# We're running out of oil **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607 "2004-01-09T07:10:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/61 "2004-01-11T20:54:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Susanann \* > \*\*We in America still have plenty of oil in Alaska and California. > \*\* Because Alaskian drilling has not produced any ecological diesasters before.:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/62 "2004-01-11T20:59:34Z")
We’ve actually got more in Texas. But we need to develop what’s in Alaska. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/63 "2004-01-11T21:05:33Z")
> [@](#): > > I had an accident when I was 11 years old on my Yam 100cc LT2. I got an LT2 on my 12th birthday! Metallic purple. Nice little bike. It’s immortalized in film, where I get pulled off of it and killed by aliens in _Mutilation Maniacs_. 😉 > [@](#): > > I’ve been thinking about getting motorcycle… they look do like quite abit of fun. They are fun. And quite practical. [ul][li]They are cheap to buy. A good, reliable, brand-new bike can be had for about $6,000.[/li][li]Excellent gas mileage. A 600cc will probably get over 50 mpg.[/li][li]Cheap to insure. Liability-only on my XJ600 is $85/year. Full coverage on my litre-class crotch rocket is only around $300/year.[/li][li]Easy to park. You almost never have trouble finding a parking place. Many places that charge for cars, will let motorcycles park free.[/li][li]Better accelleration than cars.[/li][li]Quicker than cars when traffic is heavy.[/li][li]A small backpack carries enough for most errands; and larger things can be bungeed to the seat/rack.[/li][li]Able to carry a passenger.[/li][li]Okay to use carpool (HOV) lanes.[/ul][/li]And of course you have the “moral high ground” over all of those bloody Toyotas and Hondas. 😉 Did I mention that motorcycles are more fun than cars? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![diamond\_den](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@diamond\_den](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diamond_den)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/64 "2004-01-11T21:11:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by suezeekay \* > \*\*I have always driven a small car. I get 43 miles to the gallon. It really ticks me off that people drive those unnecessarily large vehicles. They are using up the oil and the rest of us will have to suffer in the future when we have to start paying higher and higher prices for what will become a scarce commodity, and when we run out sooner rather than later. In Europe everyone (at least 5 years ago) had small cars. It shows you can live without those huge gas guzzlers. I think they should be outlawed in the US until we come up with an alternative energy source. > > [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DyeHard/dyehard.html) \*\* HAHAHAHAHA!!! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/65 "2004-01-11T21:16:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by netscape 6 \* > \*\*Because Alaskian drilling has not produced any ecological diesasters before.:rolleyes: \*\* Well, I’m not sure about _Alaskian_ drilling, but I’m pretty sure that **Alaskan** drilling hasn’t produced any _diesasters before_. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/66 "2004-01-11T23:42:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by radar ralf \* > \*\*Well, I’m not sure about _Alaskian_ drilling, but I’m pretty sure that **Alaskan** drilling hasn’t produced any _diesasters before_. \*\* I guess it was of the coast of Alaska, but wasn’t the Exxon Valdez up there? Is there oil under land up there? I thought it was all under the sea. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/67 "2004-01-11T23:45:07Z")
of=off ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/68 "2004-01-12T00:41:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I got an LT2 on my 12th birthday! Metallic purple. Nice little bike. It’s immortalized in film, where I get pulled off of it and killed by aliens in Mutilation Maniacs. I seem to remember that someone on this board had and LT2. After the LT2, I had a DT250b. Orange 250 Enduro. I stripped it and put a 53 tooth rear sprocket on it (how I can remember that, and not my cell phone number is something only bikers understand). Top end was only about 50. But man oh man, it got you there very fast. Ehhh… provided you could also shift real fast. I put the biggest knobbys that would fit on that bike. It did move. Great fun. Damn. now I want to go ride, and it will be months before I can. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/69 "2004-01-12T01:09:23Z")
