest population booms) were after the advent of the automobile (coupled with cheap gasoline and plenty of available, open land). Our respective transportation systems reflect that.

At this point, cars aren't really common place in India or China (though that is changing). So it isn't surprising that someone raised in India or China would have a different view of commuting than someone raised in the US with easy access to cars. Much like folks in the US had a different view of cars 40-50 years ago when they were not necessarily common here and were much more likely to walk rather than drive. But I understand that China and India are each building freeways/super highways at high rates at this point. Assuming oil remains a stable fuel source going forward (at big assumption at this point), my guess is we will see a lot more folks from India and China in 20-30 years who have similar attitudes towards driving as folks in the US have today.

I commute an hour to an hour and 15 one way. In a car that averages about 22mpg. And runs on 93 Premium. Crazy? Yeah, maybe a little. But I don't really mind too much.

YMMV. Literally.

Wow. My bike commute ranges from 40-50 minutes but that's time I get to spend outside and exercising.

GoBucks89:
But I understand that China and India are each building freeways/super highways at high rates at this point.

They also have some epic traffic jams.

The background of non-US culture and infrastructure is irrelevant (not to mention obvious). The point is that these folks come here and they choose not to participate in the insanity. It's not like these guys aren't making $80k+ and can't afford it.

We can be anywhere we need to be - work, school, shopping, restaurants, doctors, hospital (by 2012), 10,000 seat arena, kids activites, anything we could really need on a remotely regular basis within a 4 mile drive...and our house sits on wooded 3/4th of an acre lot on a quiet cul-de-sac with 6 houses on it.

I've filled up my car 3 times this year and I'm still sitting at about a half a tank of that 3rd fill. My vehicle is 42 months old and has 27,000 miles and it's telling me I've gotten almost 25mpg over the life of the vehicle.

I don't care if gas goes to $10 a gallon. I don't use enough of it for it to be an issue in my everyday life.

(Like everyone else has pointed out - YMMV. But I think we've created a nice little situation.)

Jeff said:
The background of non-US culture and infrastructure is irrelevant (not to mention obvious). The point is that these folks come here and they choose not to participate in the insanity. It's not like these guys aren't making $80k+ and can't afford it.

Not sure how you say that culture is irrelevant to choices that we make. Seems to me if you remove your "insanity" label, you are just saying that folks from India tend to make choices that are consistent with how they lived before they came to the US. City planner types in Cleveland have told me that when they look at folks who want to live downtown, folks who grew up living in a downtown area or one in which they could walk most places they needed to go (whether in or outside the US) are more likely to want to live downtown than those who didn't. What you are accustomed to is very much relevant but not necessarily determinative.

Is Vater insane/making an insane choice with respect to his commute? Or is he just making a choice that is different than the one you have made/prefer? Seems to me its the latter. And to that end I don't see the choice that your former co-worker from India made as anything other than an example of different people making different choices not necessarily someone getting it and someone not.

No, I said the background is irrelevant. I was reinforcing the ridiculousness of our own culture.

Detroit is run by morons if they still think people are OK with inefficient cars. Given the investment in the Volt and the Ford hybrids, I think they get it. Toyota can't be the only one (though I can tell you that looking around the Northwest, I'd wager that Prius sales are among the top 5 models, at least)

I think it is fair to say that the Seattle metro area is not representative of the rest of the country. Neither is the People's Republic of Ann Arbor. You can't swing a dead cat in this town without hitting a Prius---and I own one. But, go a few miles outside of the City of A2 and it's SUVs as far as the eye can see. Even the "newer" subdivisions of A2 are SUV-infested.

Too bad more people don't understand this.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American Public."
---H. L. Mencken.

Spend 20 minutes in Fort Worth and you will see where all the gas guzzlers are going.