Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We all know that we have a lot of folks struggling in this awful economy. No matter who we think is responsible for it, our government is not lifting a finger to make life any easier for us. All i see government doing is interfering, adding new laws and regulations that artificially raise the cost of living.
This is NOT the time to engage in policies that dramatically raise prices for food, energy, health insurance, gasoline, automobiles, clothes, etc... So, are the costs of these regulations worth it? HELL NO! Not now, and yet this is exactly the mode Obama has been in since day one, raise costs without a care, just as long as he pushed his agenda.
Anyone can whine about "government... interfering, adding new laws and regulations that artificially raise the cost of living" without getting specific about what regulations one thinks is ill-thought.
If one looks at the results, we find that food and energy in the U.S. is far cheaper than food anywhere else. We have programs that subsidize farmers and encourage production. We subsidize energy. However, there are competing societal goals. One might want the cheapest energy but we also want a clean environment and energy independence. If we make energy very cheap, all the Prius drivers buy Navigators and we become less independent. If we add taxes to gasoline, we use less gasoline but people complain about the price.
That's why we pay people to form policies that reconcile competing concerns.
...and the politics in Europe is pushing plant based biofuels, in there silly notion that it will save the planet and reduce negative environmental impacts.
EU politicians on Thursday backed a new limit on crop-based biofuels, to fix the bloc’s policy on transport fuels once thought to protect the climate but now suspected of doing more harm than conventional oil.
Most recently, a study by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – the Commission’s in-house research body – confirmed the findings of earlier EU studies that biodiesel made from crops such as rapeseed does more harm to the climate than conventional diesel.
Finally: European Union votes to downsize their quest for biofuel « Hot Air
I remember reading an article where people living in Africa were experiencing major food shortages, and growing all around them were huge farms with crops for biodiesel, all owned and operated by the EU. Literally putting fuel from food in their gas tanks, while people were starving around them.
True, but Europeans can get cheaper cars that get more mpg than us. We have to spend 2X for a car that gets maybe half the mpg Europeans get.
Which is due to government regulations. There are many really cool high MPG cars in other parts of the world but they are not allowed to be brought here and sold.
When I bought my TDI Jetta I would have preferred to have bought a TDI Polo but government regulations make it not viable here.
Which is due to government regulations. There are many really cool high MPG cars in other parts of the world but they are not allowed to be brought here and sold.
When I bought my TDI Jetta I would have preferred to have bought a TDI Polo but government regulations make it not viable here.
That's not necessarily a bad thing and it's due to competing goals. Many of those high mileage cars can't meet U.S. safety standards. There is a reason the U.S. has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. There can be a balance between mileage and safety.
There is no reason those cars can't meet U.S. standards but it would require the mfg to re-design for the U.S. market and add owered bumper beams, window-curtain air bags and crumple zones.
That's not necessarily a bad thing and it's due to competing goals. Many of those high mileage cars can't meet U.S. safety standards. There is a reason the U.S. has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. There can be a balance between mileage and safety.
There is no reason those cars can't meet U.S. standards but it would require the mfg to re-design for the U.S. market and add owered bumper beams, window-curtain air bags and crumple zones.
It isn't a safety requirement that is an issue. The Europeans engines can be put into American cars, but the engine won't meet the requirement. The EPA also measures pollutants per gallon and not per mile.
That's not necessarily a bad thing and it's due to competing goals. Many of those high mileage cars can't meet U.S. safety standards. There is a reason the U.S. has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world. There can be a balance between mileage and safety.
In the U.K. the rate is 7 per 100,000 cars. In the U.S. it's 15. In Germany it's 7.2. France 9.57. Japan 6.8. All allow smaller high MPG cars.
There is no reason those cars can't meet U.S. standards but it would require the mfg to re-design for the U.S. market and add owered bumper beams, window-curtain air bags and crumple zones.
Because Germany is fine with unsafe vehicles on their autobahns.
Here are 10 cars that start off at £10,000 or $13,000. All of the cars listed get at least 80mpg, so paying more for gas is a wash compared to the USA.
Here are the best non electric cars available in the USA. We pay more for the car, get cheaper gas, and get less mpg. Europeans pay less for the car, more for gas, and get more mpg.
Every one of those is a diesel. Most are below 1.3L. I hope you consider that their MPG is per imperial gallon, and 10,000 Pounds is over $15,000. You can buy several cars in the US for less than that. Do they get 80 MPG? Nope. They are all gasoline, and they are generally a step up in size.
Those cars all have less than 100 HP - in some cases far less.
Europeans do not otherwise pay less for their vehicles. They have the option to buy some small cars not available here. But the market dictates that.
I have nothing against small cars. I like some of them. But I would not like a 76 HP car. My father in law has a Smart4Two and it is the absolute worst car I have driven in my life.
In the U.K. the rate is 7 per 100,000 cars. In the U.S. it's 15. In Germany it's 7.2. France 9.57. Japan 6.8. All allow smaller high MPG cars.
There is lot of things to consider about those statistics, specifically a much larger rural population here in the US where emergency responders are going to take a lot of time to arrive at an accident and once they do it's long ride to the hospital.
There is lot of things to consider about those statistics, specifically a much larger rural population here in the US where emergency responders are going to take a lot of time to arrive at an accident and once they do it's long ride to the hospital.
The facts are the statement was wrong.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
