What's the best way to "flip off" OPEC and the oil cartels?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Okay, i just made my last payment on my car, an '02 Dodge Neon base model, i’m now the “proud owner” of a Neon with 93,000 original miles…

the car’s been extremely reliable, fires up first time, every time, gets reasonable fuel mileage, 30-40 MPG depending on my driving style/environmental conditions, it hovers around the low thirties for the most part

still… it cost me almost $30 to fill it up yesterday, and gas prices seem to be on an upward trend, it’s only going to get worse

I HATE the oil companies, OPEC, and the entire petrochemical industry (in other news, rain is wet…), i know it’s stating the obvious, but who (aside from stockholders and company “suits”) in their right mind would like oil companies anyway?..

I’m looking for effective ways that I, the Lowly Consumer, can extend a metaphorical middle finger to Opec and their ilk…

part of me wants to go right out and trade the Neon in for a small Diesel car (most likely a VW Golf or something similar) for the increased fuel mileage, even if it means getting back into car payments, which it would

part of me says; keep the Neon, it’s been reliable so far, it’s been well-maintained and runs well, drive the wheels off it and put the “car payment” funds in a savings account, you have a car that works, is reliable, and is paid for, keep it running until it suffers a catastrophic failure and you HAVE to buy a new car, by then, who knows, we could have other fuels in addition to Diesel, we could have Hybrid Diesel, Hydrogen Fuel Cells, Gasoline-Electric Hybrids will be a mature technology by then, we could have Methanol engines, Hybrid Gasoline-Diesel-Solar-Flex-Fuel, heck, we may even have a Mr Fusion™ powered car (HoverConversion optional…) by that time…

another part of me says; find a good used motorcycle, use that for workday commutes (9 miles each way over highways, bicycling isn’t a viable option, sadly) and only use the car when you have to (in the rain, in the late fall and winter), problem is, when you’re on a motorcycle, you’re at much, much higher risk of becoming road-pizza thanks to the other inattentive MORONS behind the wheels of their “cages”, yes when I ride a motorcycle, i assume i’m invisible, and plan accordingly, but you can’t plan for every unforseen event, motorcycling is an order of magnatude more risky than a car…

so far, the most logical idea so far seems to be the second one (drive the wheels off the Neon, put the car payment funds in a savings account), no the Neon isn’t the most fuel efficient option (Diesel or motorcycle would be the most efficient…hey, does anyone make a diesel motorcycle? that’d be really fuel efficient…), but due to the lack of car payment, it’s not as much of an issue…

any ideas?

2

Mail a box to OPEC. Make sure there’s poop in the box. Make sure step 2 comes before step 1.

3

Don’t get mad; get even. Reduce your fuel consumption as far as you can, and encourage others to do the same.

This will stick it to the oil companies by robbing them of income. It will also have incidental side effects like reducing global warming, reducing pollution, and reducing the amount of money you are spending, but those may be unimportant to you. (If you live in the US, it will also reduce the amount of money that your nation is sending to dubious regimes overseas.)

Buy or build a house that requires no fuel for heating and cooling. Architecturally, this is quite doable, even in a cold climate; two of my friends live and such a house, and quite a few others are building them this year or next.

Move closer to your work or move your work closer to you, so that you don’t need to drive there. Within 15-minute bicycle range or a 40-minute walk is ideal. (I take the bus, but I live a long ways from work.) Obviously this won’t apply if driving is part of your job, but there are enormous numbers of people who go to the same office or factory or store each day and don’t leave it until it’s time to go home, for whom this applies.

These are the two biggest fuel users.

Next comes electrical efficiency in the home: the whole “shut things off at the power bar, replace incandescent lamps with compact fluorescent or LED lamps, get a more-efficient fridge, etc” thing. This will reduce the amount of energy you use, but that energy is not necessarily oil or gas based. So you might be sticking it to the coal or nuclear industry instead. But you may also be able to get all your (reduced) electricity needs from a wind/hydro/solar supplier instead.

4

I was thinking about the motorcycle option on the drive into work today, and i’m now thinking that getting one would be a “false economy”…

right now, i have one petrofueled vehicle, my car, gets an average of 34 MPG, i only have to fill up one vehicle, have oil changes on one vehicle, replace tires on ONE vehicle

if i got a cheap used motorcycle, i would now be fueling TWO gasoline vehicles, have two vehicles requiring oil changes, tires, etc…

my net petroproduct usage will have increased, not decreased…

keeping the Neon until it dies seems to be the best option here

5

Unless you are saying that having a motorcycle is so much fun that you would drive a lot more, I don’t follow your reasoning. Fuel, lubricants, and tire consumption are costs that vary with miles driven. Assuming your bike would come with tires already, there is no fixed component.

