If you want a brief summation then:
The automakers claim that CAFE hasn't done much. I agree. Fuel economy has been stagnant since the 1980s. However, the automakers don't think there is demand for high mpg cars and this is false; this is their copout excuse. If anything, the standards are ineffectual because they aren't strict enough.
What I'd like to see done is to either scrap the regulations altogether since they are so inneffective, OR give the regulations some teeth so that they are effective. No use having rules that don't do anything.
The automakers often claim that the technology for high fuel economy isn't there, even though they've built numerous working prototypes. I gave a list of some of those prototypes to show what is feasible. 60+ mpg CAFE would be easily doable immediately without serious hardship on part of the U.S. as a whole, with benefits that will likely far outweigh any negative consequences.
That last paragraph that seems to have either offended or annoyed a few here illustrates my view of how the automakers and oil industry should be addressed. They've been given a free ride long enough, and their interests have no reason to be heard at this point until they dramatically modify the way they operate. They can whine all they want, but their concerns are nothing compared to the concerns of society as a whole and the problems society has to face as a RESULT of the actions of these companies. But the government isn't going to do anything, even if we the people want them to, so it's up to us to use any means at our disposal to change things, legal or if that doesn't work, illegal. The legal methods haven't been bringing meaningful change for decades. The oil industry still holds as much sway over our electoral process and lawmaking as ever(if not moreso), and the auto industry hasn't given us anywhere near the best they could. The government is still hijacked by special interests. What the current crop and previous crops of activists have been doing isn't working. Time to step things up a bit or change methods completely.
If that is still all completely over anyone's head, I'm sorry, but there's no helping you there. If you consider me or my views obnoxious, fair enough. You ultimately decide whether or not they have merit to you and for what reasons, and whether they are rational or emotional in their content.
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I'm the opposite. I probably have one hell of an FBI file because I tend to be at a protest at least once per month, and write several letters (my friends call them rants) to my representatives per week. I'm actually thinking of running for city council in Cape Coral this year as an independent. The government is more corrupt down here than it is even in DC. The city of Cape Coral is run almost entirely by real estate agents (the exception being the mayor) who are moving protected land to areas that don't need as much protection so that more waterfront condos can be built. Under their stewardship, the cost of real estate in Cape Coral has risen by about five times in the last 10 years. They did a great job of helping themselves.
I'm pretty passionate about my political views.
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I'm glad to see another activist on these boards. I've been involved in protests against Monsanto, ADM, and Anheiser Busch. I've also been involved in protests against the Iraq War.
However, I changed my views a few years back. 100% complete nonviolence doesn't work unless the powers that be allow it to. If they don't want to cooperate, a different method is needed. However, the dilemma is that the people that threaten you with arrest or worse are just doing their jobs, even if their job is to oppress, intimidate, arrest, and convict.
If I would have stuck to the nonviolence philosophy? I'd have been arrested on numerous occassions. And I will be if I ever get caught. Would be tough luck I suppose. I recently quit going to protests where lots of law enforcement or feds would be involved because I'd be too tempted to carry a firearm. That would get me in a lot of trouble if I'd foolishly use it to assert what rights I should normally have.
One tip to stay out of jail that won't involve hurting anyone: keep a pair of scissors under your belt. They'll get the zipties off, if you can get to them.
Glad to see you're running for office. In local offices, you have a chance(however small). Anything above that, not really since the process is rigged at the higher levels that can actually make larger scale impacts. I imagine if I ran for Alderman or some such near worthless position in my area I'd have a chance, but anything after that would require money.
I've written letters to my representatives and senators many times before. I've gotten all maner of replys except for what was wanted: some geniune feedback. I've gotten automated replies, replies from secretaries who say the issue doesn't concern them, replies reminding me to vote for such and such candidate next election, replies saying that I am ignorant of the issue and only our leaders have the authority to make such and such choices instead of we the people(although it was dressed up to look friendly), but never a genuine response. But voting them out with paper-trail free machines and where votes from areas such and such candidate doesn't like mysteriously go uncounted? Heh.
rh77 
Hybrid Mode
