Senator John Warner of Virginia has asked the Energy Department to look into setting a national speed limit that would best optimize the nation’s gasoline use. A 55 mph limit could save 167,000 barrels of oil each day.
In 1974, Congress mandated a 55 mph speed limit in part to combat the Arab oil embargo, so [...]

McCain - 48%
Obama - 41%
This is down from a 10 point lead a month ago.
The details…

McCain leads by seventeen points among men but trails by two among women.
Obama has a huge lead among voters under 30 while McCain leads among those 30 and older.
McCain is supported by 85% of Republicans while Obama earns the [...]

What on earth possessed him to say this?
When was the last time you pumped your own gas and how much did it cost?
Oh, I don’t remember. Now there’s Secret Service protection. But I’ve done it for many, many years. I don’t recall and frankly, I don’t see how it matters.
I’ve had hundreds and hundreds of [...]

Some surprising data here, but what’s not surprising is that the economy is at the very top of the priority list. And that has to be good news for Obama since he has such a wide lead.
Energy, Gas Prices - extremely important to 51%
Obama - 47%
McCain - 28%
Economy - extremely important to 49%
Obama - 48%
McCain [...]

Maybe yet another reason why Obama would want to pick Webb? I’ll explain why after the excerpt.
From The Hill:
Webb wants his home state to have the right to explore for energy off Virginia’s coast. His staff insists his proposal pertains only to natural gas, and not oil, and that it is completely in line with [...]

A completely understandable position given the current price of gas, but I wonder if those being polled understand the reasons why we put limits on oil companies access in the first place.

And while this is a partisan issue, there’s definitely a lot more Democratic support than Republican opposition.

My gut tells me that the government will [...]

There’s more and more evidence that $4.00 a gallon gasoline is the magic number for getting Americans to cut back on fuel consumption.
In April, Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles than they drove in April of 2007.
And things are trending to even less driving with the drop in April being three times [...]

To put it mildly, without a dramatic reduction in fuel prices, airlines in America are screwed. They were struggling even before the rise in oil prices and it would hardly be a stretch to call the industry one of the most disliked in America. The only service left to airline passengers is low fares. If [...]

After some hemming and hawing on the matter, Saudi Arabia looks ready to increase oil production in an effort to reduce oil prices. According to reports, the Kingdom is concerned that high oil prices will eventually shrink global demand for oil.
Yes, heaven forbid we ever move on to a more sustainable energy source.
Of course, [...]

And this idea comes from no less than the Conservative government…
Canadians will be offered bicycles, public transit passes or cash if they agree to scrap their old gas-guzzling vehicles, the government said on Wednesday.
Ottawa says five million of the 18 million cars and trucks in Canada were made before 1996, when tougher emissions standards were [...]

Folks, $4 gas isn’t going away any time soon.
From the AP:
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices made their biggest single-day leap ever Friday—clearing $139, dragging the Dow Jones industrials down nearly 400 points and raising the once-unthinkable prospect of $150 oil and even higher gas prices by the Fourth of July.
The meteoric rise of nearly [...]

Gee, I wonder why…
CEO Rick Wagoner said Tuesday before the automaker’s annual meeting in Delaware the plants to be closed are in Oshawa, Ontario; Moraine, Ohio; Janesville, Wis.; and Toluca, Mexico. He also said the iconic Hummer brand will be reviewed and potentially sold or revamped.
Wagoner said the GM board has approved production of a [...]

T. Boone Pickens is a guy who has one of those names that sounds made up, but his fortune is very real. Now he’s diversifying his portfolio with green energy tech.
Here’s more from Contrarian Profits:
Crude oil soared as high as US$135 a barrel last week - more than double the price of a year ago. [...]

Thomas Friedman thinks the federal government should mandate $4.00 a gallon gas. Why? Because now that we’ve pretty much reached that price point, people are finally changing their habits, driving less and buying smaller cars. Friedman wants to make sure we don’t go back to our gas-guzzling ways.
For many years raising gas taxes to spur [...]

Feeling the pinch at the pump? Starting to rethink your extracurricular driving activities?
You’re not alone…
Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less — that’s 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT’s Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it “the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history.” Records have been [...]

In March 2007, I wrote about the Peak Oil theory and posted a pretty alarming video. And now that we’re seeing record gas prices, the whispers of peak oil are surfacing once again.
So, here’s the video that outlines the theory…

Then, here’s a post from the Prometheus: The Science Policy Weblog about the topic and how [...]

How do they explain their record profits? Good planning? Price gouging? Lucky breaks?
First CBS has this report…

I like that…the reason their profits are so big is because their companies are so big? I guess we all should just start building bigger companies then, yeah?
Then from the AP, and note how one of them talks about [...]

Here in Kansas City, MO, the gas prices are nearing $3.70 a gallon. And with news like this, I’m guessing we’ll see $4.00 very soon.
From AP:
The June contract for light, sweet crude traded as high as $129.58 on the New York Mercantile Exchange before settling back to $129.12, up $2.07. The imminent expiration of the [...]