Remembering 1974

Friday, May 4, 2001 ©2001 San Francisco Chronicle

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/05/04/ED183376.DTL

IF EVER there was doubt about our failure to learn from our past, take a quick count of all the sport utility vehicles crowding virtually every street and highway. And it's not just the SUVs -- there are fleets of minivans and pickup trucks, and a stunning array of muscle cars all guzzling gas and spewing fumes as if 1974 never happened.

We must have forgotten the fuel shortage, the misery of long lines at the gas pump, the high prices and the threat of lights out and of an industry squeaking to a halt for lack of oil.

Back then, the scarcity of fuel-efficient cars left us few choices beyond gas hogs or VW Bugs. Today, there are options -- cars that deliver up to 40 miles per gallon -- but too few of us are buying them. Even with a gallon of gas soaring to more than $2, fuel greedy SUVs and such are the rage, accounting for nearly half of vehicle sales.

SUVs are driven like cars -- to work, grocery stores, soccer games and church. So, a bill by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., making them meet the same fuel-efficiency standards as cars by 2007, makes sense.

The bill would force SUVs and other light-duty vehicles to average 27.5 miles per gallon by 2007, just like other cars. Feinstein believes this is the best way to limit dependence on foreign oil, save consumers money at the pump and reduce global warming, all at once.

Meanwhile, automakers, gearing up to drive the bill under, are making a somewhat suspicious promise to manufacture more efficient SUVs without the mandatory legislation. Maybe. Still, having the law in place will assure their resolve.

The Feinstein bill would not end all our energy woes. But surely it's a better, more environmentally sound idea than Republican plans for drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

©2001 San Francisco Chronicle Page A - 22

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 04, 2001

Answers

I couldn't agree more. When I see 1 person or a Mom & child driving around the city in a 6000 lb Suv I can't help but be Livid! What a waste! 10 MPG to go get groceries or for a trip to & back from work. WHAT A WASTE!! I personally can't wait till there ALL LAWN ORNAMENTS. When we have many great vehicles that get 30 mpg in Town & 40+ on the highway I just can't see how they Justify driving a tank around the neighborhood! Why don't they get a F~ing Hummer. Its like 4x4's, 98% of them are grocery getters & rarely do more than go back & forth to work! Suburbans & Explorers should be outlawed in the city. If there not pulling something then leave em home!! Flame me if you wish!!!!1

-- Geno-Ca (headturbo@hotmail.com), May 05, 2001.

IF EVER there was doubt about our failure to learn from our past, take a quick count of all the sport utility vehicles crowding virtually every street and highway. And it's not just the SUVs -- there are fleets of minivans and pickup trucks, and a stunning array of muscle cars all guzzling gas and spewing fumes as if 1974 never happened

Wait a minute!!! Are you sure this wasn't really the very first case of a Y2K problem?? The oil crisis of 1973-74 fits the bill perfectly!! We were having y2k issues 26 years before the event, why I am shocked, shocked, I tell you , that Paula, Gary North, and Ed Yourdon haven't been telling us the whole truth!

-- Rob McCarthy (celtic64@mindspring.com), May 05, 2001.