[Mr. Wyndham]

Originally Posted by fastball

Oil is, and I believe will forever be, the single most versitile commodity ever discovered. For those of you who think it will go away or want it to go away, it ain't happening. Not now, not 5 years from now, not in the 25th century. All these pipe dreams of cars running on puppie smiles and granola bars are just wasted time. We are wasting time not utilizing our own supply. We need to start using what we have that we haven't even tapped yet, and do whatever is necessary to keep the supply ample, affordable, and consistent.

If my point of view on this freaks you out, too bad....and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for cheap gas since there's enough to go around if we just use it.

Your view doesn't freak me out......but I wonder if you're not relying on your own puppy smiles and granola bars by believing that......

You seriously think that we'll be drilling oil forever? That it won't EVER run out being the non-renewable resource that it is? All these "pipe dreams" are called advancement, progress, and technological advancement. Hardly wasted time, imo.

If you want prosperity and a continuation of our freedoms to enjoy this country the way Henry Ford envisioned, you should be in support of using our oil no matter what party you affiliate yourself with.

...how about using oil for the short term untill we get those puppy-smile pipe dreams up and running? I support advancement in alternative, renewable fuels (yes, that includes renewable crude via Algae) that will wean us off an addiction to a fuel that isn't forever going to be available to us. I think we need to invest our time into this growing industry orfrenewable fuels very quickly, so that we can pioneer it, then sell our advancements and expertise to other nations and make a profit. flipping this cancerous importation issue around.

I don't see any benifit in settling back and letting oil continue to dictate the way we as a planet live. Arguments, and wars started over this crap, and that's what's not going away.

Oil makes the economy move forward, it keeps our production going, it keeps product moving from coast to coast, it affects everything we do. All this alternative engergy stuff is just increasing research costs.

Of course oil is responsible for all that, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to change it!!! Would you simply suspend all research and development costs? That would place our society at a standstill, both economically and fiscally. We'd collapse, end of story. Advancement in alternative fuels is, can, and will provide jobs and advance our economy the same as oil DID. The POINT of all those research costs is to move forward, drilling for more oil will at best keep us where we are right now.

Cars like the Volt are a good idea as an experiment, but you gonna try to put that kind of logic into a semi truck to pull 10 tons 3,000 miles in a week? Efficienctly? With the ability to run a million miles before you have to do major work on the system? Just wasted time researching it. The diesel and internal combustion engines might be old in concept, but they're absolutely the best way to do it.

It's the liquid fuel that is the backbone of our transportation system, and the reason oil flourishes, NOT the engines. You DO realize that the IC engine is only about 20% efficient? That only 20% of the energy in the fuel moves the vehicle?

Electric motors can have nearly as much torque on tap as deisel engines do, and are nearly 90% efficient. What research is taking place right now is trying to find a fuel (by maximizing a power source's energy density) that can compare to that of gasoline, or desiel. Then you can put it under big rigs. Plus, there are VERY FEW moving parts, less than a desiel engine: so it has the potential to go even further before needing maintinance.

So....no. Internal combustion engines are not the best way to do it. They could even be argued to be one of the worst ways to do it.

I can't help but comment on how ridiculous I think your "wasted time and money" comments are. Especially about things in the early development stages as they are right now. Quite honestly, you sound like you're clinging to old technologies because you know for sure they work. You almost sound like you're afraid of advancement. And you're speaking completely against the ideals that people like Henry Ford had, by the way. He revolutionalized the industry when he came out with the assembly line for the model T. When he spent time and money deveoping the idea. Do you think that revolution would have came from trying to reduce build time by hiring faster workers instead? Or maybe finding smaller workers so more of them could be packed around the car as it was built?

Originally Posted by chevydude26

unions are the stupidest thing ever..its a communist socialist idea...if your good at what you do you will get paid...and negotations are always better off being done individually

Actually Unions WERE the smartest thing ever. The provided a shield of protection against abusive employers, when the entire industry was abusive. A time when it was not so simple as "switch jobs if you don't like it". They were the most effective way to kick management right were it hurts when employees were being mistreated.