Would you give up your car/truck/suv to bring the troops home.

[dhinojosa]

If indeed this is an energy war, which is what it is looking like. Would you give up your car/truck/suv?

"Support the troops ride a bike"?

[el_gato]

1. sure

but I don't drive very often anyway for this very reason.

[Ian David]

2. I drive a hybrid.

50 MPG without the air conditioner on.
40-45 MPG with the air conditioner on.

[wug37]

3. No. My commute to work is too long

My current commute is over an hour to a different state, so riding a bike is out of the question. Besides, I like my fuel efficient car.

[stray cat]

4. Already take the bus

[htuttle]

5. Sure, but I already get over 100MPG

I ride a scooter to work. But if that's all it would take, I'd walk instead.

[RebelOne]

6. Sorry, no. I work too far away to ride a bike and there

isn't any bus service near me.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fovea]

8. I already ride a bike

for most of the year, it is all I use.
I have a trailer for groceries and the City Market is about
a six mile round trip.
I order quite a bit of stuff on-line, rather than shopping big box stores.

Here in the dead of winter, my S/O gives me rides, and I use the bus a lot.

As soon as the ice is off the street, and the temp is above freezing,
I am back on the bike.

It is a fine way to get around. And I am disabled from a stroke.
If I can do it, so can most everyone else.

I think the first thing though, is to get AMTRAK back on its feet.
There is no such thing as a money making transit system, and we need to start thinking of fuel efficiency over speed.

But yes, this a war primarily over resource hegemony between oligarchs, and the governments that are their fully owned subsidiaries. The citizenry of many nations are being punked for this.

The military report on the effects of climate change would have been a government stopper in a nation with an independent media. Between the effects of mass CO2 emission, and the economic effect of perceived scarcity, America will be a dystopia by 2006. I am inclined to think it will not survive intact.

I think California right now, and Europe's last two summers are opening moves in a hotter, wetter climate. Hot water vaporizes more, rains more somewhere else.

The Hadley climate model predicts a near 40% increase in annual rain in Iowa by 2050. Any guesses what we are going to do via flood control on the Missouri and Missisippi rivers? The same model suggests that the days of Kansas Wheat are ending, as we drain the Oglalla aquifer and western Kansas bakes. Too much water for crops in Iowa, too little in Kansas... radically higher oil prices...

I see a bad moon a'risin.

[McKenzie]

9. we won't have much choice 'ere long

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

[stopbush]

10. No, but I'd give up all of the profits from the war profiteers.

Most of us need our cars to get to work. I drive a 2000 VW Beetle that gets 34 mpg. It's paid off, at least. We just bought a '95 Buick Park Ave with 119,000 miles on it for $5,000. My wife is about to go back to work and we needed it for her...and to get the kids from school. It's not great on gas (which is why we use it only for short trips), but it's all we could afford.

The troops sacrifice their lives. We're currently asked to sacrifice nothing, except for higher gas prices (I seem to remember something about having an oilman in the WH being good for consumers...).

I think your question is a bit naive. It's like asking "would you give up your TV if it meant that teachers got paid more." Our driving cars is NOT the reason those troops are there. They're there because of the *'s imperialistic PNAC plans. They're not looking to control the oil to keep gas prices down so we'll all drive gas guzzlers. They're looking to control the oil to make profits beyond the dreams of avarice.

Gasoline isn't the only thing made from oil. How about plastic and home heating fuel? If we all got rid of our cars, they'd simply gouge us more on heating oil. I don't hear anyone asking if they would give up heating their homes to bring the troops home.

[Patiod]

11. I may have to ADD a car

if our state legislators keep trashing public transportation. Right now, two of us are making do quite happily with a car and a monthly rail pass.

If SEPTA goes under, however, its carpooling or an additional car for me. (I don't even want to think how much fuel I use flying for work, even though I use AMTRAK whenever possible)

edit: one advantage to SO's smoking and my hatred of the smell is that unless it's under 35 degrees, all the windows in the house are open and the heat is off. Nuts, but it does save on electricity....