Keeping tires inflated will save more gas than we can pump out of ANWR

[Hamlette]

ABC News has a fact check piece about Obama’s emphasis on keeping tire inflated as way to reduce oil consumption:

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, “every pound per square inch of tire underinflation wastes 4 million gallons of gas daily in the U.S.” Survey information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 27% of the cars on the road have a significantly under-inflated tire.

<....>

“So the production offset is more likely to approach 800 thousand barrels per day…”

(bold mine)

The estimate for the amount of oil that can be pumped out of ANWR?

Peak production from ANWR would be 780,000 barrels per day. But that couldn’t be accomplished until 2020…

http://rochesterturning.com/2008/08/04/drilling-in-anwr-versus-inflating-your-tires/

apparently the right is making fun of Obama for saying one of things we can do is make sure our tires are inflated. Well, it beats drilling in ANWR....byt 20,000 barrels per day.

[Whisp]

1. as McCain is mocking the tire pressure gauges it would

be great to see an Obama ad with a gauge in it and an expert testimonial saying what is in the OP.

then something like:
mcCain is mocking ideas that could make a difference in our energy problems. Is this the kind of asshole you want to lead us?

or somethign like that. :P

[nxylas]

3. Except he probably wouldn't say asshole

More's the pity.

[Whisp]

4. I think if all of DU 'demanded' it, they would.

:P

[nxylas]

12. Write to Congress RIGHT FUCKING NOW!

:D

[Riddler]

13. What would be great is to see an Obama ad with a tire gauge stuck in McLame's ear

and the gauge registering zero pressure.

[Whisp]

20. Obama can't do it, but someone can!

ROFL!
zero pressure from the media!

Jed, Jed, paging JedReport.

[Westegg]

2. I love this! It's true from my experience...

...Some car mechanic told me this when I was a teenager with my first car. It seemed like totally great advice, so I always remembered it. Indeed, when my tires got low, my car became sluggish, had worse handling, and needed more from my gas pedal. So I have always been very aware of keeping the tires up. It's really amazing how something this simple could help so much, and yet too many drivers don't pay attention. In the old days, the garage attendant would check your tire pressure with a fill-up (along with your oil and washing your windows). Now that this no longer happens, it's down to the car owner to take care of his own car. Is that too much to ask? I don't think so.

[endarkenment]

5. Why don't cars have, as standard equipment, pressure warnings?

Who benefits?

[Hamlette]

8. Actually, McCain supported legislation to make car manufacturers make it standard

it was defeated by Hollings...and others I presume.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10978

It was during the lawsuits against Firestone Tires but the bill included language that said it would save tons of gas.

[endarkenment]

10. There so needs to be an ad on this. It might even be HUGH!!1!!!

[Mr. Blonde]

34. Mine does and the damn thing doesn't work

it never goes off. Even after taking it to the dealer and having both the tire and the gauge equipment checked. So now it just stays on.

[endarkenment]

6. The Obama Campaign Needs to Nail Them on This

The McCaint's have screwed up big time on the 'tire pressure's all he's got' attack. Yo! Obama Campaign! Look At This Thread and Get An Ad Out!

[Meshuga]

15. What baffles me is that the Obama campaing is not out there

blasting McCain with the facts and exposing McCain's short sighted osition at a time we need someone with vision to lead. Obama needs to use strong words for the media to parrot in their headlines.

[bridgit]

7. Routine washing & waxing of your car will contribute by increasing the 'slip factor'...

So it has been suggested as well. No word as to what defines 'routine', but if it's every two weeks let's say, then with a basic wash & wax at a car wash could be round 50 - $60 a month.

[endarkenment]

9. Oh and K&R!

[Hamlette]

11. and, to piss you off even more, US oil companies are exporting 1/3 of the oil they drill here now

While the U.S. oil industry wants access to more federal lands to help reduce reliance on foreign suppliers, American-based companies are shipping record amounts of gasoline and diesel fuel to other countries.

A record 1.6 million barrels a day in U.S. refined petroleum products were exported during the first four months of this year, up 33 percent from 1.2 million barrels a day over the same period in 2007. Shipments this February topped 1.8 million barrels a day for the first time during any month, according to final numbers from the Energy Department.

The surge in exports appears to contradict the pleas from the U.S. oil industry and the Bush administration for Congress to open more offshore waters and Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling.

http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=10975

Full article here:

ANALYSIS-US oil firms seek drilling access, but exports soar

http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN0325640920080703

Why do they need to drill more, they will just send it overseas anyway and make a profit.

[Kber]

14. Inflating our tires does nothing for Exxon profits.

That's the real reason the Right opposes it.

Inflating our tires is free.

[Whisp]

21. inflating McCain's ego does tho.

