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Deja Vu- 70's- 80's

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Anonymous

Guest
The politicians scream bloody murder when someone suggest regulating big business or their corporate elitist buddies-- but don't seem to hesitate a bit when its passing rules and regulations for the "common folk".... :roll: :(

National speed limit pushed as gas saver

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.

As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide, with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

"Given the significant increase in the number of vehicles on America's highway system from 1974 to 2008, one could assume that the amount of fuel that could be conserved today is far greater," Warner wrote Bodman.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/03/warner.speed.limit.ap/index.html
 
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Anonymous

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55 mph is So 70s: Voters Oppose Lowering National Speed Limit

Monday, July 07, 2008
A proposal to conserve energy by reducing the nationwide speed limit to 55 miles-per-hour is strongly opposed by the nation’s voters. Voters continue to prefer solutions that lead to finding more energy rather than relying upon conservation efforts. Majorities support both drilling for oil in both offshore wells and in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 59% of voters oppose the lower speed limit and 34% support it. Democrats are fairly evenly divided on the proposal with 43% in favor and 49% opposed. Republicans oppose the lower speed limit by a two-to-one margin and unaffiliated voters oppose it by a three-to-one margin.

Men oppose the lower speed limit by a 69% to 25% margin. Women are more evenly divided—50% oppose the lower limit but 42% are in favor. Age differences are even more dramatic. Among the youngest voters, those under 30, opposition to the lower speed limit is at 76%. Just 17% of the under-30s like the idea of a lower speed limit. Among those in the 50-64 age bracket, 54% are opposed and 41% are supportive. However, among senior citizens, 50% would like to see the lower speed limit and 40% are opposed. Those fifty and over were driving during the first Arab oil embargo and have memories of the first time a national speed limit was imposed.

Just 26% of voters believe that slower driving will lead to lower gas prices. Sixty-one percent (61%) say it will not.

While rejecting the nationwide speed limit, voters continue to support offshore oil drilling. The July 6 survey found that 59% support offshore drilling, a figure that is unchanged from our previous survey.

By a 60% to 31% margin, voters also support drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Republicans favor ANWR drilling by an 85% to 10% margin and Alaska’s Republican Governor Sarah Palin has written to the United States Senate demanding that such drilling be allowed. However, Republican Presidential nominee John McCain is part of the 10% minority in his party opposed to ANWR drilling.

Democrats are evenly divided on ANWR drilling—46% are opposed while 41% are in favor. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 61% favor drilling in the Wildlife Refuge while 29% are opposed.
 
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