“Put On A Sweater” – 21st Century Style

Posted by Lorren on August 2, 2008

Barak Obama has a really good idea for saving you money at the gas pump… “put air in your tires and get regular tune-ups“.

Wow, I didn’t know he was so smart! Is that going to effectively bring my price per gallon of gas to $2 a gallon again? Gas is a little less than $4 right now, so inflating my tires and getting a tuneup would have to give me 50% more gas mileage. Think that’ll do that?

I think not. Keeping your tires properly inflated will improve your gas mileage by about 3%, not 50%. And many people already do that.

I am too young to remember it, but I’m a student of history, and I think that in the 70’s, they had an energy crisis too. People had to wait in long lines to get gas, they rationed it, etc. It cost more to heat your house too. Jimmy Carter was president at the time, and what was his solution to the energy problem? “Put on a sweater.” Yeah, that was going to fill the gas tank.;-)

Obama’s suggestion that we just inflate our tires is equally ridiculous. Many of us that are having trouble have already done what we can. We have cut out extra car trips when possible or combined errands, don’t go out on road trips, and many of us cut out our vacations (unlike congress, who don’t even deserve one). We have inflated our tires, ditched the SUV (I guess that some people who have recently purchased them new are having trouble getting rid of them), gotten tune-ups, and changed our driving styles to try to stretch a gallon of gas. Some people have taken up hypermiling… or doing whatever they can to save a little bit of gas mileage. Heck, some people are trying to lose weight so they can improve their car’s gas mileage.

Inflate your tires? Please. What’s next? When winter comes and people are cold because they can not afford to heat their homes above 40 degrees, is Obama going to tell us to put on a sweater too?