Look at this retro ad I came across on flickr.com this morning and let the headline register in your mind for a minute. That's right, this 35 year old ad features automobiles capable of reaching 39 MPG on the highway. Again, for clarification, that's 35 years ago and 39 miles per gallon.
I find it shocking and borderline nauseating that after 35 years the average MPG of most cars on the road today is about 22.4 (based on data from the Department of Transportation dated from 2009 - a mere 2.5 years ago).
While it's true that the Energy Act of 2007 calls for average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for cars (still 4 MPG under the average listed for these now antique automobiles), it is painfully clear that this is a situation born out of greed and rampant blind consumerism without impunity based on a naive belief by the auto driving populace of this country that the auto manufacturers know best when it comes to making their cars more fuel efficient and that they, and they alone, sit on the top of the pyramid when it comes to research. I can just see the auto manufacturing industry and the oil companies skipping down the road together giggling like flower girls at a wedding tossing dollar bills in the air like rose petals.
It is outrageous that in over 35 years the average MPG has dropped while the cost of gasoline has skyrocketed. Now is the time to seriously demand that our government insist through legislation that the auto manufacturing industry begin to seriously research and produce fuel efficient, hybrid, electric or other alternatively powered affordable and available automobiles. They can do this and they have been able to do this for years.
This shell game will only end when the public begins to become aware that it is unwinnable and that they will perpetually lose in the end. Become aware and become proactive.
I find it shocking and borderline nauseating that after 35 years the average MPG of most cars on the road today is about 22.4 (based on data from the Department of Transportation dated from 2009 - a mere 2.5 years ago).
While it's true that the Energy Act of 2007 calls for average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 for cars (still 4 MPG under the average listed for these now antique automobiles), it is painfully clear that this is a situation born out of greed and rampant blind consumerism without impunity based on a naive belief by the auto driving populace of this country that the auto manufacturers know best when it comes to making their cars more fuel efficient and that they, and they alone, sit on the top of the pyramid when it comes to research. I can just see the auto manufacturing industry and the oil companies skipping down the road together giggling like flower girls at a wedding tossing dollar bills in the air like rose petals.
It is outrageous that in over 35 years the average MPG has dropped while the cost of gasoline has skyrocketed. Now is the time to seriously demand that our government insist through legislation that the auto manufacturing industry begin to seriously research and produce fuel efficient, hybrid, electric or other alternatively powered affordable and available automobiles. They can do this and they have been able to do this for years.
This shell game will only end when the public begins to become aware that it is unwinnable and that they will perpetually lose in the end. Become aware and become proactive.
1 comment:
Believe it or not, cars are 35% more efficient today. All that efficiency went to building you heaver, bigger and more powerful cars. So instead of getting 55 MPG, you get to go from 0 - 60 in 5 seconds instead of 11 seconds... We DESERVE the $5/gal prices that are comming. But really, I think the price should be based on the weight of your vehicle.
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