Grab and Keel

Those of you who are old enough have been through this before. I say to you it’s time again. We must do it!

If we want to immediately slow climate change, if we want to reduce cost, if we want to know how we can impact the War on Terror (ism) if we want more control over our economy, we must do it! In my daily life, I see some that have already personally made this commitment. I acknowledge and applaud those efforts! However, we now need a national approach!

WE NEED A NATIONAL MANDATE TO REDUCE DRIVING SPEED!

Representative Jackie Speier (CA, D) introduced a speed limit law as her first sponsored bill, upon her arrival to Congress this year.

HR 6458

Establishing a National 60 mph Speed Limit

 July 30, 2008        

The skyrocketing price of gasoline is the number one issue facing the American public today. That is why I introduced HR 6458, the “Gasoline Savings and Speed Limit Reduction Act” which sets a national 60 miles per hour speed limit in urban areas and 65 mph elsewhere.

In the 1970s, the implementation of a national speed limit resulted in a 2-3% reduction in fuel consumption and saved American drivers $2 billion a year in fuel costs. At today’s oil prices, a 2 percent drop in fuel consumption would net $28 billion in savings to American drivers. An added benefit is the estimated 2,000-4,000 lives per year saved while the old law was in effect.

There is a direct and undeniable correlation between speed and fuel efficiency. The Environmental Protection Agency website (http://www.fueleconomy.gov) says: “While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at different speeds… gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds over 60 mph. You can assume that each 5mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional 30 cents per gallon for gas.”

Businesses concerned about their bottom lines have already recognized this. Companies such as Staples, with fleets of large trucks, have voluntarily adopted a company-wide speed limit of 60 mph. The United States Postal service is redrawing routes for its trucks so they make fewer left turns, since idling at traffic signals is another big gas-waster. Asking Americans to reduce their speed by just five miles an hour is an easy, painless and patriotic way of not only saving money for themselves, but reducing our county’s reliance on foreign oil, limiting our addiction to fossil fuels and cutting back on noxious fumes and dangerous greenhouse gases that lead to global warming.

HR 6458 has received backing from a wide array of organizations, including the American Trucking Associations, the Union of Concerned Scientists and Friends of the Earth.

Since the oil companies are unlikely to lower gas prices themselves, it is time for Congress and the American people to take matters into our own hands. We can all pay less at the pump by simply easing up on the accelerator and reducing their consumption of gasoline.

http://speier.house.gov/apps/list/speech/ca12_speier/issue_hr6458.shtml

Shortly thereafter, Senator John Warner (VA, R) promulgated the idea.

[…Warner hasn’t specified what a new limit should be, but he points out that Americans saved 167,000 barrels of petroleum a day when the 55-mph speed limit was in effect. He told fellow senators last week that he’ll probably proceed with legislation after the Energy Department determines the most fuel-efficient speed limit for highways….]

http://www.startribune.com/nation/24782224.html

We know that we do not like being victims! We want more control; the World wants control over oil. Yet we give up our power, rather than taking even simple steps. The fluctuating price of oil is not natural and not market driven. The relationship is political and speculative.

We ask repeatedly what sacrifices we must make to help end the War on Terror(ism). We are ignored. Yet surely this very mildest form of rationing is helpful. Why have we not been asked?

To have more oil is to have more control. Why do we not increase, rather than decrease the Strategic Reserve?  And eventually, with more power to control, will not prices moderate, as they already are with reduced demand?

This is the right idea! the time is now! Write Speier, Warner, your representative, senator, and everyone else! This could be passed in the Lame Duck Congress. The bills are in place and have been proposed by both parties. We could do this before the election!!!

Find a US Senator HERE!  Find a US Representative HERE!

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