Normally I don't quote Motortrend as I have no respect for them, but this is a pretty informative article that is a nice short read. I knew that we were importing as much as 10% of our petrol from Europe, but I actually had no idea we were exporting some diesel to Europe. Perhaps this is a smaller explanation for why the petrol/diesel price spread has grown so large lately(current 80 cents here).
Joe Las Vegas
06-03-2008, 02:21 AM
Doesn't matter the US Gov is in cohorts with the middle east to make fuel efficient vehicles non-existent in this country.
Go to Europe and look at the cars, they're small, diesel cars that get 50+mpg, sure they aren't big, but look at cars in the US nowadays, they're getting smaller and smaller, yet, no diesel models available.
Diesel is cheaper in Europe too, but in the US it's more expensive, why, so that we keep burning gas to spend money so that the US GOV and Saudi Arabia and the oil companies can make billions of dollars in profit every months, and the US emissions' regulation is just another part of the puzzle to keep diesel cars out of the loop.
We could be drilling in Alaska too, but that's not happening, just another piece of the puzzle. Put everyhting together and what do you get, cars that burn gas that are not fuel efficient, and SUV's that desperately need diesel engines, but get 8mpg with big V-8 gas engines instead, all that for profit with everything that is wrong with the world (US GOV, middle east and GOV profit)
and we all know the US GOV doesn't give a damn about the environment, can't wait for oil to be gone, then the US GOV will have no leverage left and perhaps then we'll get out of the Middle east, which never wanted us there in the first place.
hatt
06-03-2008, 06:03 AM
Doesn't matter the US Gov is in cohorts with the middle east to make fuel efficient vehicles non-existent in this country.
Go to Europe and look at the cars, they're small, diesel cars that get 50+mpg, sure they aren't big, but look at cars in the US nowadays, they're getting smaller and smaller, yet, no diesel models available.
Diesel is cheaper in Europe too, but in the US it's more expensive, why, so that we keep burning gas to spend money so that the US GOV and Saudi Arabia and the oil companies can make billions of dollars in profit every months, and the US emissions' regulation is just another part of the puzzle to keep diesel cars out of the loop.
We could be drilling in Alaska too, but that's not happening, just another piece of the puzzle. Put everyhting together and what do you get, cars that burn gas that are not fuel efficient, and SUV's that desperately need diesel engines, but get 8mpg with big V-8 gas engines instead, all that for profit with everything that is wrong with the world (US GOV, middle east and GOV profit)
and we all know the US GOV doesn't give a damn about the environment, can't wait for oil to be gone, then the US GOV will have no leverage left and perhaps then we'll get out of the Middle east, which never wanted us there in the first place.
You never bring up the environmental special interest groups as a reason we don't see diesel cars all over the place in the US. It didn't matter to many what was going on for the past 25 years because Americans were happily pumping $1/gal gas into their car. Now that fuel prices have gone way up special interest have doomed us with the ethanol scam in spite of sensible alternatives like building more, very efficient diesel vehicles. Those European vehicles you mention can’t even make it into this country. The good thing is that maybe people will begin to see though the BS and demand sense be restored; .gov does listen to the people, if the people speak clearly.
junehhan
06-03-2008, 10:47 AM
Doesn't matter the US Gov is in cohorts with the middle east to make fuel efficient vehicles non-existent in this country.
Go to Europe and look at the cars, they're small, diesel cars that get 50+mpg, sure they aren't big, but look at cars in the US nowadays, they're getting smaller and smaller, yet, no diesel models available.
Diesel is cheaper in Europe too, but in the US it's more expensive, why, so that we keep burning gas to spend money so that the US GOV and Saudi Arabia and the oil companies can make billions of dollars in profit every months, and the US emissions' regulation is just another part of the puzzle to keep diesel cars out of the loop.
We could be drilling in Alaska too, but that's not happening, just another piece of the puzzle. Put everyhting together and what do you get, cars that burn gas that are not fuel efficient, and SUV's that desperately need diesel engines, but get 8mpg with big V-8 gas engines instead, all that for profit with everything that is wrong with the world (US GOV, middle east and GOV profit)
and we all know the US GOV doesn't give a damn about the environment, can't wait for oil to be gone, then the US GOV will have no leverage left and perhaps then we'll get out of the Middle east, which never wanted us there in the first place.
Your stats are out of date, because even the Hummer H2, Chevy Suburban, Toyota Sequoia, and Ford Expedition EL all manage at least 12mpg and not 8. Perhaps you should blame the market mechanism for the fact that diesel is not here right now. People simply don't want it, and will definately not want it now that the diesel/petrol price spread is so high. Despite the fact that YOU and ME desperately want diesel, people don't really demand it here in America. You also forgot the environmental nutjobs that are making it impossible for diesel vehicles to be produced here. Very few car manufacturers are going to be interested in producing a diesel when it cannot be sold in 4-8 of our 50 states. A good example is the incredible Mercedez E320 CDI Bluetec which gets 35mpg, has a 700 mile driving range on a single tank, and yet can't be sold in 4-6 states. This is despite the fact that it is cleaner than many gasoline motors, and produces 400lb-ft of torque!
I don't know whether you are joking are not, but I seriously doubt that we are in cohorts with any oil producing nation. If we were, why is OPEC refusing the raise output, and in fact may decrease output next time they meet? When oil is at $130 a barrel, a profit minding country would want to export as much as possible. Oops, we can't even tap into our own oil supply. You guys know that China is drilling just 50 miles off the coast of Florida right? Our politicians and governments have made it illegal for us to tap into something that other countries are free to tap into. How screwed up is that?
The next problem we have to face is that we desperately need more refineries if we are to increase our ability to produce diesel. Even though the refineries are only running at 81% capacity right now, their ability to produce diesel is more or less tapped out. This is partially why those of you who use home heating oil are likely to be very uncomfortable this winter if you can't pay for it. Guess the environutjobs strike again as even the one refinery we are trying to build out in Arizona has been continously interrupted and has been in construction for over a decade.
