The trucking industry says there’s an easy way for Americans to save on gas — slow down.
Former Kansas Gov. Bill Graves, head of the American Trucking Associations, recently presented a proposal to slash fuel use by 86 billion gallons and carbon dioxide emissions by 900 million tons over the next decade — roughly the amount of CO2 emitted by the population of Chicago in one year. Among the recommendations:
Reduce the national speed limit to 65 mph for all vehicles. Install engine governors to limit new trucks to 68 mph. And reduce congestion by investing in highway improvements.
Graves called the proposals “practical, reasonable and doable,†and he called on Congress to help support the program.
Good luck on that. In 1995, Congress repealed a national speed limit, and 32 states, including Kansas, now have speed limits of 70 mph or higher on some highways.
No lawmaker has stepped forward to endorse the ATA proposal. How serious are we about conserving energy?
23 Comments
Bill Graves was a sorry governor and it would appear that his intellectual capability ha continued on the decline.
See attached about Global Warming.
http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=64734
STTIL I hate to point out the obvious but the main point of the article is about oil usage not GW.
Perhaps you missed it since it did mention CO2 but following your link there was nothing to argue against lowering the speed limit.
The obvious is there is no reason to reduce speed limits.
The obvious is to tell the environmentalists to go push a rope and drill for the oil we have and build refineries.
For those states that want their own blends should have their own refineries and not expect others to put up with their stupidity.
The obvious is to remind you that you are a member of a society there SSITL. Societies have rules for the benefit and betterment of all.
And if you have a problem with that, you should find a small south Pacific island all your own.
These are good ideas. There is no reason for anyone to drive over 65.
SSITL
Posted May 20, 2008 at 8:12 am | Permalink
The obvious is there is no reason to reduce speed limits.
SSITL, are you saying that slowing down doesn’t use less fuel? That’s just wrong.
Would you mind sharing what ever it is you’re smoking?
Slowing down may not be a bad idea, but governors on trucks is an extremely bad idea. Anyone who has been around trucks with governors knows they are extremely inefficient and always in a constant state of repair.
Nano, republicans dont share. That’s why they dont smoke pot.
“Dont bogart that joint, my friend, pass it over to me. You’ve been holding on to it, and I sure would like a hit.”
God I love Little Feat.
“Roll another one. Just like the other one.”
ksfarmgrrl
Posted May 20, 2008 at 8:34 am | Permalink
Nano, republicans dont share. That’s why they dont smoke pot.
Oh, I wouldn’t say that, LOL! Like many other things, I think that may be a matter of degree.
We tried this once; it was a national joke. It simply reinforced an already widespread belief that laws are simply something to get around or ignore.
I do understand why this is proposed. But a law that is unenforceable, or one without significant public support, is worse than no law at all.
“We tried this once; it was a national joke.”
Agreed.
Is the sun up in the west this a.m?
’cause gmc and I seem to be agreeing lately.
I wonder which of us might be most disturbed by this?
heheheheheheh!
I can’t drive, 65!
My father-in-law drove to Oklahoma yesterday, he said he drove 65 and was passing semis right and left, and only a couple company owned truckers passed him.
Wonder if Graves truck line is feeling the pinch. He’s probably got a litlle self interest going on.
Granny won’t you smoke some, granny won’t you smoke some….
KFG:
Ya know, I suspect that we’re not as different, or as far apart, as it seems sometimes. I suspect with most of us, while the differences in outlook seem huge, in fact we agree on far more than we disagree on, and we agree on the things that matter most.
Enjoy this day; there will be time enough to fight again! Besides, when it comes right down to it, we both enjoy the battle.
We did try this once.
But we made no real effort to enforce it.
That time is now here.
Set the speed limit and impose draconian penalties for exceeding it.
If the truckers were truly concerned about CO2 emissions and Global Warming, they would put their trucks on TRAINS.
Environmentalist Global Warming Nuts have no right to complain about high gas prices. You are getting exactly what you were looking for, what Al Gore was looking for, more conservation – forced thru higher prices.
No, on second thought, you Libs don’t want the Market to force anything. You want the Government to force a select few to conserve. You elitists may continue to fly around in your jets, and speed around in your SUVs.
Everyone else should slow down and conserve, but not the elitists.