6

Sunspace;

   A  small diversion here.You made the comment-

“Buy or build a house that requires no fuel for heating and cooling. Architecturally, this is quite doable, even in a cold climate; two of my friends live and such a house, and quite a few others are building them this year or next.”

   I see you're in Canada,known to me as a Cold Place. If said house(es) are not PAHS,could you perhaps elaborate?
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“PAHS”?

Here is a website about such a house: sunspace.org - sunspace Resources and Information.

You use thick, massive walls to store warmth (or “coolth”, if you’re dealing with warm days). For heating, you put big windows on the sunny side and match the thickness of the building’s esternal insulation to the size of the windows, so that, on the average, energy comes in and goes out at the same rate. The massy walls moderate any changes that do occur.

You only run into problems with cooling if the long-term average exterior temperature is above your desired interior temperature; you then have to use active cooling (i. e. AC).

Likewise, you only run into problems with heating if your long-term average exterior temperature is above the interior temperature and your windows aren’t big enough to provide enough sunlight to make up the difference. That’s when you do need a backup heat source, such as a stove. But I know of one place that put in too many windows and is now overheated, especially in the summer.

Now you know where my username comes from. :slight_smile:

8

When i eventually DO build my own house, i want it to be a subterranian house (okay, okay, a “Hobbit Hole”, satisfied? :wink: ) earth is a very effective insulator in both cold and warm weather…

plus i’d love to be able to say “i’d love to hang out with you this weekend, but i need to mow my roof first…”

9

Yes, the house I describe uses earth in the walls as thermal mass. And it’s set mostly below grade, except on the sun side. It’s insulated from the earth, though, beacuse our average near-surface ground temperature is a just a little chilly for room temperature. It’s great for storing veggies, though.

My friends’ house is going to have pumpkins on the roof this year. They are looking for a giant inflatable Snoopy for Halloween. :slight_smile:

10

Sunspace,
Thanks for the answer and the link.“PAHS”= Passive Annual Heat Storage;essentially the use of earth as thermal mass to regulate gradients,much as you have described,though most builders are underground .

11

I’ve read of it, though not by that name.

There are buildings that use the properties of mass on a daily basis as well: they use the thickness of the walls as a way to delay the waves of heat and cold coming through the walls. If the walls are the right thickness and the average temperature is suitable, you can have the cold of midnight appearing at the inside of your walls just in time to cool things down at midday, and the heat of midday appearing just in time to warm things at midnight. It’s a delicate and sophisticated use of thermal mass, but it only works in some situations.

But that’s not what I’m designing… I insulate my mass and use it more as pure storage.

12

Buy a used diesel car and convert it to run on vegetable oil. Here’s a company in Massachusetts that sells the conversion kits.

Come on, you’re a handy guy!

13

Some little things you can do that can mean big gas savings:

Every time you add gas, check and adjust your tire pressure. Proper tire pressure can save as much as 10% on your gas bill, save wear and tear on your tires (Which generate a great amount of polution in thier maunfacture).

Drive like gas cost $50 a gallon. Turn off your engine at stops lasting more than 3 minutes (long lights, trains, traffic jams, etc). Use a light foot on the gas, avoid “jack rabbit starts” and drive the posted speed limit.

Plan your trips, minimise usage, be efficient.

Take public transport when available and practical.

Keep your car in good repair (sounds like you do already)…

Plan for your next car now… start investigating gas milage and durability (A car produces more pollution during production/disposal than it will ever emit as exhaust, on average)

Find a mechanic who will use recycled parts from an auto wrecker/recycler (they are out there)

regards
FML

14

I plan on my next car [in about 3 years] being a diesel VW, probably a jetta as mrAru and I like our jettas.

We have a wood stove and frequently heat with it in the winter when we are home on weekends, and leave the thermostat set just high enough that the pipes dont freeze [40 fahrenheit].

I am looking into a position where I can telecommute 3 or more days a week, which will save serious gas.

As soon as we can afford it we are going to change our furnace from fuel oil to gas.