Wednesday, March 30, 2022
Gas Attack
Posted By Babs De Lay on March 30, 2022, 4:00 AM
Have you filled up your gas tank this past week? As someone who virtually drives for a living, I'm not a happy consumer at the pump.
What's causing these hellish gas prices? Primarily, it's greed. We have enough gas for the vehicles in this country in reserves, but suppliers cut way back during COVID simply because we weren't going anywhere. Now, everyone wants to travel and demand is not keeping up with supply. When that happens, producers can gouge us.
Do not think Russia is responsible for the shortages. It's our own oil drillers and refineries that are the root cause of our shortages right now.
There are some great tips at energy.gov on how to save on gas. To help reduce pollution and improve energy security, consider these strategies:
• Minimize idling your car. In New York City, you can be fined $400 for idling your truck for more than three minutes; there's a huge industry of folks taking videos of offenders who send in the relevant information and then receive $90 for reporting offenders. We need that here!
• Avoid aggressive driving, for many reasons. Speeding, rapid acceleration and hard braking can lower your highway gas mileage from 15% to 30% and city mileage by 10-% to 40%.
• Avoid driving at high speeds. Above 50 mph, gas mileage drops rapidly for every additional 5 mph, which equals about 30 cents per gallon of gasoline.
• Those fancy roof racks cause drag, decreasing fuel economy. Try putting your stuff in the car.
• Work from home more, use public transit, carpool, etc. Check out rideutah.com.
• Use the right grade of motor oil for your car. Using a different grade can lower your mileage by 1% to 2%
• Make sure your tires are inflated to the right pressure. If you can't read your tire, ideal pressure levels might be listed on a sticker on the driver's side door jam.
The bottom line for the best gas mileage is to drive more efficiently, keep your car in shape or buy a more fuel-efficient vehicle if you can afford it. We'll be moving into warmer weather and running your car's air conditioning is the main contributor to reduced fuel economy during the dog days of summer—and even more so on hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric (EV) vehicles. The downside is that if you think opening all the car windows instead of using the AC might help, it actually just causes wind resistance and lowers fuel economy. It will work, however, if you lower your windows driving at city speeds and not on the freeway.
Gas prices in Utah are somewhere between $4.25 and $4.50 per gallon right now. For the first time in 70 years, the U.S. is able to produce as much crude oil and gas as we consume, but a lack of pipelines and refineries hinders gas prices from coming down anytime soon.
As summer approaches, people will be hitting the road or flying to vacation destinations. You might want to book your flight for that end-of-summer or early-fall trip now rather than later, because airline tickets are going up just as fast due to airline fuel supply chain problems.
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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