The rail system is colluding and have unjustifyable rates from what I’ve read.
Why would we want to put a national speed limit on our highways. That’s not moving forward that’s going backwards. Do people honestly believe that in the year 2008 we should be setting speed limits that are the same as those in the 1950’s and 60’s? Interstates are the arteries of our country. Slow them down and you slow the economy down. And no it will not effect fuel prices anyway. First because of the traffic created (it’s weaving in dense traffic that causes many accidents by the way), second because oil prices are rising mostly due to dollar inflation and our government overprinting money (oil prices are relatively stable compared to gold prices, notice they have both gone up in unison, if our dollar was as stable as gold oil would be $30 a barrel right now), and third because most people won’t follow it just like the 55mph speed limit! Some people say “well if we could just get people to slow down it might work”. Well it’s not reality and never will be so stop trying to make laws that depend on something that will never happen.
We should be making laws that optimize traffic flow and restore respect for the left lanes which would thin out traffic, reduce accidents, and help the economy by speeding up our internal transportation system. Our speed limits are already under posted (never mind being 85th percentile, they aren’t even average speed) combined with cruising in left lanes and not using them as passing only lanes leads to the “cars weaving in and out to get by trucks” the ATA speaks of. Our traffic flow is so inefficient it only takes a few cars to back things up because some people think they can drive in whatever lane they want at whatever speed and are bolstered in their belief by under posted limits. Think about it, there are ALWAYS these packs of traffic moving down the highway of cars scrunched together. There is plenty of room ahead but one guy is blocking the left lane and 5, 10, or even 15 cars are lined up behind him. If something goes wrong all these cars are packed like sardines which makes the accident that much worse. This also causes lots of road rage and people “weaving”.
The ATA’s plans to implement old outdated policies, that have been an absolute failure in the past, will cause more harm than good, just like prohibition. The 55mph speed limit did an immense amount of damage to the American auto industry resulting in cars that were poor performers both in terms of performance safety and gas usage. After all, they only had to be safe and have decent performance at 55mph. The answer to having safer more efficient cars isn’t to lower the bar so that the car of the day with it’s poor performance, safety and gas guzzling is acceptable, it’s creating the demand for a better car by raising the bar. We set our auto industry back 20 years and made our cars the laughing stock of the world and now we are paying the price and scrambling to catch up, and no 65mph speed limit is going save us now.
Sounds like the ATA wants exactly what would be best for its own profit. 65mph is good for them so therefore it should be good for everyone else. If they like it so much let them limit their own vehicles and leave everyone else out of it…but they know independent competition will gain ground.
Why would someone driving a car have to be limited to the same speed as an 18-wheeler? That doesn’t even make sense. And they use safety as an excuse to try and make people feel guilty if they don’t support it. Why then am I 66% more likely to die on the American interstate for a given mileage driven than the Autobahn, with trucks and all, over half of which has no speed limit (stats from IRTAD). The answer is our traffic flow system is a mess!!
Somebody please get rid of these dinosaurs and bring in some people who will try to work with reality and make our roads fast and safe and optimize traffic flow, moving us forward. Sorry to break it to everyone but gas prices will never be $1.00 a gallon again so people can drive 10mpg gas guzzler super duties without consequence, no matter what ridiculous speed limits are set. Also, don’t forget the wonderful field day of speeding tickets (shored up by new technologies such as speed cameras) and jacked up insurance rates that will take money out of the hands of the consumer and put it in bureaucracies and large corporations which will reduce spending and also only hurt the economy.
Grave’s still a self serving Republican. It’s why he lost.
Perhaps KFG and GMC are ’sharing’. : )
Looks like Richard Nixon was way ahead of his time back in his presidential term when he ordered a maxium speed limit of 55 miles per hour on all our roads and highways.
Also remember before Nixon’s presidency, in summer of 1955, my construction crew drove from Meade, Kansas, to Pratt on a Friday afternoon after work. We traveled on Highway 54 in a new 1955 Oldsmobile … 100 miles in one hour. Legal in those days because the Kansas speed limit was “safe and prudent.”
Looking back we weren’t really driving safely and also we weren’t helping the environment … as we passed through Greensburg in a flash as though being chased by a tornado.
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