> [@](#): > > After the LT2, I had a DT250b. Orange 250 Enduro. After the purple LT2, I had an orange '76 250 Enduro. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/70 "2004-01-12T13:56:32Z")
Well, My preferred lifestyle would have me drinking and smoking in the streets. Not to mention public urination! So quit trying to force me into your stupid ideas of what’s right and what isn’t. You can make an argument like that for SUVs as well, but the obvious truth is that there is a greater cost to society (increased polution, danger to smaller cars) on account of people driving SUVs. You don’t NEED to have an SUV unless there is no other way to get food to and from your house. You could always use a horse, buddy 😉 Also there is plenty of oil, but who said it will be easy to get to? I’ve talked to oilmen who said that by 2025 there will be a huge cost increase related to extracting the oil there. Its a situation where all the low fruit has been picked before. Sure, the tree has only half of the fruit picked, but what if it’s all gone below 10 feet and you don’t have a ladder? I’m looking foward when you don’t have to drive anymore. I live car-free here in Germany and I like it a lot. I’ll take the reduced stress any day. People will just be forced to live closer to cities, so we’ll have to abandon the ugly suburban sprawl. I for one won’t be crying when the malls have to close. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2004, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/71 "2004-01-12T14:05:40Z")
> [@](#): > > So quit trying to force me into your stupid ideas of what’s right and what isn’t. It seems to me that the anti-SUV folks are the ones trying to tell people what’s “right”. > [@](#): > > You don’t NEED to have an SUV unless there is no other way to get food to and from your house. Then I’m excused. Thanks. I guess all the people that tow their trailers, go off road or haul large stuff are out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/72 "2004-01-13T18:20:41Z")
> [@Moo the Magic Cow](#): > > Indeed, but many can do without. A basic sedan can hold 5 people. If you’re running to the store and back, a sedan is fine for a family of five - at least while the kids are small. When the kids start hitting five-feet tall, that sedan starts looking pretty small again. I just visited my parents and in-laws over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday. Two weeks of vacation (four full days of travel), three destination cities, 2850 miles round trip. Take that family of five and add luggage, snacks, car seats, books, toys, etc. for a two week trip and all of a sudden a sedan is too small. Try taking a three-day camping trip in a five-butt sedan… They’re too small without adding a trailer full of stuff and now we’re getting into the modern sedan’s zero-towing capacity problem. I’ll quote from my old Honda Civic’s manual, “We do not recommend towing with your Honda vehicle.” I’m the father in a family of five. I own two vehicles, one is a four-door mid-sized sedan and the other’s a minivan. There’s no way I would travel for more than a few hours with all five in that sedan. I do think that the Hummer H2’s and the Ford Excursions are feeding ego more frequently than need, though. ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/73 "2004-01-13T20:32:31Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > It seems to me that the anti-SUV folks are the ones trying to tell people what’s “right”. > > Then I’m excused. Thanks. > > I guess all the people that tow their trailers, go off road or haul large stuff are out of luck. So you are telling me that you have to have a trailer to get your food to your house? Funny, i can carry my food for a week in a backpack. Again, SUVs are a new thing, you don’t need them. They aren’t a necessity, and air conditioners and cable television aren’t either. Civilization has gotten along pretty damn well without SUVS until they came about and did pretty well before the automobile was even invented. Don’t act like you have a God-given right to live your life in a way that may fancy you but pisses a lot of others off. I don’t care if the only vehicles that can get to your house are either a hummer or a pack mule, you don’t have to have an SUV and you don’t have to live where you live. Face it, you live a wasteful lifestyle, don’t deny it. That’s obvious. Argue whether you have the right to be as wasteful as you want to. But most Americans could be much less wasteful. If you have a lifestyle that requires a SUV then you are a wasteful person. That’s what we anti-SUV crowd are pissed about. Anyway this puts you in the 1% of the population of SUV owners. If people that actually needed them used them, i’d be happy. What really pisses me off is the college girls and guys that get a brand new SUV on their 18th birthday or the “soccer mom” that HAS to have it. We had a family of 5 when i grew up and we got along fine with pre SUV transport. 