The Great Gasoline Shortage.

[77Univega]

--- Some posters have surmised how the price of gasoline will affect bicycle usage. For those of us who remember the great gasoline shortage of 1973, it was not the price of gas but its unavailability that drove citizens to take to their bicycles. There were long lines at the gas pumps. People were willing to pay any amount when it was available. I advocate bicycling to prepare for the inevitable shortage of gas.

Did that gas shortage affect your bike usage?

[HereNT]

Nope, but I wasn't born for another three years. Of course, the current situation doesn't effect me at all either - I'd have to own something that used gasoline :D

[Cyclaholic]

I was 7 years old in '73 but I remember sitting in the car with my dad in a gas lineup. I found out later in life that it was what led my parents to start commuting to work by public transport, something I assumed they always did.

[77Univega]

I took time off from work to wait in line at the gas pump. Once my car was refueled, I parked it in the garage and commuted by bicycle or used the bus.

.

[Poguemahone]

Interesting point. As the price of gas has risen, the demand for it has slightly increased, not decreased as one might expect. This leads me to believe that gasoline is underpriced as a commodity, and could be priced a good deal higher. I suspect gas could be ten bucks a gallon and many would still pay it, as they see gasoline consumption as an important facet of their lifestyle. If supply tightens, you'll see panic. Otherwise, just grumbling about the price.

[mpop]

2 things, first I was not born till the end of 76, but the main thing I want to say is to HereNT, gas prices will and do affect you, go to the local grocery store, the price to deliver those goods to you also include the cost of gas, do you really thing the trucking companys eat those costs because they care about you, no they could care less about the customers as long as they keep buying food, they will just pass the price of gas onto the service, which is passed to the store which will pass the increase on to you. And bike and bike stuff will go up with gas prices.

[oboeguy]

Interesting point. As the price of gas has risen, the demand for it has slightly increased, not decreased as one might expect. This leads me to believe that gasoline is underpriced as a commodity, and could be priced a good deal higher. I suspect gas could be ten bucks a gallon and many would still pay it, as they see gasoline consumption as an important facet of their lifestyle. If supply tightens, you'll see panic. Otherwise, just grumbling about the price.

Ah, some sense on the gas issue. Yes, gas is underpriced, IMO. People whine and complain about the price, but still guzzle it. They're like lemmings headed for the cliff...

What I don't get is the complaining. The people who say they have to change vacation plans really bemuse me. Suppose you drive 500 miles each way for vacation. Suppose you get 25mpg. An extra dollar per gallon is a mere $40 -- not a huge sum of a money for anyone who has enough to drive that far for vacation, IMO. Now cut the the mpg in half or double the distance and you're talking $80 more. Still not much (and WTF are you doing driving 1000 miles each way?!? :eek: ).

For the record, I wasn't around in '73. :)

[cruentus]

I was 8 years old during the first gas crisis. As I recall, the bicycle boom was already well under way before the gas crisis hit -- squillions of baby boomers in their twenties all got the fitness bug at the same time. It seemed like everyone and his mother had a "10 speed".

When talking about the price of gas, one must take into account the affect of inflation. Directly comparing today's prices to prices of 20 years ago is pointless. Adjusted for inflation, today's gas prices have not surpassed the historic high prices from the early 1980's, when gas was about $3/gal in today's money. Gas will probably have to rise to $5/gal before people start changing their driving habits to any great extent. I doubt you will see any great increase in bikes used for transportation.

[HereNT]

2 things, first I was not born till the end of 76, but the main thing I want to say is to HereNT, gas prices will and do affect you, go to the local grocery store, the price to deliver those goods to you also include the cost of gas, do you really thing the trucking companys eat those costs because they care about you, no they could care less about the customers as long as they keep buying food, they will just pass the price of gas onto the service, which is passed to the store which will pass the increase on to you. And bike and bike stuff will go up with gas prices.

Yeah, there's that, but honestly, I don't notice that as much. I don't eat much food. When it starts effecting the price of whiskey.... And most of the trucks could start running on grain fuel with virtually no change. A lot of them out here already do. And as the guy was saying about people's vacation plans, it's not going to be a huge amount of difference, especially since diesel is cheaper than regular gas. If it's $100 more to ship a tractor trailer full of groceries to the store, how much more is that going to be for my coffee beans, which are probably just one of the few things that they are hauling on that truck? Pennies?

[mpop]

True it would only be pennies, if the companies only rasied prices by their costs. But the CEO of the companies will say we can blam gas prices for the increase in price on the shelfs and jack up the price more then they need to, $.50 maybe up to $1.50 if they felt that people would still buy their stuff. Then the store managers will jack up the price by that much, and just might tag on a little bit more for themselfs.

[sestivers]

What inevitable shortage of gasoline do you forsee?

I wasn't alive during the last shortage, but since we don't have a shortage now, this fact remains:

Gasoline is like cigarettes, it doesn't matter how much it costs, people are going to buy essentially the same amount of it.

[* jack *]

I was born in '74, but I owe my affinity for bikes to the gas shortage and subsequent 'bike boom',
primarily because of my 3 older brothers. They had some of the coolest old lugged steel road bikes,
lots of shiny chrome and bright colors, with exotic-sounding French and Italian names... I fell in love
with bikes before I could walk... and I owe it all to the 70's gas shortage. Thanks, OPEC!

[Roughstuff]

--- Some posters have surmised how the price of gasoline will affect bicycle usage. For those of us who remember the great gasoline shortage of 1973, it was not the price of gas but its unavailability that drove citizens to take to their bicycles. There were long lines at the gas pumps. People were willing to pay any amount when it was available. I advocate bicycling to prepare for the inevitable shortage of gas.

