Demand and FE

[SVOboy]

Well, evidently demand has not dropped at all, but FE has. Which I guess means people are driving less, just in more inefficient vehicles.

Take that for what it is, I guess.

PS: KC heavily advertises public transit.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Well, evidently demand has not dropped at all, but FE has. Which I guess means people are driving less, just in more inefficient vehicles.

Take that for what it is, I guess.

PS: KC heavily advertises public transit.

You bring up a good point, one which I was thinking about heavily yesterday.

If we can be honest for a second, America is the big problem. We consume and consume. The oil crisis is due to our overconsumption.

As is typical with American ideas of fixing problems, we want to put a nice little bandaid on the issue: Hybrid cars.

If everyone drives a hybrid, the problem will slow down, but not stop. People will still drive everywhere. People will own too many vehicles. The demand will not stop. Even this website is a band-aid of sorts. Band-aids will help with the problem, but they never fix it. Fixing this problem requires total paradigm shifts, which I don't see as likely any time soon.

If America won't let go of something as silly as the English measurement system then why would they abandon suburb life, urban sprawl, and owning a car? Changing the hearts and minds of people will be a giant undertaking, especially in cities where the infrastructure doesn't exist. Los Angeles will never be New York.

So the solution? Alternative fuels. Electric is the best bet. It looks like the electric revolution has begun, but unfortunately it's going to take another few decades to really make an impact.