Gas prices...

[MoonshineR DavE]

What gripes my ass is the apparent....no.....OBVIOUS manipulation of fuel prices.
There was a time when diesel was the least expensive fuel, which made sense, as it was probably the least refined.
Now, it is usually the most expensive, except when a holiday comes around and Joe Public and family will be out on the road in their SUV and gasoline prices soar.
Watch the price of premium unleaded and diesel fuel.
A commodity you say? Normally I would agree, but our society is too dependent on oil to allow such profiteering.
It becomes more than greed and borders on unpatriotic.
No, because of our infrastructure's reliance on oil, it becomes more than a commodity and it is no different than charging someone $100 for a sheet of plywood to protect their home from a hurricane.
And the oil companies have been making record-breaking profits for the last several years. The most profitable of all companies, breaking the profit records they set the year before.
No, I really don't want to hear about the cost of oil or the cost of exploration or the cost of refining. Not when an oil company makes a record-breaking profit of $25bb, only to break the record a year later by making a profit of $40bb!!! And they accomplish this by nearly doubling the price of fuel, not to mention the price we pay during a time of war in the Middle East.

REVEREND!!!

[Dane]

Hmm.. running on grease. Not bad. Pleasant smell from what I've heard.

The smell is there but not to strong. Either french fry or egg-roll depending on the fuel of the day. I've always been a bit suspicious of this idea but riding in a F250 at 80 miles and seeing it still running after a 3000 mile road trip is pretty convincing.

James

Hmm.....I don't mean to condemn, as I drive too fast in a car that is not the most fuel efficient available, but doesn't driving 80 mph in one of the largest passenger vehicles available kind of defeat the purpose of going bio!!!
And it really stuck out in this conversation!

And MoonShinerDave, I appreciate the comment (REVEREND!!!), but I apologize for getting on the soapbox - it was probably too political a viewpoint to share here.

I am glad to see the direction the discussion has taken - while you can argue.... hell, while you SHOULD argue the merits of the various alternative means of transportation, the fact that the discussion is taking place is a move in the right direction.

To truly have the impact necessary however, will require not only a technological answer, but also a social one.
With over 50 thousand members, plus the other relationships we all have with similarly minded groups, perhaps we can be a small part in getting the ball rolling.

But part of the answer, probably the biggest part, is political.
The internal combustion engine is not the only thing that needs fixed - there is also a social machine that needs some work!

[Teresa]

Dane,
We don't have 50,000 members. That's 50,000+ members over 66 years of existence.

I don't have access to the official website, but we're probably at about 12,000-13,000 members.

Everyone gets a unique ID, remember.

[Dane]

That's disturbing
I knew the total (which should be around 60k now) included those who may now longer be with us, I estimated the attrition at 20%, not 80%!!!!
As usual, I'm all back-asswards!!!

Still, I bet we're as smart as 50,000 non-cavers!!!!

But as a social/political force, well, that's not much of a force!