98 percent of people like them because they think they are cool, yet they feel guilty for being so wasteful, so they make excuses to themselves to make them feel better. The idea that makes me mad is that there is a segement of the population that is indulging in luxuries while trying to pass it off as a necessity. If some dude you know buys a gas guzzling sports car they can’t possibly try to tell someone that its a necessity. At least get a VW Touraeg, with Diesel and use Biodiesel. Biodiesel is created from plant oil and with alcohol and lye as a catalyst. When it is reacted, it has almost as much energy as regular diesel (like 95 percent i believe) The emissions are lower in the amount of carbon released. ANd to top it off, its in a closed circuit of carbon. So if the world were to switch and we needed more fuel, we would need to have more plants which would offset the carbon coming out of cars. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2004, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/74 "2004-01-13T22:11:51Z")
No, I do not use a trailer to haul food to my house. Nor could I if I wanted to in the winter. What I need is 4x4 and good ground clearance. The closest store is 15 miles away. Bit of a hike. Either on foot or pack mule. :rolleyes: Like you said, we don’t ‘need’ a lot of thing’s we buy. Air Conditioners, Microwaves, whatever. I always thought that was a pretty ridiculous argument. I ‘could’ live out of a shopping cart. But I would not be a productive member of society. > [@](#): > > SUVs are a new thing, No they aren’t. There are more of them now because they are replacing the big cars sedans and station wagons of the 60s and 70s. Taking need down to it’s most basic, essential life or death requirements does nothing for the anti-SUV argument. That can be done with nearly everything. > [@](#): > > …and you don’t have to live where you live. This is a ridiculous argument too. Sure, I could move just about anywhere I want. I happen to like to live in the mountains. I work for County government. If I left, someone would fill my shoes fast enough. > [@](#): > > Face it, you live a wasteful lifestyle. Face it, you don’t know me well enough to make that assertion. > [@](#): > > If you have a lifestyle that requires a SUV then you are a wasteful person. That’s what we anti-SUV crowd are pissed about. So, again, you consider anyone that uses a trailer, for utility or recreation (or any of the other uses for SUV’s) ‘wasteful’. Whatever, again, I think it’s a silly argument. You believe people are pissed because I need something they don’t. That I have a different lifestyle than they do. I live and work in a rural, mountain area. I happen to need an SUV. People that can’t understand that need to get out more. > [@](#): > > 98 percent of people like them because they think they are cool. Well, that’s your impression. I know oh, by quick count, 8 people/families with them. They get good use out of them and did not buy them because they are ‘cool’. They work them, they use them for snow, they go camping, they pull boats and camping trailers, they haul lumber or whatever else they may happen to need. I have seen the Touraeg, looks pretty good. It will be a few years before I am in the market, and if I determine it is a car that will do what I need it to, I may very well consider it. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/75 "2004-01-14T01:11:43Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > Again, SUVs are a new thing, you don’t need them. The SUV was basically designed in 1948 by the Willys-Overland Corporation. Their Jeep Station Wagon was the first vehicle to combine an all-steel station wagon body with four-wheel drive. > [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > If you have a lifestyle that requires a SUV then you are a wasteful person. My father’s job requires that he haul large amounts of equipment, large numbers of people, or both. He drives a '90 Cheverolet Suburban (with a '99 engine, if that sort of thing matters to you). Of course, since he completed the restoration of Mom’s '64 Ford Galaxie 500, he’s been driving that to work at least once a week. I’m sure the gas mileage on that is a lot better. 😉 My lifestyle requires hauling stuff, occasionally towing a '66 International Cub Cadet on a trailer, carrying a Christmas tree to Mom on the roof rack, and driving offroad. My '97 Grand Cherokee (V8 engine) is perfect for all of the above. I think they’re becoming more popular for off-roading; based on various conversations I’ve had, it seems the ZJ (the “old” Grand, not the curvy one being sold today) is being seen as more of a cushy Cherokee than a “soccer mom” car. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/76 "2004-01-14T01:12:32Z")
