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Response 13 Ahmed

Page history last edited by Jared 12 years, 3 months ago

FEEDBACK: ahmed.mp3

landmark moment deserving more detail: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_Average_Fuel_Economy

Good magazine, charting some key moments: http://www.bing.com/search?q=site%3Agood.is+vehicle+efficiency+standards

 

 

Ahmed Alshaibani

English 1020

Jared Gorgan

November 29, 2011

 

Fuel Efficiency

 

How can a country that is so powerful in the world market be brought to its knees by a less powerful country? Energy dependence, that’s how. This is a major problem in the United States. We are too dependent on foreign oil to drive our economy. Nearly Every aspect of our lives is dependent on oil we either import or drill. Yet we blindly pay for this oil without putting up a fight. But how much is too much? How much are you willing to fork out to put gas in your car? How much longer are we going to allow oil companies to take advantage of our pocket book? Wake up and smell the tailpipe people. We have fell behind in terms of fuel efficiency. We use this oil as if there is an unlimited supply. Here’s the kicker, it isn’t. With the supply of oil dwindling, major changes need to be made. My goal is to analyze the reasoning for the lack of updated vehicle efficiency standards and to propose ideas on how to go about seeking a change. Change begins with the individual. Our voices need to be heard.

 

Oil is a necessity in the American lifestyle. We use it to produce power to power our homes and to run our cars. Of all the oil used in America, over fifty percent of that oil is used as gasoline to power automobiles. With such a large amount of gasoline being used by cars, why isn’t fuel efficiency improved. Why are cars only averaging a fuel efficiency of only 25 miles per gallon? It’s 2011.  From 1950 until the 1970s, fuel economy averages nearly doubled in the quake of shortened supply of oil being shipped from Iran to the rest of the oil. For this reason, gas prices skyrocketed; forcing car engineers to rethink about the ways cars use gasoline. In this period of time, gas mileage went from around 10 miles per gallon to a whopping 25 miles per gallon. This is a very significant improvement. Here’s where the problem begins. Around the 1970s, oil price dropped once again, and interest in developing more fuel-efficient cars declined. Since the 1970s until present day, fuel efficiently, rather than increasing, has declined! How does this make any sense? The supply of oil has been decreasing, yet fuel efficiency decreases as well. Something must seriously be messed up in the minds of these car manufacturers. This is the common belief, until one looks at the big picture. Only then does one realize what a huge role the oil industry plays.

 

Why haven’t new fuel efficiency standards been set for automobiles? Some may argue that it’s difficult to improve this technology further with the available resources. In my opinion, that is the fanciest pile of crap I’ve ever heard. Technology for improvements to existing technologies has been available for decades. Is the documentary Gashole, a recorded interview with a former shell employee recorded the employee stating that in 1946, shell was able to break the 1000 miles per gallon. Shell quickly realized that releasing this technology to the public would make it nearly impossible to make a profit on the already dirt-cheap gasoline. In turn, shell kept this technology under tight wraps. Shell Oil Company also made an effort to ensure that individuals who modified combustion engines to maximize fuel efficiency would keep their finding under wraps. They went on doing so by buying patents off these individuals, and destroying the documentation. This is all being an attempt to ensure the future of their companies and that their pockets stay full.

 

Oil companies also strategically associate themselves with the right people I order to help insure their advantage in the marketplace. This is done so through the powerful (and manipulated) world of politics. Many political candidates receive a great some of money from oil companies during their campaigns. In doing so, there is a sort of informal agreement between the oil companies and that public official. The role is simple: this public official will oppose any laws and regulations that threaten the livelihood of these corporate companies. In return, they receive campaign money. This cycle ensures both parties stay happy. But where does the consumer come into play? Where does the consumer benefit. Sorry to say, but they don’t give a rats ass about the consumers. All that matters in the vicious cycle is money for the oil industry and power for the public official who is supposed to “work for the common good of the country.” Unfortunately, that’s also a lie.

 

Lack of fuel efficiency standards is harmful on a verity of levels. The first level relevant to consumers is the increasing prices at the pump. In the past year, gas prices have rose approximately one dollar per gallon. When paying more for a product or service, on usually expect to be receiving a better product or service in return. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case for the oil industry. Consumers have been paying more for a decreased average gas mileage in the past 40 years.

 

In 2007, president bush signed a legislation that would force automakers to increase fuel efficiency by 40 percent by the year 2020. This legislation was passed with the help of pressure from many environmental organizations such as PEW. PEW campaigned across the united state in order to convince lawmakers to put forth legislation to increase fuel efficiency standards. Through the fuel efficiency increases sought after by PEW, the united states is estimated to save on average 1.1 million barrels of oil a day. In turn, this would also help our economy by saving the American consumers collectively on average 25 billion dollars a day. This is money that can be used to drive other aspects of our nations economy. This proposal is a fairly good proposal in that in helps reduce the amount of fuel we use in our daily lives by forcing automaker to produce more fuel efficient vehicles so as to more wisely use the limited resources at hand. Along with helping consumers save money and indirectly stimulating the economy, this proposal will also be helpful to the environment. More fuel-efficient vehicles mean less CO2, resulting in less tailpipe emissions being released into the atmosphere. This in turn is helpful to the environment, helping to ensure a cleaner environment our generation and the generation that will follow.

 

Recently, the in office administration has put forth a new proposal. The Obama administration has put forth a proposal that would force automaker to double the current average fuel efficiency of their fleets, which is about 24 miles per gallon, to approximately 55 miles per gallon. This is a fairly strong proposal that will also have many benefits. In a statement by secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, he states:

 

"Think about what this means: American families would fill up their cars every two weeks rather than every week,"

 

The economical benefit is astronomical. Families will be cutting their gas spending in half. This money in turn would go to stimulating the economy. This new standard is estimated to save Americans approximately 1.7 trillion dollars per year at the pump. That comes out to over 8000 dollars per vehicle. These are mind-boggling numbers in deed and are all the result of a little pressure on automakers to make more efficient product for the consumers.

 

Despite all the obvious environmental benefits of these legislatures,  the National Automobile Dealers Assn. has decided to cry foul on this proposed plan. They claim that these new standards will add “an additional $3,000 to average vehicle prices by 2025.” Even if this statistic is true, it seems like the standards would be far worth the extra price. If the vehicles will be saving consumers on average 8000 dollars a year at the pump, this extra 3000 dollars could easily be paid off in less than a year. When all is set and done, these new fuel efficient cars will save the owner on average 5000 dollars during the first year of ownership, but then return to the previously estimated 8000 dollars per year after that. Seems like a good deal in any sense.

 

Need conclusion...

 

Outline and Abtract

Comments (1)

sasha said

at 5:56 pm on Nov 29, 2011

The author does provide a good exigence.
the evaluation seems to be well written, however i think there could be a little more improvement to transition into a proposal. The proposal criteria could be a little stronger. the evaluation of oil and its effect on the economy is very well researched, however, i think there should be a little more research put into the proposal. This is a good paper that brings the problem to the forefront. The counterargument i could make to the claims presented here is that oil has no direct effect on the economy. As i said before i would revise the proposal a little more- it is hard to come up with a solution for this problem but the solution could be a explained more. Another thing that i would look over is the evaluation is good, but some more support from other sites would be a nice incorporation.

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