peak

when it costs over $30 to fill the tank of your compact car, you know something’s wrong.

there’s been a lot of hoopla over the past few months (at least in the blogging world) about peak oil – the theory that worldwide oil production has reached its zenith, and will begin a steady decline in the years to come. the theory correctly predicted the dropoff in production by the us in the 70’s (and the corresponding shortage), not to mention the high fuel prices of today.

so with gas prices inching closer to $3/gallon, it’s no surprise that suv owners are trading in their hummers for something that doesn’t cost them $75 to fill up every week. sales for suvs are stagnant, even with automakers trying their hardest to move them off the lot, and presidential pardons for wasting gas. apparently people have been gladly paying the premium up front for gas savings that they aren’t likely to see within the car’s 8-year warranty.

the hype over hybrids has become so intense that california has been allowing them into the highway carpool lane. they don’t seem to realize that the advantage to driving a hybrid comes in stop-and-go driving. on the highway, a prius gets slightly better mileage than a honda civic, if you’re lucky.