When tire inflation becomes an issue

Sorry, but this article is useless without an analysis of the claims.

1. How much oil does McCain we can obtain by new drilling that Obama opposes?
2. How much oil was Obama talking about ("we could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling")?
3. How much oil can we actually save with proper tire inflation, according to independent experts?

My understanding is that current world oil demand is about 86 million barrels per day, and production is about 84 million barrels per day, causing the price pressure. If we could increase domestic production (or conserve) even 2 or 3 million bpd it would have a tremendous relaxing effect on price. How many barrels per day can actually be saved by proper tire inflation.

I don't understand this campaign: even it is making fun out of Obama one puts the name out and one makes PR for him. I think this going to backfire on McCain. I cannot help myself but I believe a guy who is not capable to run an effective convincing campaign will be a lousy president. Don't vote for him. and of you don't like Obama then don't vote for him either.

Politicians should not be like kids and point on each and mock they should have vision and be constructive and not destructive. Childish ...!!

I find it insulting that Obama points out the obvious; telling the people to keep their tires inflated to save fuel. At this stage in the high-fuel economy I'm sure commuters are doing all they can to save in fuel - including proper tire inflation and tune-ups. I know I am. Give me a break Obama a.k.a Captain.Obvious.

Just my own curiosity here, what exactly do the oil companies owe anyone? Is it their fault we make a choice to drive big cars? What right do we have to their money? It's theirs isn't it?
And by the way, wasn't wealth redistribution a Joseph Stalin initiative? And why are so many people not seeing that drilling offshore also has major impacts downstream? I mean the number of people put to work not just on the rigs but on all the products to supply them and keep them active is fairly tremendous isn't it?

What?

Are you kidding me?

This is how McCain campaigns?

It's not a campaign for high school class president....

Wow

What a joke... Everytime McCain tries to be funny he helps Obama. What's the deal with that??? McCain keeps talking about how much of a celebraty Obama is. Well, we have all seen that!!! I don't think it's "funny" when Republican's spend my donation to help the Democrat. What happened to getting the good ol' Republican message about lower taxes, less government out to the voters. We are waisting valuable time and money.....

I would love to see an add by Obama of these idiots passing out the gauges. It would show how out of touch Mcshame is with us.

BTW Samuel, most people need to be reminded, cause we are busy. Yea, I know you know and I know to do this, but it is easy to forget. God forbid people have lives and let the little things slip and people remind them of it.

don't increase production, decrease demand. We shoudl have a no drive holday to protest high oil prices and political games. Stay home LAbor day and dont; drive anywhere. National Park the car day- that will show them.

Im glad tire inflation is obvious to you but on the freeway EVERYDAY I see at least a handful of people driving on tires with pressure that is way to low. Ask a few people at work at what pressure they run their tires, I guarantee you will get a bunch of blank looks.

Its people like you and McCain that make fun of a real issue that would save a TON of fuel if people paid attention. Wake up and stop the partisanship, we are in trouble and need all the answers we can get.

RE: How much would proper tire inflation save.

Your numbers: World oil consumption: 86 million barrels
World oil production: 84 million

Difference between consumption and production: ~2.4%

Based on cars getting 25mpg, making up the difference betwene current consumption and production only requires an increase in mileage of about .5 miles. Thats ALL. I think a tuneup and tire pressure can easily do that much.

Wow. This is the best the GOP has to offer? You may not agree with Obama's policies, but at least he's not resorting to these school-yard name-calling tactics. Politicians will criticize. I get that. But at least be constructive and focus on the facts and issues at hand.

Seriously?

SORRY MR McCAIN, your clown talk won,t float, MR BUSH did the same thing last election, what 72cents bought then will now cost a buck.

i have riped the R off my chest.
you need to tell how you are going to make health insurence,gasoline, home heating, food, education more affortable to the voters, NOT HOW YOU ARE GOING TO FINE WAYS TO PUT MONEY IN THE POCKETS OF YOUR RICH FRIENDS

I thought both McCain and Obama had promised a "different kind of campaign", but they both just attack each other. Yes, two "Men of Integrity" indeed.

To quote the Detroit Free Press

Tire pressure checks have been a key fuel-saving tip that automakers, tire companies and government experts have recommended for years. On its fuel economy Web site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that underinflated tires can shave up to 3% from a vehicle’s fuel economy.

Over a couple hundred million vehicles, those shavings add up. The Department of Energy estimated in 2005 that U.S. motorists wasted 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline a year from driving on underinflated tires -- roughly 61 million barrels of oil.

By comparison, the U.S. Department of Interior says there are 17.9 billion barrels of oil available off-shore in areas under the federal drilling ban. Due to a shortage of equipment and legal hurdles, experts estimate that if the ban was lifted, it would take at least five years to produce an additional drop of oil from those areas.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said last year that new off-shore drilling could add about 200,000 barrels of oil per day to U.S. output -- not enough to have “a significant impact on domestic crude oil and natural gas production or prices before 2030.”

