The Tire-Gauge Solution: No Joke

How out of touch is Barack Obama? He's so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their tires properly and took their cars for regular tune-ups, they could save as much oil as new offshore drilling would produce. Gleeful Republicans have made this their daily talking point, Rush Limbaugh is having a field day, and the Republican National Committee is sending tire gauges labeled "Barack Obama's Energy Plan" to Washington reporters.

But who's really out of touch? The Bush administration estimates that expanded offshore drilling could increase oil production by 200,000 barrels per day by 2030. We use about 20 million barrels per day, so that would meet about 1% of our demand two decades from now. Meanwhile, efficiency experts say that keeping tires inflated can improve gas mileage by 3%, and regular maintenance can add another 4%. Many drivers already follow their advice, but if everyone else did, we could reduce demand several percentage points immediately. In other words: Obama is right.

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Guess those tire gauge gifts to the reporters might just of done Obama a favor....

I think both candidates should be focused on reducing our oil dependence. I'm curious to hear McCain's energy plan that he's revealing tomorrow.

reply to post by kaffemoka


Interesting article. I'm not an American, so the media spectacle pf the presidential campaign is pretty far down my list of news priorities...

but I've got to wonder: just how out of touch are the people who are shouting down this simple solution (and sound piece of advice)?

Will it now become a statement of political support to drive around with half-inflated tyres and a glowing "check engine" light?

reply to post by kaffemoka


Thanks kaffemoka. When Obama first said this and people were saying how stupid he was for saying it, I posted that it was true, with sources and numbers but people don't want to believe it, I guess.

vox, I believe the reason people are shouting down this simple solution is that they have a vision that drilling in the US will double our oil! Or even add a significant amount. They're thinking if we use a gallon, then drilling will give us a gallon and a quarter! When the reality of it is that drilling will give us a gallon and a drop.

Obama's tire inflation idea is legitimate, but his claim that it will abrogate drilling is ridiculous. He has proven he really has no understanding of the fuel crisis we are facing.

I do not believe he is White House material. The oil issue is one of the biggest problems we are dealing with now. The fact that he so uneducated about a key issue while running for the position of leader of the free world is frightening.

OMG - yes, let's air up our tires more and get more tune-ups. This will make up for the inflated Gas price of nearly 2.50 per Gallon!

While were at it, let's make sure to replace our Oxygen filter for 10% in increased Gas mileage and make sure there is nothing in the trunc to weigh the vehicle down!!

Don't forget to accelerate down-hill so that you can coast up-hill.

Drive slower. Going every 10 mph over 55 mph increases Gas usage by 20c per Gallon.

Yeah!! It's saving me money. I can go out and get an extra few beers because of it.



[edit on 4-8-2008 by jetxnet]

It's sound advice. It's true that properly inflated tires and tune ups will save gas.

But the "Shell answer man" (remember that guy?), and others have been saying this for decades. Some people already do it..Others take it to the extreme.
the Overinflators are called hypermilers.

So with some people doing it, and some people overdoing it..How many does that leave? Some people won't because they forget, don't care, or are just too lazy. Do we start writing tickets for under-inflation?

I submit that we do both.
Drill and Fill!!!!





[edit on 4-8-2008 by spacedoubt]

Originally posted by jetxnet
OMG - yes, let's air up our tires more and get more tune-ups. This will make up for the inflated Gas price of nearly 2.50 per Gallon!

While were at it, let's make sure to replace our Oxygen filter for 10% in increased Gas mileage and make sure there is nothing in the trunc to weigh the vehicle down!!

Don't forget to accelerate down-hill so that you can coast up-hill.

Drive slower. Going every 10 mph over 55 mph increases Gas usage by 20c per Gallon.

Yeah!! It's saving me money. I can go out and get an extra few beers because of it.



[edit on 4-8-2008 by jetxnet]

Most of these suggestions can help people save money and need less gas. I guess it comes down to how much personal responsibility people are willing to take.

Fortunately, Obama's energy plan doesn't start or end with properly inflated tires. He has several ideas for reducing our fuel consumption and dependence on foreign oil, as well as focusing on innovation and alternative solutions to drilling for oil. You should take a look at the plan, it's got a lot of good info. McCain will release his tomorrow and I look forward to comparing the two.

Originally posted by spacedoubt
It's sound advice. It's true that properly inflated tires and tune ups will save gas.

But the "Shell answer man" (remember that guy?), and others have been saying this for decades. Some people already do it..Others take it to the extreme.
the Overinflators are called hypermilers.

So with some people doing it, and some people overdoing it..How many does that leave? Some people won't because they forget, don't care, or are just too lazy. Do we start writing tickets for under-inflation?

I submit that we do both.
Drill and Fill!!!!

