[Revi]

I think it's a great idea to start to ration now, as long as it's done in a fair way. Unfortunately, I don't know what people are going to do with the tanks that they are driving around now. It was the poor who ended up with the gas pigs in the 70's and early 80's. I suppose that they will end up with all those old Suburbans too. It's already happening.

[Revi]

I think it's a great idea to start to ration now, as long as it's done in a fair way. Unfortunately, I don't know what people are going to do with the tanks that they are driving around now. It was the poor who ended up with the gas pigs in the 70's and early 80's. I suppose that they will end up with all those old Suburbans too. It's already happening.

[Tyler_JC]

People will waste time and gasoline driving around to find enough gas stations.

Or they will waste gasoline by going to the gas station every X days instead of filling all the way up and waiting till the needle hits the E.

It makes far more sense to raise CAFE standard to 40 MPG by 2015.

Raise gasoline taxes so that conservation doesn't actually make the product cheaper via reduced demand.

Use the extra money to fund renewable energy projects and energy storage.

Next step, convert the ICE cars to hybrid plug in electrics.

[Nearinempty]

Tyler_JC-
Your first comment suggests I wasn’t clear enough when I said “Drivers wanting/needing more could move to a different pump…” The intent was they would be able to accomplish this at the same gas station they got their initial fifteen gallons (assuming it had more than one pump). Alternatively, they could stay at the original pump and “go inside the gas station to pay cash (in advance) for up to another 15 gallons.”
In either case the gas used is negligible, but the additional time and effort could be enough to be a disincentive.
Your second comment is where I envision more of the same psychology coming into play. Unless a driver had a desire to get on intimate terms with his gas station attendant, he / she might be expected to do what it took to avoid making a return visit any sooner than necessary: conserve gasoline. It appears that most folks are more strongly motivated by the gas gauge than the pump price, so if limiting demand is the goal, focus their thought on what’s left in their tank.
Your remaining points would be fully adequate if the primary goal was to limit / reduce gasoline consumption. We definitely need to do that, but for the sake of the environment it may be crucial to also stimulate consumer interest in using cleaner biofuels as quickly as possible. This might even eliminate the need for subsidies, as private investment would clearly see the potential. That’s why I would exempt them from pump limits.

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Nearinempty', 'T')yler_JC-
Your first comment suggests I wasn’t clear enough when I said “Drivers wanting/needing more could move to a different pump…” The intent was they would be able to accomplish this at the same gas station they got their initial fifteen gallons (assuming it had more than one pump). Alternatively, they could stay at the original pump and “go inside the gas station to pay cash (in advance) for up to another 15 gallons.”
In either case the gas used is negligible, but the additional time and effort could be enough to be a disincentive.

[Tyler_JC]

But doesn't anyone see this as ridiculous?

It's like the 2 beer limit at baseball games.

What stops me from buying another 2 beers at the refreshment stand, 50 yards away?

Simply putting a rather small convenience barrier between me and my consumption is not going to work.

A tax scheme is much more effective and requires absolutely no additionally infrastructure/annoyance on the part of anyone.

Just lower the Medicare tax and raise the gas tax. Any extra revenue can be siphoned off for wind power projects and renewable energy subsidies.

[Nearinempty]

Tanada-
Good as far as it goes, but too many drivers would simply use the card a second time at the same pump to readily fill their tank. It needs to be a more complex, time consuming process to be a sufficient disincentive. Those that REALLY need or want more could still get it, but hopefully they’d be in the minority.

[Nearinempty]

Tyler_JC-
Makes ‘ya wonder why they even still have a two beer limit, unless… enough spectators are there to actually watch the game and are satisfied with that amount.
Tanada is close to right about the existing credit card dollar limit being sufficient dissuasion. A report from another source told of a Grand Rapids gas station owner commenting on the card limit:
She estimated she loses about 100 gallons a day from drivers who
normally would fill their tanks, but instead are leaving after the first card transaction.