For everyone that says we never needed SUVs 100-200 years ago? It was called a BuckBoard Wagon. It doubled as a family car. [http://www.thestoreattlt.com/buwaset.html](http://www.thestoreattlt.com/buwaset.html) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/77 "2004-01-14T01:41:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t act like you have a God-given right to live your life in a way that may fancy you but pisses a lot of others off. God doesn’t have much to do with this. He can go pretty much anywhere he wants. He probably dosen’t even need a 4x4. 😃 But, If you want to bring the big guy into it, I will respond in kind. Don’t act like it’s your God-given right to tell me what I need. Or where I should live. Or what job I should take. You, quite simply, don’t have enough information. ---
**Author:** ![radar\_ralf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@radar\_ralf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/radar_ralf)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/78 "2004-01-14T04:32:42Z")
> [@netscape 6](#): > > I guess it was of the coast of Alaska, but wasn’t the Exxon Valdez up there? Is there oil under land up there? I thought it was all under the sea. Well, sir, I believe you made reference to a drilling disaster. But the Exxon Valdez incident was a _transportation_ disaster. And, yessir, there is a lot of oil _under land_ up here. I reckon y’all are kindly confused by the name of the big area where several oil fields are located - Prudhoe Bay is the location, but the oil is under land. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/79 "2004-01-14T22:12:39Z")
For all those that want to ban SUV’s or tell me my lifestyle is wasteful and I should start living like them, I’ve got a little proposition for you. Whenever I need to pull my 4000 lb. boat around, I’ll just give you guys a call and you can walk over to my place and pull the boat down to the lake with your two feet. Heck, I’d even make a harness for you, take some of the strain off your back. Maybe we could even get 16 or 20 of you together, harness you all together like a bunch of horses, and then have you pull the boat down the freeway. Last time I checked, there aren’t any vehicles other than full-size pickups or SUV’s that can tow a 5500 lb load (which the boat will reach when fully loaded with gas and gear) safely. I suppose I could tow it with a sedan, but I guess I would need to have your 45 mpg tin can car in front of me to use as a crumple zone when I find it necessary to do that little thing called stopping. I’m sick and tired of people worrying about what other people drive. If you want to drive a 60mpg hybrid, go right ahead. Heck, I’d love to have one of those if that’s all I needed, save me thousands a year on gas. We really must not have any problems left to be solved in this country if the worst thing we can find to fix is the car that somebody else is driving… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607/80 "2004-01-14T23:39:04Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Umm, you read it somewhere. OK. Guess I’ll need to avoid sarcasm in this reply… might be tough. > [@](#): > > Bull. I live where I need an SUV. I like living here. I can’t afford to live closer to work. And of course you **need** to work there and living anywhere else is a physical impossibility. > [@](#): > > And, what the hell is wrong with having the lifestyle you want? Want to splain that to me? Nothing, as far as it goes. Just don’t use it as an excuse for **need** bleats about SUVs. > [@](#): > > I also needed a place where I could let my dog live And you **need** a dog, so therefore you **need** your house, so you **need** a SUV. Do you see my point? It all stems from a personal choice you made, a want, not a need. > [@AdmiralQ](#): > > For all those that want to ban SUV’s or tell me my lifestyle is wasteful and I should start living like them, I’ve got a little proposition for you. Whenever I need to pull my 4000 lb. boat around There’s that need word again. A 4000 lb boat. One of your basic human **needs**. I’m sure lots could give me perfectly reasonable uses and requirements for SUVs. But please stop pretending it’s a **need**. SUVs are a lifestyle choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-running-out-of-oil/223607.md?page=5)