Tire Pressure, ANWR, and Math

Are you laughing that Barack suggested that we keep our tires properly inflated?

According to the department of transportation, a 3.3% gain in mileage can be achieved by keeping your tires properly inflated. At $4.00/gallon, that's a $0.13/gallon savings.

“Silly! That benefit is as slim as it is easy to fill air in my tires,” you say.

Well, the McCano originally suggested we have a federal tax holiday on gas this summer. That would’ve cost the government $9 Billion dollars http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/04/mccains-gas-tax.html of lost revenue(which is pumped directly back into the economy to road construction companies), but would save you, $0.18/gallon at the pump.

So you can do something simple and get 2/3 of the effect. It’s like you get a tax cut!!!! (don’t tell the gas stations—they might pull down the FREE AIR signs and start charging.)

It gets more interesting.

Last December, Senator (& soon to be inmate) Ted Stevens, (R-AK) asked the Energy Information Administration (EIA) to tell him how much we could save by tapping into the estimated 18 Billion barrels of crude in Northern Alaska's Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge.(ANWR)

Their answer?

Additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR would be only a small portion of total world oil production, and would likely be offset in part by somewhat lower production outside the United States. The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case.

How much is $2.60/ barrel going to take out of a gallon at the pump???????????

According to this article,

Each $1 increase in the cost of a barrel of crude is equal to a 2 1/2-cent increase in the per-gallon price at the pump.

Wow!!! Drilling up Alaska will get us a whopping $0.07 per gallon savings.(rounded up)

BOTTOM LINE: Inflating your tires could save you TODAY almost twofold what ANWR would do for you in 2027.

By the way, the GOP should talk with its constituents before launching attacks like this……

GOP Veep shortlister Charlie Crist, California Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, NASCAR and even President Bush’s Highway Traffic Safety Department, have all discussed the merits of tire pressure.

On a sidenote--Anyone who’s ever raced a bicycle knows how much tire pressure affects efficiency. Running your tires at 90psi vs 120psi+ can make a HUGE difference. I know top agegroup Ironman triathletes who train at low pressure and race at high pressure—it makes them feel very fast on race day.