[Denny]

Presently, the United States consumes four gallons of gasoline daily per household. Back in World War II, gasoline was rationed at 3 gallons per week. Let's say the average household today has two drivers, so if rationing was imposed at that level, it would end up being 6 gallons per week, or just under 1 gallon per average day. Of course there would have to be exemptions for those whose jobs necessarily involve driving, like doctors and farmers, so lets just say by a rationing strategy equivalent to WW2 we could reduce gasoline consumption by three-quarters.
In turn, a barrel of oil produces typically 19 gallons of gasoline, so by this strategy, if one works out the numbers, a drastic oil consumption figure emerges. I realize that barrel of oil is also producing everything else from diesel fuel to asphalt. However, if one directly took 100 million households multiplied by 3 gallons per day potential reduction, that would be 7.5 million barrels per day. Not sure how the refineries would adapt to a whole new balance. Maybe with that kind of reduction, the USA could get by with just North American oil. (That is USA plus Canada and Mexico.)

While WW2 was a time of sacrifice, people got by, used all kinds of strategies to move around, from car pools to public transit and biking, but life went on. My late father used to bike to work, 8 miles, so he could save gas for the weekend. Despite the sacrifices in fuel and food use, the fact is Americans lived better than anyone else in the world at that time, even though at war.
This rationing idea would also lead to a whole lot of creative alternatives being developed, both recycled old ideas and many new ones. Also, these days, many cars get far better mileage than the typical Chevs and Fords of the WW2 era. They got about 21 mpg. (I know, I have a '41 Chev.)
The four gallons per day figure comes from How Stuff Works

[FireJack]

I'm pretty sure once rationing starts there will be nothing but bitter complaints and riots etc. Lots of people do things to adapt as the rationing continues to get worse, and worse, and worse, then things like rebuilding roads or plowing them in the winter becomes harder and power becomes intermittent and it just keeps getting worse.

I bet once we hit the bottom after the die off things will be better for a lot of people than they were with all that gas. Until some thing like as ice age comes along and we join the extinction list but that will be a while.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FireJack', ' ')once rationing starts...

[BigTex]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FireJack', ' ')once rationing starts...

[HEADER_RACK]

When they start rationing thats my que to bug out. It will only go down hill from there quickly.
Rationing won't work and letting the market handle it won't work either. Damned if we do, Damed if we don't. We are in a NO WIN situation!

[kjmclark]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', 'T')he US will ration by price.
As the price of gas goes higher and higher, people will systematically reduce their use of oil in order to save money

[Cloud9]

For most working class people gas consumption is inelastic. They have no other means to get to work. They will be pushed to the breaking point before they switch to an alternative means of transportation. In the Great Depression, people literally drove to the poor house.

[jlw61]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FireJack', ' ')once rationing starts...

[purdum]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Denny', 'P')resently, the United States consumes four gallons of gasoline daily per household. Back in World War II, gasoline was rationed at 3 gallons per week. Let's say the average household today has two drivers, so if rationing was imposed at that level, it would end up being 6 gallons per week, or just under 1 gallon per average day. Of course there would have to be exemptions for those whose jobs necessarily involve driving, like doctors and farmers, so lets just say by a rationing strategy equivalent to WW2 we could reduce gasoline consumption by three-quarters.

[vision-master]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('BigTex', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FireJack', ' ')once rationing starts...

[Homesteader]

The people would expect the rationing to have an endpoint after which they could expect life to go back to normal. Hahahahahaha!

The story tptb come with would make interesting reading.

[Heineken]

The US and its people are so different today from the WWII era that any comparisons in how we might perform under rationing are dubious.

Remember, the US economy depends absolutely on the suburban build-out. That is the idiotic system we've invested EVERYTHING in. As Kunstler notes, we can't change how we're organized without enormous pain. We probably don't even have the energy and materials and MONEY to do it.

Also, unlike during the early 20th century, Americans today are mostly soft, intolerant of change, unwilling to sacrifice. Many are simply unable to sacrifice---think jobs like truck drivers, real estate agents, pizza cooks at Dominoes. There are millions and millions of jobs like that. Fuel rationing would end their livelihoods.

Gas rationing would result in a Greater Depression.

(Homesteader makes a good point in the previous post, too. WWII had a clear end in sight. Rationing wouldn't. "Endless Emergency.")