I don't think is a race to see who is smarter, who is the leader, who is bigger, richer ...it should be a common effort
I'm convinced it wont hapen until education on kids change the vision of what a "good life" is. While kids keep on watching on TV and into their families that while biggest the SUV is, the biggest my familie's succes is, it wont be a real change, and of course huge companies do not want people to think like that (am I speaking as a comunist of old pictures...hehehe)I'm not comunist or something like that.
ord or something, said "...if people from USA wants a big SUV, we will produce it, i don't see what's wrong with that..." is a very interestimg phrase to examinate part by part...

There's a book I read about families evolution, and technology, and all this stuff we are talking here, If you could read it, do it, is very interesting.

The Third Wave by Alvin Toffler.

I looked at the Ford Edge and the Pontiac Torrent at the NY auto show and I was pretty impressed by both...and I do agree they are pretty much tall station wagons. The Edge had a new 6spd auto which I thought showed a lot of promise...low gears for better acceleration and tall gears for highway cruising. pretty cool stuff. I havent driven a Torrent but if it runs as good as my wifes Montana it would make a good people mover. We do a lot of light hauling with the van (the seats stay out more than in) and it still gets 25-26mpg.

I think a little surprised that the "big three" didnt start making more efficent trucks like the Tundra was before it got big. I also dont understand why more emphasis wasnt put into making trucklike utility vehicles based on the smaller platforms. The example of the PT Cruiser as a truck is extreme in the opposite end of the scale but what about the Trailblazer or maybe even a pickup version of the minivans. granted they wouldnt have huge towing capacity but not everyone does that anyway. I think the Honda RidgeLine is a step in that direction. If Chevy offered a TrailBlazer based version of the Avalanche I think that would be a big one up on Honda and they already have the long wheelbase model to work with.

Ok another thread got me going GRRRRRR.

Fuel costs.

Why is it the damn oil comapany's who are the most profitable business going right now has to force the entire country to cut their profit margins.

I look at it this way. Would I rather sell 100 gallons for 2.50 a gallon and make $250 or do I want to sell 50 gallons at $4.00 a gallon for $200.

Doesn't make much sense to me. If fuel prices get too high the demand is going to fall off and they'll lose the volume they have now.

The 70s gas crisis and price inflation wasn't profit driven it was an oil embargo imposed by the biggest crooks in the world OPEC to force the US to change it's international policy.

Today's "shortages" that drive the cost of fuel up are not because there is a shortage but those who control the flow of oil (OPEC)decide we're only going to pump 10 million barrels this month. Only to pump up the price per barrell and keep the world under their thumb.

Herc I agree with you 100%. We really need to start drilling in Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico etc more. There is more than enough oil for us to be much more independent than we are currently, if only the damn environmentalists would let us.

I agree with herc on the oil bit, and the other stuff really.


I've been distantly involved with the nuclear future: molten salt thorium nuclear reactors. From every possible angle, this is by far the thermal/electrical energy source for the future. A new reactor design is underway right now between Cleveland State and Ohio State Universities right now.
* world reserves of thorium would cover the world's energy needs for thousands of years
* no danger of melt-down / nowhere near the hazard of uranium nuclear technology
* fuel/waste cannot be used for weapons
* theres more...

The future appearance of this will surely help solve a huge part of our energy dependancy and global warming issues. Hope the corps. dont kill this one too.

I've not done too much research in the ethanol area, but it seems hypothetically if everybody were using ethanol, we could possibly have issues with having enough crops... and say we have a drought or some disaster that destroys a huge portion of our crops for producing ethanol... ouch.

Thats good for domestic fuel, but not so good for our environment with the current technology.

He might have a good cause, but thats the ONLY thing he's got going for him. I have a video somewhere of him claiming he invented the internet. Trust me, I don't like the guy...

How does thorium work? Is it a dense substance like uranium? If so, it would still have uses for projectiles.

Inside the reactor you hit the thorium fuel with a slow neutron to eventually form U233 for the useful reaction. The types of uranium and much smaller amounts of plutonium byproducts produced will be useless for any type of weapons.
At CSU we're dealing with more of the electrical side of it... high voltage DC transmission, but I still get to sit in on the project seminars.

The new nuclear technology does sound very promising and I think it should be followed through on. The big question will be does funding for its development (which must happen sooner or later) get the plug pulled.

As far as Alaska is concerned we have already done plenty of damage to many of our ecosystems. ANWAR is the sole nesting ground for many species of birds and other wildlife and the drilling there will not result in that much more oil.
I personally dont think the answer is more oil. There are too many other doable ways to produce electricity which would free up produced oil for other uses. The oil companies dont want that to happen because it isnt money in their pockets.

My wifes cousin lives in western NY state. There is barely a soul near their home for thirty miles. The state wants to install wind generators on several of the mountaintops and they are fighting it tooth and nail because they say its an eyesore. Yet they dont seem to mind the giant wire towers that bring electricity in. Now thats a gripe I dont get.