Even as a kid many of us did not do fingerpointing the way McCain is doing at 72 years age. Oh, well I fogot that as one grows old one becomes childish (not child) again.
How wonderful it will be when this old McCain baby would be inaugurated as our president. I can't wait to see that moment. And Bush will sing lullaby songs for him. How cute!!!
Throw away these grown up guys like Obama. They always keep talking about serious stuff. Let's be children again with all the chinese toys in our pockets.
Oh! but when somebody bullies us where will we go? Aha! I know we will go to Iran. Iran will protect us or may be Russia.

Info from another more thorough source

The Department of Energy estimated in 2005 that U.S. motorists wasted 1.2 billion gallons of gasoline a year from driving on underinflated tires -- roughly 61 million barrels of oil.

By comparison, the U.S. Department of Interior says there are 17.9 billion barrels of oil available off-shore in areas under the federal drilling ban. Due to a shortage of equipment and legal hurdles, experts estimate that if the ban was lifted, it would take at least five years to produce an additional drop of oil from those areas.

I guess McCain is trying to agree with Obama and making sure tires are inflated properly

I bet the tire gauges were not even made in the U.S.A. I have a sneaking suspicion that those were Chinese-made tire pressure gauges.

McCain's "jokes" are not funny-- just idiotic.

Who is it that is telling us it will take 10-15 years to realize the efforts in drilling now. If I recall correctly, a Democrat president gave us the challange of getting a man to the moon and back in less time than that and we did it. If we can accomplish that kind of project with none of the technologies in place, what can we do with drilling and refining technologies already there. And just keeping your tires properly filled will not replace all of the oil that is out there for us to get.

As for this artical, it truely lacks substance. 1 what is BO plan? 2.That are BO long term sollutions? And why is it a negitive add?
I believe McCain is pointing out the obvious, That BO has no real plan except for hope

John McCain is campaigning with the same old "Rovian" negative politics. Just wait until the face to face debates with Obama where McCain has no script before him or Joe Lieberman whispering in his ear. The contrast will be frightingly simple for thinking voters and the non-scared voters to elect a president of the future and not a remnant of the past. Voters who desire perpetual war, deficits galore, borowing from China and Japan to operate our government, should vote for McBush on Nov. 4th.

KW, show your work, please. Only a fraction of world oil production goes into gasoline, so a 2.5% increase in the efficiency of automobiles is certainly not going to lead to a 2.5% drop in world oil demand.

Kudos to SXC and Bud. The US DOE estimates that if everyone properly inflated their tires, the US would save 61 million barrels of oil per year. That's 0.167 million barrels per day, or 8% of the current production shortfall of 2 million barrels per day.

We can not drill our way to energy independence but neither can we conserve our way there. The 21st century energy economy is going to have to be based on a renewable energy storage medium to replace fossil fuels (ethanol and hydrogen seem the likeliest candidates) and clean electricity to generate it. That means wind, solar and nuclear in the long term, but also more oil and gas in the short term to get us to the transition point. You can't do it on any one piece of the puzzle alone. Obama's claim that we can conserve our way out of the present crisis by inflating our tires is about as sound an energy policy as having wealthy liberals opposing wind turbines that interfere with their beachfront views. We should demand better of our next president.

On the subject of global warming, every other word out of Al Gore's mouth is either an exaggeration or a lie. But he's right about one thing. If we have the political will, we could make major changes to our energy economy in ten years.

25 new nuclear plants for clean electricity...50 new offshore oil wells to power our cars while hydrogen fuel cell technology matures...huge solar energy and wind farms...there is no reason any of these things needs to take "10-15 years" especially if the reason is the "regulatory environment."

Oh, and Jay Leno was right, too. If we had started drilling in ANWR or offshore 10 years ago, "10-15 years" would be TODAY.

What no one is getting is that Obama's point isn't that checking tire pressure is some sort of solution for our energy problems. His point is that McCain's idea of drilling will only make a tiny difference in solving our energy problems -- about the same as if everyone kept their tires fully inflated.

Is this and the stupid Britany/Paris stuff is the best that McCain can come up with?

McCain has 1-itis.

Talk about one thing enough...even if it's not true....and the "low information voter" still takes it as justification for voting for the angriest warmonger they can find.

I guess it's a strategy.

In the last 8 years or so Republicans have shown me that they will do anything and everything in their power to keep you from retaining an opinion based on the facts that their incompetence is comprised of.

This has become the classic response of the fossilized right-wing status quo:

Create a grotesquely distorted caricature, broadcast the delusion at the top of your lungs, and hope that you manage to reinforce just enough cynicism and hopelessness to ensure the election of someone who truly cares only for funneling all of the country's wealth and power into the hands of a tiny, corrupt elite.

