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<p>[Group</a> Asks for Divine Intervention to Ease Oil Prices – 07/03/2008](<a href=“http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200807/NAT20080703a.html]Group”>http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200807/NAT20080703a.html)</p>
<p>Is there a god of oil?
“Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam.”</p>
<p>I LOLed at the op. But who am I to judge. I say a little prayer to my long gone ancestors every time I buy a lottery ticket. :)</p>
<p>Ah, but lottery is a game of chance.</p>
<p>I wondered whether there was not something a tiny bit blasphemous in praying and sending a petition to the Saudi oil minister.</p>
<p>Ah, but in this context the Saudi oil minister may be more powerful than God!</p>
<p>^^And herein is blasphemy:) How can one be more powerful than an omnipotent God?</p>
<p>Oh, Lord, please bless this House of Saud. May Your blessings be fruitful unto them, and may they result in riches and blessing for them and their children unto the 50th generation. May their land be blessed with fruit and honey, and their building reflect Thy Great Glory. May their wells be full, and their pumps strong, and may their bounty be allowed to trickle down unto us, O Lord, in Jesus name, and Allah’s too, Amen.</p>
<p>Why not pray to change water into oil? There’s more precedent for that.</p>
<p>mini - here’s your handbasket. I’m gripping mine tightly.</p>
<p>Why not send letters to our representatives asking why they haven’t done more to get us less reliant on Saudi oil? The technology for much more fuel efficient cars is available, and how about doing more with alternative energy? I don’t understand what we’re waiting for.</p>
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<p>Sure – buy a Ford Focus instead of a Camry. Light + small engine = better economy. Eliminate air conditioning, automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes, side-guard beams, air bags, 5 MPH bumpers, sound insulation, and padded headliners. All of these changes can cut hundreds of pounds from the average car. Use a 50hp direct-injection diesel instead of a 150hp gasoline engine. Drive 40 MPH everywhere you go (this is different from setting a stupidly low speed limit which everyone ignores - this means actually driving slowly). Bring back the Honda 600. Have a target weight of 1200 pounds for 4-passenger vehicles. </p>
<p>The problem is not that the auto companies don’t know how to make cheap, efficient cars. The problem is that Americans value safety, performance and comfort over economy. TANSTAAFL.</p>
<p>Unless you were talking about 200MPG carburetors and questionably useful technologies like hybrid power plants. Then I have nothing to add.</p>
<p>My new “pre-owned” 95 Saturn with a tiger on the side window gets 36 mph highway, and that’s the automatic. </p>
<p>I pray to it, too. (but don’t depend on trickle down.) ;)</p>
<p>"Why not send letters to our representatives asking why they haven’t done more to get us less reliant on Saudi oil? "</p>
<p>We live in a free market, enterprise system, with a Republican President and a free market Congress since BC of 1992. We actually are more reliant on Canadian and Mexican Oil.
[Interactive</a> Map: Where Is Our Oil Coming From?](<a href=“http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/oil_imports.html]Interactive”>Issues - Center for American Progress)</p>
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<p>Acutally current standards are 2 1/2 mph straight on and 1 1/2 mph on the corners. Which is why it’s $1200 when you lightly tap someone in a parking lot…
I do agree with a lot of what you said, though. Our 1976 Corolla got 32 mpg and was under $4000 brand new. At the time we thought it was great…no AC, manual transmission, no airbags, crank down windows. </p>
<p>Wonder why they didn’t just pray that someone will seriously investigate the commodities markets. Much more likely to make a long-term difference.</p>
<p>Dragonmom, the standard is 2.5 MPH, but some manufacturers still build to the older 5 MPH standard. In any event, either adds weight. </p>
<p>I love lightweight vehicles. My first car was a Suzuki Jiminy (look that up in the history books!) which weighed less than 1,200 pounds. My personal favorite car was a '68 BMW (back before they were cool) that weighed about 2,200 pounds. WashMom’s car weighs a little under 2,500, and still gets around 32 highway MPG, even with its 165 HP, high-RPM engine. If you are engineering something that needs to move, the correct answer is nearly always to make it as light as possible.</p>