[edit on 4-8-2008 by spacedoubt]

I've always thought that it would be smart to put a tire pressure gauge in the car, on the dashboard. With an indicator light that would let you know that pressure was low, or too high. It would be great if it could tell you that you have a leak, nail, etc too....anything that could lead to a blowout or flat. And no, I wouldn't expect it to tell me what it was, just a general "danger alert". I can't imagine this would be too hard to do...

reply to post by kaffemoka


Those are starting to be included in vehicles now.
My wife's car (Nissan Versa 36MPG) has one.. It's a little symbol of the cross section of a tire. One day the light came on..And we can't make it go off!
I think there is a problem with that particular model..
But, it's a good idea..

I think a Mileage calculator would provide good feedback too.
I remember driving a car that had one. and it was nice to get the feedback about how I was doing. Seeing how the number changes as you go up a hill, or sit at a light.

I get 40puls to the gallon. When my g/f drives my car she gets between 25-27. So it also helps to drive slower.

When you are coming towards a stop sign take your foot off the gas. No point in racing to it just to slam on the brakes. This will help with fuel, brakes, and the overall quality of the engine.

On the highway? Follow a semi. I don't mean tailgate that is dangerous. But even at 100ft you are getting a benefit from the draft. Also cruise control is an amazing little device.

Take any junk out. Anything that weighs your car down should be removed. Yes its just a plastic cup, piece of paper, but 50 cups and 100 pieces of paper adds up. Also LOSE WEIGHT! If you lose ten pounds you look and feel better and save gas.

Roll your windows down when going under 50. Also, watch your odometer. My best speed is between 40-45mph. Yours will be different depending on the amount of gears and so forth. But the trick is highest gear lowest rpm. Again for my little fourbanger its between 40-45.

Plan your trips to turn right. Why? How many seconds do you sit at the left turn signal? Or waiting for traffic to move through so you can turn left? UPS has saved 3 MILLION gallons by making plans to turn right only or as often as possible.

As for his advice, it's true.

Off shore drilling will produce 200,000 barrels of oil a day starting in about 15-20 years.

Proper tire and tune ups will save about 800,000 barrels a day, starting today. If everyone did it of course.

Originally posted by Krieger

Proper tire and tune ups will save about 800,000 barrels a day, starting today. If everyone did it of course.

The thing is.... not everyone will do it. We are a LAZY country. We love excess.

Even Schwarzzeneger was caught flying back and forth in his jet multiple times a week just because he wanted his family to live a little outside of the city.

How much gas are our politicians wasting? They do fly back and forth to Washington multiple times a week.

Didn't Obama just get back from an overseas voyage? How did he get there? Swim?

If he didn't swim, the he wasted gas PERIOD.
Plus, I want a candidate that is focused on OUR needs, not some foreign country. We need to get our affairs in order first.

I hate these politicians who want to impose limits on us for gas use, won't follow the limits themselves, and then won't drill for oil!!

Yes, fixing tire pressure will help gas costs. But, so would drilling. We need to drill now to help with the crisis.

Even if we lower our use by tire inflation... haha this is such an idiotic democratic solution... But even if it works, global demand is increasing a million barrels a day.

So, while we decide not to drill and pump our tires up, the other nations use more and we still are screwed.

I don't see how tire inflation is an excuse for not drilling. Drilling does not damage the environment. Katrina didn't even damage the offshore platforms!

Drill Here
Drill Now
Drill you bastards!

Or give us a clean alternative that works
Without a working clean alternative DRILL.

I understand how you don't want to drill because there will be better alternatives, but we don't have them yet.

And the only thing rationing will accomplish, is damage to our country. No other country will ration if we do, so we will just be punishing ourselves. It is like environmental sanctions with greenhouse gases. Most countries won't follow them, and so our sacrifice is for naught. It just puts us behind the benchmark.

I get so freaking pissed at absurd "fixes" like this.
This is the freaking pinnacle of Democratic Philosophy. It is like the Tax rebate checks (Hey we are in debt, lets borrow money from China and give it away!!) .... wait.... now we're in more debt? How does that work?

I just want to take a baseball bat and knock some sense into some of these "Holier than Thou Democrats"! Obama is one of them! Every single one of Obama's financial plans sounds like Communist Socialism. It is as if the Democrats have no faith in the common people, as if we can't take care of ourselves. We need big brother government to hold our hand while we cross the street!

Didn't Pelosi promise to fix our budget if they elected her? Did I miss this fix? Or are we just in the middle of a "Democratic Fix", which requires our whole economy to crash and then be fixed?

Thank God Obama is dropping in the polls. Now, all he has to do is keep talking, and he'll be sure to lose this one!

reply to post by ThreeDeuce


But drilling NOW won't fix anything. Drilling NOW won't fix anything until 2030. By then, if we go with Obama's advice, we would have saved over 20billion barrels of oil.

So, just because a solution will take some TIME, we shouldn't do it...