Tire pressure is one of many factors effecting mileage and gasoline usage efficiency. Fuel consumption displays "FCDs" show real-time fuel use efficiency. FCDs make it possible for people to track their total driving efficiency. Driving efficiency includes the mechanical side, such as time pressure, and tune-ups, and the driver side, such as avoiding jack rabbit starts. We should require FCDs in all new vehicles. Further, we should compensate people for installing FCDs on their current vehicles. One way would be to use the Highway Trust Fund to reimburse motorists who install FCDs at their car dealer or service station. American foreign policy should also encourage use of FCDs and other vehicle efficiency methods around the world, as fuel consumption is going way up in huge countries like India and China. Oil and other fossil fuels are one time inheritances of our world which we should use wisely. FCDs will measure fuel use in real-time to help us use our fuel wisely.

Don't buy a newspaper that tells you what to think. I have been doing all I can to increase my gas mileage an decrease my use. I am and have been on low rolling resistance tires at 50 psi and have done all reasonable things to my house to reduce consumption. We need more gasoline now, drill, refine now. Try to reinvent the wheel everyday, And get the government out of the way before we go broke waiting.

The Time Magazine in supported Obama's tire guage solution in its article The Tire-Gauge Solution: No Joke By MICHAEL GRUNWALD.
The argument is USA uses 20million barrels of oil per day. Tire guage solution will bring 3% improvement in car fuel efficiency. This percentage used on the 20million barrels to come up with the argument that tire-guage solution can save more than the additional volume from drilling.
There are a lot of fallacies here.
1) How much of the 20 million barrels per day are used by transport industry?
2) Of these transport industry consumption, how much was for land transport?
3) Of the land transport usage, how much was for vehicles with tires?
4) Of those used by vehicle with tires, how much are used by those with under-inflated tires?
5) Of those used by under-inflated tires, how can be saved on daily average by after inflating until the next visit to the tire inflation machine.
Im sure, it would be way below the 3% of 20 million barrels per day.

Philo Collins, your post reads like an ad for FCDs. I think Foon Rhee should remove your post.

'Obama also launched a TV ad today that says McCain is playing the "same old" politics instead of offering real solutions to the energy crisis.' Ha! Ha! Obama thinks the tire pressure gauge is a real solution to the energy crisis! And offshore drilling is not! Obama is not Moses crossing the Red Sea. Obama is an ignorant leader leading the ignorant to disaster. Even on an individual level, maintaining proper tire pressure will not save as much energy as switching to public transportation, using a more fuel efficient vehicle, carpooling, or biking. Why bother to mention tire pressure? On a national energy consumption level, the impact of tire pressure is negligible. Why waste time in even mentioning it? On the other hand, offshore drilling, or any means of increasing current or future supply will lower prices. Contrary to what Obama and Nancy Pelosi said about offshore drilling not producing any oil until 10+ years later, the truth is that current prices take into account future supply. One argument for the rising oil price is the belief that worldwide oil resources are dwindling and will be used up in 20-50 years according to different estimates. Lifting the ban on offshore drilling will change that equation. Finally, don't belabor the Gore line that we should be using on alternative sources of energy INSTEAD OF focusing on oil. There is no conflict between developing oil resources and alternative energy. We should be doing both. What the government needs to do is to provide more incentives for research and development in alternative energy to reduce our dependence on oil in the coming years. In the meantime, we still need oil.

Obama was responding to a woman asking if there was anything she could do in her daily life to help with the energy or gas situation.

He said, yes, keep your tires inflated and your car tuned up. Then he elaborated about how surprisingly helpful that could be if everyone did it.

It was not his whole energy policy, OK? Can we get over that?

The big difference between McCain's and Obama's stance on drilling is that McCain wants to allow preference to fossil fuels, and Obama wants to ensure preference to new solutions. I think he's right that if drilling is not embedded in a comprehensive plan before it goes forward, there is a real danger that drilling and oil shale and coal will just take over because it's more familiar technology. Without legal constraints, offshore drilling could all too easily become the bridge to oil shale and "clean coal."

The virtually ice-free condition of the Arctic sea in summer was predicted due to global warming, but it was predicted to happen much more slowly than it has. Drowning polar bears is bad enough, isn't it? Do we want the truly sudden increase in global warming that would come about if the arctic tundra melts and releases all that methane? Methane is a much more potent greenhouse gas than co2.

The funny thing is that the Obama supporters (including this blogger) are swallowing McCain's bait with the tire pressure gauge. The point isn't whether if you bring in a policy wonk to crunch the numbers you will find out that in theory proper tire inflation would solve our current gasoline crisis. McCain's intent was to paint Obama as lecturing Americans about the finer points of proper tire inflation in lieu of an actual energy policy. The more Obama supporters make noise about how he is "right" on tire inflation, the more the image McCain wants to craft sinks in. The funny thing is most Obama supporters have to know this, but they can't help themselves; they just can't pass up a good opportunity to lecture ordinary Americans on how they should live their lives.

Bravo Obama Supporters! As an encore, perhaps Obama could also dust off one of Carter's speeches about the virtues of wearing sweaters during cold winters with high heating costs...