People and Change

Have you noticed that there are still a lot of large, fuel hungry vehicles on the roads? Have you noticed that on the highway. many drivers - often in these same fuel hungry vehicles - still insist on driving over 100kms/hour? They are using up to 20% more fuel than the journey would require at a lower speed.

These same people are having heart failure over the price of petrol or diesel. Many of these people will express a love of market forces while at the same time acting as though these forces should more properly apply to someone other than themselves. They should not be required to do anything differently in response to rising fuel prices.

It would be just one more example of human perversity in the face of change if it didn't result in backward, counterproductive steps like the downgrading of the regional fuel tax. Doing so allows people to, in effect, avoid having to change the way they go about things and ignore for a little longer market signals they should do things differently.

Maybe it's just me. We bought a smaller, 1.3L car in November. It uses 6L to go 100kms at an average 100kph. That's better than any hybrid I know of. I pay about $55 to fill the tank (at $1.88/litre) every fortnight. The registration of this small car is cheaper than for a larger car. I save money from every angle. If I drive at an average 95kms / hour, I can get 5.7L / 100kms. I've done it. I'm 190cms tall. Our 'new' 10 year old smaller car has more head and leg room than our Nissan Terrano or Toyota HiLux ute had. I'm more comfortable and paying less for transport now than I used to, even with the higher fuel prices.

The cost of waste is high.

I suspect that petrol prices will keep rising. The forces that have been forcing higher oil prices show no sign of abating.

In a way, it will be interesting to see what National does if it wins the election later this year. The trends causing trouble today aren't going away and show signs of accelerating. Labour's troubles could end up being National's.....with bells on.

The regional fuel tax would be equivalent to a couple of the usual price rises we have seen lately. We will see more of those anyway. Any "relief" assumes the present pricing situation is temporary.....and I doubt very much that it is. People need to adapt to the new situation and not strangle growth of the infrastructure that will make the future livable to pay for a few more days or weeks of the way things used to be.

Underlying all of this is the beast of too much credit. Many people are over-extended, feeding the mortgages and credit cards and trying to live off what is left over. It's getting tougher to make ends meet.

They don't have any room to move, but move they must because it isn't going to get any easier. No matter who wins the election this year.

Whoever it is will face the same forces and the need to fund the infrastructure an expensive-oil future will require.

That's when the denial will end and change can begin....I hope.