I never understood this theory from the democrats, its plain stupid.
If drilling is going to take longer to be effective, we need to do it SOONER, not later.

Sorry Mom, but, since cleaning my room won't have an effect until next year, I'm going to not do it.....

So, basically the Democrats are hesitant to do anything that takes time, or just hesitant to do things that would be beneficial to the country?

Krieger, your normal line of political mumbo jumbo doesn't fly here.

Let me brush off my math.
If we drill thats 200,000 barrels of oil (which I don't believe because we have huge deposits offshore and in ANWAR, so I think 200k is a huge underestimation). But thats still 200,000

And if we increase our tire pressure thats 800,000.

Can someone help me with the math?
If we drill (200,000) and inflate our tires (800,000) then isn't that better than JUST inflating our tires?

Again, I don't see how Demo-math adds up on this situation. But, I see 1 million as more than 800,000. Why are politicians constantly selling our country short?

We are the number one country, and our Political system is killing ourselves.

We need to make coal to oil plants, and work to get shale oil, and work on technology for renewable resource. We can't just choose one and hope.

We need to have a free market in which we will find the most efficient liquid fuel. If we wait for Congress, we will get another Ethanol, and we know how that will work out.

Hey, if we let Congress start another Ethanol, maybe we can starve all of the world, and not just some of the third world countries by burning our fuel for oil.

Dang, I should get debate points for this stuff...........
Are there any Democrats who can back up why NOT to drill?
Environmental Hazard - Nope
Oil will kill people - Nope
Oil has AIDS? - Nope
We'd rather let another country be number one - Maybe

Oh wait... I remember... Obama said that expensive gasoline would be good for the country. I think he said that he wanted it somewhere around 7 or 8 dollars a barrel. Funny how quotes of his come back to bite his Curious George looking self in the butt....

Obama the Prestigiator, I'll distract you from Oil, while juggling the tire pressure ball.... look at the bright shiny ball.

Seriously, these politicians are attacking our intelligence. They think we are idiots, and they think they can get away with anything they want. Common Sense Will and Must Prevail.

reply to post by ThreeDeuce


Um, have you read anything?

OBAMA'S PLAN= 800,000 BARRELS SAVED A DAY STARTING NOW!
MCBUSH'S PLAN= 200,000 BARRELS 20 YEARS FROM NOW!

So, who's plan is better?

Also, Obama supports drilling off shore and in Alaska. On the lands the oil companies have been leasing for decades and refuse to drill on even though there is a conservative estimated 100BILLION barrels, or at todays price 11.9 TRILLION DOLLARS worth of oil sitting under those lands.

Originally posted by Krieger
reply to post by ThreeDeuce

 

Um, have you read anything?

OBAMA'S PLAN= 800,000 BARRELS SAVED A DAY STARTING NOW!
MCBUSH'S PLAN= 200,000 BARRELS 20 YEARS FROM NOW!

Krieger, your ignorant reply makes me question if you even read part of my posts before you decided to hit the "reply" button.

Obviously I stated earlier that I knew the 800k and 200k numbers. I also said that we should do BOTH, because 1 million is more than 800k. I don't understand the liberal view of chosing one over the other, and not doing both. What kind of logic is this?

Its as if there is 8 dollars on the table, and 2 dollars on the table. The guy says you can take all the money that you want, but democrats choose just to take the 8 dollars. Why not take the whole 10? Is that greedy? Aren't we the number one country in the world? If we are, we need to show it with our energy.

Also, Obama supports drilling off shore and in Alaska

Are you talking about recently when he decided to support drilling, or before when he was against it? I'm curious because Obama keeps changing his mind and flip flopping.

I also have heard both sides on the debate about current oil leases. I don't believe that there is a ton of oil already leased. Yes there are some leases with small amounts of oil on it, but I just don't think they are cost efficient to drain. I have some faith in the oil companies, I think they would drill if the oil was there, because it would make them money. The "conservative estimated 100 Billion barrels" is a blanket estimate. They took the total amount of land and assumed that there was oil under all of it, just because the oil companies have leased it.

Well, oil companies lease some land in speculation. Sometimes the oil is not there, or is contaminated, or many other factors that inhibit drilling in that area. There are larger deposits of oil elsewhere, larger and more efficient. We need to open up all avenues to get this problem fixed, not just choose one.

And plus, the Congress has had a rather bad track record recently for making choices on energy. It is as if they have detracted themselves from logical thinking and are off holding sessions in some Dr. Seuss story.

The only financial plan that I have read from Obama, was the first one that he put out. That plan got deleted from the internet pretty quickly, because it highlighted his social agenda too much. It was quite an insane financial plan. I still have a paper copy to show people. They are quite amazed at the level of control he wants over everyone's lives......


