Boondocks No. 5

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Pickup Truck Sales Decline 12% Over Last Year This Time. That's not all that much of a surprise with gas prices around $2.20 a gallon versus $3.00 a gallon, but it still shows that people are buying trucks.

Suburban Assault Vechicles have declined nearly 36% at the same time, reflecting probably the ease that many of their users can have to moving to more efficent cars.

The reality is that we all need more fuel efficent vechicles. Just telling people they shouldn't buy 4x4 trucks isn't going to fix the fuel economy problem. We can make every car and truck more efficent, regardless of it's a big pickup or a small hybrid. Toyota Prisus's use too much gas as do Chevy Silverados.

We can do it, we have the technology that would add minimal costs to cars and trucks and save a lot of gasoline when applied fleet wide. We just need government to push automakers in the right way. P'Link

Can Congress Give You a Free Ranger? Kind of Saddam's regieme, right? Well if car makers got maximum possible efficency from your current vechicle as projected by the Sierra Club, the gas saved over a 12-year lifetime of a 4x4 Ford Ranger driven exclusively in the city would pay for a new Ranger.

Their assumptions for increase in efficency are pretty step:

• 57% for small cars and small wagons
• 61% for compact and full-size pickup trucks
• 75% for midsize cars, midsize wagons, and large cars
• 78% for small SUVs
• 85% for minivans and large vans
• 98% for midsize and large SUVs

Not to mention most people don't drive their cars much less their pickup trucks exclusively on city streets despite the fact the converter only considers city MPG. They have buses and things in the city, not to mention you can walk or ride a bike.

Likewise, how many cars last 12 years? It would be nice if cars didn't make it to the shredder so fast and create lots of hazardous fluff loaded with mercury and cadium that has to be disposed at massive toxic landfills.

All cars need to get better gas milage. We can clearly make all cars get 10%-20% better gas milage with existing technology, from the most efficent Toyota Prisus (which the Sierra Club falsely claims has maximum efficency already) to the biggest Ford F-350 dualie.

Then again, I'm probably not being fair. I simply don't like John Stouffer the president of the state Sierra Club or his national cohoerts. P'Link

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Agri-Mark Stumbling. While there are many factors leading to mega-milk hauler and cooperative agri-mark's cutting prices to farmers the federal government is largely to blame.

One problem is energy prices, in part thanks to our great foreign policy. Another is low milk prices and the consolidation of both farms and cooperatives.

There was a time before Agri-Mark bought up all these smaller struggling cooperatives killed by more efficent big ones. Likewise, there was a time when smaller farms could at least struggle along. P'Link

APA and Ti's Lowes. As many of you know after years of fighting with the APA over building a Lowes next to Walmart in Ticonderoga, now it comes down to the silliness over a sign. Like many of the residents of the area, we have to wonder why.

The facts: The proposed Lowes is in the hamlet of Ticonderoga next to Walmart, in an area marked under the master plan for development. It would provide a low cost source of lumber and home improvement supplies and some-what marginal jobs for 200 people in that area.

It would not be under the regulation of the APA except it was partially on a small wetland and it was 13 feet higher then APA regs state. They got the variance to build this big box rubberstamped by the APA, but now they being held hostage to an absurd sign variance.

Political Realities: Pataki doesn't like Lowes because either it's going to compete with another hardware store or they've done something in the past to work against his interest. State agencies aren't inheritably evil unless somebody high up pushes them that way.

There is no reason for the APA to go out picking for a fight. Things like the variance should have been rubberstamped, now that the building has been approved. If your going to build a Lowes, you should be able to have reasonable signs for people to find it. This fight is really bad for the APA.

The good news is Pataki's rein is quickly coming to an end here, and hopefully the replacement people at the APA will have integretity and do the right thing quickly. P'Link