That’s what happened at some gas stations when the price per gallon hit $1. They modified the pumps to charge per liter. They went back to charging by the gallon when they bought new pumps.
I recall the solution (where I lived, anyway) was little stickers with a ‘1’ in them stuck to the left of the two dials. (Yes, kids - mechanical dials! Imagine!) Eventually the pumps all got upgraded.
You’d think they might have put two digits in the dollars area when they had to upgrade, although I suppose that would have freaked people out.
It reminds me of a story my father, who was a software programmer/developer, told about working on an internal application for a big company in the 1970s or '80s. He proposed incorporating dates that wouldn’t go haywire when 2000 arrived, and was assured that the system certainly wouldn’t still be in service then. Oops.
How the heck do people get around in China, India, and Russia? Those are big fucking places too. They all must be driving around in Hummers and Beemer’s because those countries are obviously too large for effective mass transit.
Where do they hide all those gas-guzzling land-boats? And how can they afford it? And how will we in the USA (a far, far, poorer nation :rolleyes: ) afford it?
It seems to me that people have been taking things that I said about the US as a whole much more personally than I meant them to be taken. Are all Americans fat? Do they all choose to drive to drop of a letter at the mailbox at the end of the block? No, those are of course stereotypes, and I would indeed be an arrogant bastard to support such statements.
Do Americans in general have an attitude that is more geared towards driving small distances than people elsewhere? And does this attitude contribute to obesity typically occuring more often in the US than elsewhere? Yes on both counts, I’d say. Is this something that Americans do of their own volition, in spite of alternatives being readily available? No. I’m aware of the lack of public transport and of the lack of acceptably priced housing.
However, and this is the point I meant to make, there is no intrinsic reason why this needs to stay this way, and no reason to assume that the US would not be able to survive if the gas price went up. Not to say that it wouldn’t suck, 'cause it would, but I don’t see how the US is exceptional in any respect that would preclude adaptation to rising gas prices. Other places have been coping, they survived, they’re not bad places to be alive in. You’ll be fine. In fact, I think people are better off in many respects (environment, personal health) when they decrease their dependency on transportation by car.
I think that is exactly what will happen. It will mean gas stations won’t have to make a bunch of expensive changes and replacements to signage, etc. And, it will perhaps have a mild positive psychological effect on motorists as they now are “only” paying say, 94 cents per unit rather than $3.76.
It’ll also be more on a par with the ‘per liter’ sale of gasoline in much (almost all?) of the world. (Though I’m not sure if that really matters–I just thought I’d mention it.)
On second thought-- and well after the edit window had expired-- maybe we’ll just go to selling it by the liter. Hell-- we buy Coke metrically, (also coke) so why not gas-o-line?
Except that you’re arbitrarily choosing a starting date during which we were in the middle of a gas crisis (1979).
The CPI has tripled. So the price of gas during a gas crisis should be about $3. We’re now at $4.
I doubt it. People remember how much they paid to fill up a tank.
I don’t see a problem with lawmakers challenging OPEC. Why should OPEC not have to face a civilized court room? Because people are SCARED that OPEC might go ahead and fuck with the oil supply? If they are guily of antitrust violations then we should not deal with them anymore…it’s a matter of principle, really.
Uh-huh. And then what? The Gasoline Fairy comes and brings all the good boys and girls unleaded? Hold your principles in one hand and piss in the other and see which fills up first.
I’m gonna invest in buggy whip stock.
And one day when the oil barons have all dripped dry
And the nights are seen to draw colder
They’ll beg for your strength, your gentle power
Your noble grace and your bearing
And you’ll strain once again to the sound of the gulls
In the wake of the deep plough, sharing.
Heavy horses, move the land under me…
Fair enough. I hope you have some good hunting/gathering skills, though. May I suggest some well-broken-in shoes as well?
The oil is theirs. They are under no obligation to drill it, sell it, anything. They could sit on it until the cows come home if they felt like it. So perhaps you can tell us what nature of antitrust violation they are guilty of, how and where it will be decided, how it will be enforced, and why they shouldn’t just tell us to go to hell?
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What Doors said.
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Whose antitrust laws would OPEC be violating? Umm, ours, I guess. But the members of OPEC are sovereign nations, with [warning: weird stuff ahead!] their own laws, which probably allow them to be part of an oil cartel.
If the Saudi princes and the Iranian ayatollahs and a few other big oil exporters agree to pump less oil out of the ground, how exactly is that within the jurisdiction of U.S. courts? Simple answer: it’s not.
- Even if the oil exporters are pumping less oil from the ground than they can, so what? The fact is that we’re running into the limits of world production of oil, and that’s all there is to it. With brief and transitory exceptions, oil is going to be more expensive from here on out, unless and until we, as a world, figure out how to get by on a lot less oil than we consume now.
Whining about high oil prices is a complete and total waste of time.
Kicking the asses of the legislators who blocked higher CAFE standards over the years, causing us to arrive at this point earlier and leaving us less prepared for it when we got here, would also be a waste of time, but OTOH it would be immensely satisfying.
Doesn’t anyone else here see the symmetry that goes on between the production of food for the world and the cost of oil? The United States remains the world’s breadbasket and when an organization like OPEC decides they aren’t making enough money it hurts the countries that require food aid…countries like those in the Middle East which coincidentally require grain importations to feed their people and livestock.
Sounds like we’ve really got them over a barrel…
You’re a complete fucking idiot. You must love yourself cause you’re too stupid and assholish for anyone else to.
Putt your money where your mouth is and explain how Americans could live like Inidians without a noticeable drop in the quality of life.
If you can’t then you’re kindly invited to go fuck yourself idiot.
First off I’d like to apologize for misunderstanding you.
Well I hop you’re right. The thing is half of Americans live out in the sticks. It’s been this way for god knows how long. While I can agree gasoline dependence is a bad thing, automobile dependence is a necessary fact of life for some.
Simply put many Americans do not fit in with urban life. There’s realities they’re not acclimated to. Like high population densities usually include alot more regulation, and stress. Especially with busy bodies who have nothing better to do then tell you what you can put in your own yard. Wish I had that kind of free time.
I think th best way is to start working the fleet over toward electric, start with rechargeable flex fuel hibreds.
As economic realities change, social realities will change as well. Many Americans have been able to afford the luxury of casual country living because transportation costs have been fairly cheap. If transportation gets significantly more expensive, that’s a luxury they have to surrender. Or, conversely, they may choose to surrender access to urban stores, services, and jobs instead. There will still be people living a rural lifestyle, but they’ll be more self-sufficient than they are now – no hour-long commutes to city jobs or frequent trips to the Wal-Mart. It will be closer to the farm lifestyle of 70 or 80 years ago – but with internet access.
Thank you for that. In the midst of a pit thread filled with acrimony, a little bit of Jethro Tull. One of my favorite groups.