The first from the Oregonian about RV usage being down. Apparently it will affect their tourist industry. I'm surprised that any RVs get 10mpg - as big as they are. Most appear to not have considered any sort of streamlining or gas mileage. And why so big?- as if people have to take their whole house with them. I think it's nuts. It would be good if manufacturers made something more reasonable and people didn't drive them from coast to coast twice a year.
High gas prices crimp RV lifestyle
When Hubert and Barbara Walsh retired seven years ago, their first RV trips from Florida to Oregon cost $390 one way. Last month, it cost $1,180.
The Walshes have made the RV journey from their home in Tallahassee, Fla., to Hubert's mother's place in Tigard at least twice a year since they retired in 2001.
Now, the couple say they may have to cut back their visits to once a year or come up with a different mode of travel.
"With the cost of fuel being what it is, I can buy plane tickets round trip for less than it costs to come one way," said Hubert, 62, a retired accountant and former financial manager for the Department of the Army. "It's very disappointing, because this is the lifestyle we love, and we'd planned to live it throughout our retirement."
Evidence of the RV industry's slide is everywhere -- from recent bankruptcies of two RV builders in California and Washington to the sparsely filled RV campgrounds along the Oregon coast over Memorial Day weekend. RV dealerships across the state are dealing with a glut of unsold units. For 2008, the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association predicts that -- because of higher gas prices, a slowing economy and the credit crunch -- sales will decline to 305,000, a 30 percent drop from 2006.
Unstoppable gasoline prices have not only put off many would-be buyers, they also have braked many who already own or forced them to take some detours in their habits.
Most full-size motor homes get 6 to 12 miles a gallon, though smaller ones can get 15 to 18 mpg. In a vehicle like the Walshes', which gets 10 mpg, a 500-mile trip at $4.15 a gallon for regular -- a price seen on some pumps in Oregon in the past week -- would cost $207.
From "GreenYahoo"
EcoGeeks get all the girls
According to a study conducted by GM as part of this year's Challenge X competition:
Nearly 9 in 10 women (88 percent) say they'd rather chat up someone who owns the latest fuel-efficient car versus the latest sports car.
Eighty percent of American car buyers would find someone with the latest fuel-efficient car more interesting to talk to at a party than someone with the latest sports car.
More than 4 out of 10 (45 percent) 18- to 43-year-olds say it's a fashion faux pas nowadays to have a car that's not green or environmentally friendly.
GM's Challenge X is a yearly competition among college students to make GM vehicles more efficient. This year's competition had students from 17 universities "re-engineering" Chevy's Equinox to make it more efficient and reduce its greenhouse impact, while retaining consumer appeal.
Meanwhile over at energybulletin.net - the cost of gas is quite a bit more serious for some people....
In Europe, where a decades-old policy of heavily taxing oil products has resulted in gasoline and diesel retailing for $8 to $11 dollars a gallon, protests, blockades, and strikes by fishermen, farmers and truck drivers broke out across the continent last week. The protesters say fuel prices are so high they can no longer make a living and demand that the many-dollars-per-gallon fuel taxes be cut. So far France’s President has proposed cutting the EC-wide 20 percent value added tax and Britain’s Prime Minister has urged the oil companies to produce more oil. Neither of these proposals was met with much enthusiasm.
In Asia, where most consumers have been shielded by subsidies and state-mandated retail price caps, the cost has become overwhelming. Imported oil has gotten so high that national budgets are being eviscerated or local oil companies are going broke. Last week several countries, after much debate and soul searching, moved to increase retail prices. Governments fear that price increases for petroleum products would invoke such hardships on their peoples that widespread social disorder would ensue.
Indonesia, Taiwan, and Sri Lanka have already raised prices and India is expected to follow soon. The Chinese, faced with high rates of inflation, are expected to withhold any decision until after the election. Fuel shortages are appearing in China, India, Pakistan, and many other countries as national oil companies are no longer able to absorb the cost of crude.
In the US indications of reduced gasoline consumption are starting to appear with reports from the Federal Highway Administration that vehicle miles in March were down 4.3 percent over 2007 and from MasterCard that gasoline sales just before Memorial Day were down by 7.6 percent. The EIA however is still reporting only a minor drop in gasoline consumption. In the next month or so we should have a better indication of how much of an impact $4 gasoline is having on American driving habits.
....The EIA also reported last week that US crude imports during the first 143 days of 2008 were down by 2.9 percent over 2007 and that petroleum product imports were down by 19.6 percent. The US’s top suppliers in March were Canada (1.7 million b/d), Saudi Arabia (1.5 million b/d), Mexico (1.2 million b/d), Nigeria (1.1 million b/d), Venezuela (0.8 million b/d), and Iraq (0.8 million b/d). As exports to the US from Mexico, Venezuela and probably from Nigeria drop, increased imports from Iraq and Saudi Arabia are picking up part of the slack.
Some schools and businesses are considering going to a 4-day week to reduce fuel costs.
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