Say "Socalism"

Originally posted by Anonymous ATS
Obama's tire inflation idea is legitimate, but his claim that it will abrogate drilling is ridiculous. He has proven he really has no understanding of the fuel crisis we are facing.

Oh really? If the numbers are correct (and I have no reason to think they are not), he's illustrating the point that the whole debate about off-shore drilling is somewhat of a sham and a talking point rather than a real solution. Don't you get it? Drilling is probably good, just in case, but it doesn't get us out of the hole. And that's what Obama is saying.

The fact that he so uneducated about a key issue while running for the position of leader of the free world is frightening.

You can't be further from truth in this assessment -- like I said, he demonstrated that he understands the numbers and the importance of ALTERNATIVE energy, where the oil money should really be directed, as opposed to coffers of Big Oil.

The tire inflation idea is good, it's just that Obama mentioned it and everyone was nodding sagely, saying, "What a mind, what a mind!"

Folks, this idea has been around for years. Obama isn't Mr Goodwrench.

Originally posted by buddhasystem
He's illustrating the point that the whole debate about off-shore drilling is somewhat of a sham and a talking point rather than a real solution. Don't you get it? Drilling is probably good, just in case, but it doesn't get us out of the hole. And that's what Obama is saying.

The importance of ALTERNATIVE energy, where the oil money should really be directed, as opposed to coffers of Big Oil.

I agree with you... partly. Yes, I don't think that drilling will solve all of our problems overnight. But, it is the only solution that we have TODAY.

Yes, alternative energy will be the future, but we don't have an efficient one to switch to, which is why we need drilling.

I don't understand the logic, that if we start drilling more, that we can't pursue alternatives. Of course we can do both, we are America. Wake Up.
We can choose door number 2 and door number 3.

I completely don't agree that oil money should be put twoards Alternative Energry. Yes, some money needs to be spent to figure out the best alternative, and to make it work. But, until we find one, we need oil. Otherwise, we're stuck with another Ethanol, and higher gas prices.

Remember Ethanol was Democrats brainchild... and how did that work out?

I also don't understand why all the Congressmen are against Big Oil. I'm sure if we got to look at their investment portfolios, specifically their 401k, you would see they have loads vested in oil. Most people do. This country owes alot to oil, and most of us have made money because of it. If you own a diversified Mutual fund, then you probably have oil in there. If you don't you have been missing out on alot of money! Because everyone knows oil is just going to go up in demand.

1) we need to drill
2) we need an alternative
3) we can't let Congress decide our next alternative
4) we need to drill

Edit: I would also like to point out, that earlier in the post someone suggested that we fine people who don't fill their tires. This is an example of the pure socialism that Obama is pushing. So, now we want to FINE people for WASTING money? If that is the case, we should be assessing fines to Congress year round. Wasting money is the only thing that they do.

Remember, its my car. I have the right to ride on lower tires and waste gas if I want to. I don't want some kind of crazy police state.

[edit on 6-8-2008 by ThreeDeuce]

Originally posted by ThreeDeuce
Yes, alternative energy will be the future, but we don't have an efficient one to switch to, which is why we need drilling.

Again, if the numbers are right, drilling has no chance of solving the problem. What's your point?

I completely don't agree that oil money should be put twoards Alternative Energry. Yes, some money needs to be spent to figure out the best alternative, and to make it work. But, until we find one, we need oil.

I know. The thing is, the oil industry can't absorb this windfall amount of money on exploration and development. It's not my opinion, I read about it somewhere. Oil fields are almost all claimed, the off-shore is negligible.

3) we can't let Congress decide our next alternative

And what's the alternative? The oil industry is happy with the status quo because they get unheard-of profits (just check yourself). Some people get filthy rich and according to them devil may care.

If the govt sits on its hands, the economy is eventually going to run into the ground because gas will be $12 and it's be hard to truck fresh bread.

I don't want some kind of crazy police state.

Where is that coming from?

Again, if the numbers are right, drilling has no chance of solving the problem. What's your point?

How can drilling not have a chance of solving the problem. If we have more oil, that will help ... Period. Yes, drilling is not the final solution, but we don't have a better alternative. We can't stop drilling, yet. Hopefully, we will be able to in the future when we find a good alternative.

And what's the alternative? The oil industry is happy with the status quo because they get unheard-of profits (just check yourself).

The last profits I heard about was Exxon, which only had a 9% profit margin, which really isn't that much. Congressmen are making more than 9% profit margin.

I don't want some kind of crazy police state.

Where is that coming from?

That comes from the sentence beforehand, where I talk about someone saying that we should fine people for driving on low tires. That is the police state I was talking about. But, that would require the reading, comprehension and correct quoting of my previous post.

Just think if the police could stop you for "suspected uninflation" and then what, would they search your car, give you a ticket? license and registration? Assessing fines for underinflated tires is ludicrous, and its an option that only the wacko left would see as valid.