[phantom power]

23. I think there's also some other GOP memes at work here.

There's a reason that "conservation" rubs Republicans the wrong way, and I think it's something to do with "passive" versus "aggressive." Conservation measures like proper car maintenance have an aspect about them of "taking it lying down." If you spend a lot of time/money conserving, you are submitting to the situation, instead of going out and kicking ass and taking names, like a good Republican. Supply-side is manly and aggressive: "I'm going out and taking what I want. Dammit."

Additionally you can see how this passive versus aggressive contrast also taps into the GOP's favorite framing: Dems as feminine, and GOP as masculine.

[ecstatic]

16. I hope he clarified his stance on drilling in a way that

makes sense to the average voter and is swiftboat proof. I missed his speech today.

[Kber]

17. Here's another way to look at it

According to the article, it improves fuel effeciency by 15 to 18% to keep your engine tuned, your tires inflated, your filters changed to your oil topped off.

My gass tank takes 15 gallens to fill. At $4 / gallon, that's $60 per tank and right now I am filling my tank about once a week.

$60 x 52 is $3120 a year for gas. If my fuel effecience increases by 15 to 18%, that's an annual savings of betwen $468 and $561 per year, which is just about enough for one pair of John McCain's shoes.

(Or about 3-4 weeks of groceries for a family of 4 if you include diapers.)

[Hamlette]

18. hahahah...shoes n/t

[DeepModem Mom]

19. Excellent! K&R

[TexasObserver]

22. CONSERVATION can kick PRODUCTION'S ass every time.

[depakid]

24. Most Americans are magical thinkers- and have little use for facts about energy

Which is why these sorts of things resonate with the elctorate

Charles Grassley's quote here is a CLASSIC example of that mentality:

Years ago, President Nixon nominated a legal nonentity named G. Harold Carswell for a seat on the supreme court. Derided by the newspaper columnists as "mediocre," Carswell was defended by a conservative Nebraska senator, Roman Hruska, who said, memorably: "There are a lot of mediocre people in America who ought to be represented."


Now Hruska has been reincarnated in Senator Charles ("Chuck") Grassley of Iowa, who said the following a few days ago:

"You know what? What makes our economy grow is energy. And Americans are used to going to the gas tank (sic), and when they put that hose in their, uh, tank, and when I do it, I wanna get gas out of it.

And when I turn the light switch on, I want the lights to go on, and I don't want somebody to tell me I gotta change my way of living to satisfy them. Because this is America, and this is something we've worked our way into, and the American people are entitled to it, and if we're going improve (sic) our standard of living, you have to consume more energy."

Like the true-blue mediocre Americans of the Nixon era, American consumers (as we like to call ourselves) have the representative they deserve today in Senator Grassley. He expresses perfectly the dominant thought out there, which is as close to being not-a-thought as any thought can be. And this kind of proto-crypto-demi-thought is exactly what is going to lead this country into a world of hardship.

http://jameshowardkunstler.typepad.com/clusterfuck_nation/2005/11/true_blue.html

[bullwinkle428]

29. Ugh...good old Chuckles Grassley giving our state a bad name again!

That guy can't get voted out fast enough as far as I'm concerned...

[nam78_two]

35. K&R.nt

[Hamlette]

25. kick

[Muttocracy]

26. kick

[Overseas]

27. John Sidney McCain III, with 7 homes and $520 shoes, is mocking adjusting tire pressure !

Son of a gun! Here you've got free energy and the Republican rooters are spittin on it? Mocking people who might need every ounce of oil to count? That's cold, fellas.

[Bluerthanblue]

28. excellently done! K&R

thanks for these great facts!!

[bullwinkle428]

30. I've started using maximum indicated sidewall pressure

based on what I feel is a knowledgeable authority on the subject:

http://www.officer.com/web/online/Editorial-and-Features/Driving-Under-Pressure/19$27281

I'm averaging over 37, and on occasion, over 38 mpg for a full tank of fuel in my '02 Honda Accord, which is EPA rated for only 22 city and 29 highway since increasing the tire pressure and limiting my cruising speed to 65 on the interstate! Every little step I can make towards limiting my use of oil is one in the right direction, as far as I'm concerned.

Let the Repukes throw their little hissy fits over anything that may trim a little off of ExxonMobil's profits... :nopity:

[showmemo]

31. We need to drill in ANWR

I think we need more domestic production. But I also did air my tires. Funny how a simple act can cut gas usage. How inteligent and easy. Save millions of gallons.

[wolverinez]

33. ANWR is off the table until we get rid of SUV's and NASCAR

[endarkenment]

36. We don't have significant reserves to drill.

I am really sorry that you have been lied to by the idiots in charge. If we drilled everywhere regardless of impact, it would not alter the essential situation: almost all the cheap oil is somewhere else, and what we can extract would not make any significant impact on our consumption of foreign oil. They want to drill ANWAR as a symbolic victory over tree-hugging hippies, they know full well that despite the billions they will put their pockets this will not alter the energy equation. They are selling you another fraudulent bill of goods and you are buying it.

[wolverinez]

32. where is the Obama campaign?

They just respond to these constant attacks with nothing.