Did that gas shortage affect your bike usage?


Alot of the 'gas lines' in the 1970s were due to people 'topping up their tanks' because they feared running out of gas---it was a vicious hoarding/inventory cycle. Most people, under normal conditions, drive with their tank 1/3 to 2/3rds full. If you decide to keep your tank topped up at 90% thats a huge increase in overall gas demand, and it was almost entirely due to Jimmy Carter's wonderful economic policies. Once markets were allowed to function normally gas prices (along with most petrochemicals) collapsed.

roughstuff

[-=£em in Pa=-]

I remember the '73 nonsense well. Odd / Even days...people fighting at the
pumps etc...
At the risk of getting Mod slapped, the 'shortage' was an invention of all the oil companies. There was plenty of gas, just not a legitimate reason to raise prices
so the companies united in promoting a gas shortage for the sake of shameless
profiteering. Sort of the same thing thats happening now.
But as others have pointed out, in todays lazy, apathetic society no one is
going to stop an SUV driver from heading to the mall. They could charge 5.00
a gallon and people will complain but they will still drive two blocks to the liqour
store or WaL-MArt without thinking twice.

[genec]

Did that gas shortage affect your bike usage?

I loved cruising by long lines at the local pumps... I had just gotten back into cycling, which I had done earlier going to elementary school. I went through the usual phase of car love in high school and then rediscovered cycling in time for the gas crisis. I kept hoping that the crisis would get worse and one day a week would be a no driving day...

I can totally relate to this history (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/lifestyle/70s.htm) of cycling in the 70s.

[MichaelW]

The issue of food prices and oil prices is worth noting. Why is it that our food travels such huge distances? Why is all cheese made in a central factory in Philadelphia then trucked and shipped around the world? Is is too difficult to make cheese close to where cows live?
I recently rode past a local honey producer and bought a few jars from a box at the end of his garden. It was much better than the stuff shipped in from China or Mexico.
If it is economically viable to transport this stuff around the world then transport is too cheap.

[Bekologist]

Rising fuel costs affect the cost of every consumer good sold. From the fertilizer used on the crops, to the fuel used to transport the seeds to the farmer and the crops to the middleman, to the costs transporting goods to the public, and even the cost of the packaging, it is incremental and pervasive.Even some organic farmers I know at a fabulous farmer's market here have told me about having to charge a little more than a few years ago when gas cost less than half as much as it does today.

Is there a fuel 'shortage?' No. OPEC restricts or expands oil production (in turn, affecting the cost of sweet crude on the futures market) to reflect their interests in the global economy. Other oil producing countries like Venezuela enjoy riding the wave of increased price of crude. Are fossil fuels in finite supply? yes. Are prices high here? not as high as they are going to go!

Those rising fuel costs do affect all of us, even those of us that do not have a car. Remember a year or two ago, one of the big uber conglomerates (RJR/Nabisco or whoever they've merged with) announced they were raising costs on all their goods because of transportation costs. Not just coffee beans, but everything they make (which is a heckuvalot) on the grocery store shelves.


And manufacturers are also shrinking weights in packaging and charging the same under the guise of the 'healthy serving size" and other deceiving ways to screw the consumer.
A 10 ounce box of cheerios costs the same a fourteen ounce box cost a year ago.

But, that's another story of big business screwing the public.

[77Univega]

What inevitable shortage of gasoline do you forsee?
--- Check out Dr. Colin Campbell's site: http://www.hubbertpeak.com/campbell/
His predictions provoke my memory of the gas "shortage" of 1973 and how the efficacy of the bicycle got seroius consideration.

[dedhed]

you're talking $80 more. Still not much (and WTF are you doing driving 1000 miles each way?!? ).


If $80 isn't much, send me a check. In my world it is. Me and my children will be driving 1200 mi one way in august from WI to CO. to visit the other half of my family who I rarely get to see for my sisters 25th anniversary that's WTF. Some people's worlds are just a little bigger and more complicated than yours.

[cruentus]

Alot of the 'gas lines' in the 1970s were due to people 'topping up their tanks' because they feared running out of gas---it was a vicious hoarding/inventory cycle. Most people, under normal conditions, drive with their tank 1/3 to 2/3rds full. If you decide to keep your tank topped up at 90% thats a huge increase in overall gas demand, and it was almost entirely due to Jimmy Carter's wonderful economic policies. Once markets were allowed to function normally gas prices (along with most petrochemicals) collapsed.

roughstuff

Carter wasn't the President during the '73 gas crisis, Nixon was. Carter was President during the '79 gas shortages.

[CyLowe97]

it was almost entirely due to Jimmy Carter's wonderful economic policies.

Huh??? Carter was not in office until 1977.... Nixon until he left in shame in '74, then the ever popular Jerry Ford until Carter took over in 1977.... So how was the shortage in the early/mid-70's 'almost entirely due to Jimmy Carter's wonderful economic policies"? Did he glut the market with peanuts or something? :rolleyes:


[edit] Beaten to the comment by cruentus.... who also provided more info than me.... :)

[sbhikes]

It's outrageous how much money I save by not driving. Even though my drive to work would only be 10 minutes. I have managed to save enough money in the last two years that I could actually tell my boss to take this job and shove it, end then relax for a year. I don't care about the price or availability of oil. My fantasy sustains me.

On the subject of the price of food, if only growing your own would be a money-saver. I'm not sure it would be a savings to grow a veggie garden. You have to buy all the raw materials retail, then there's your un-subsidized household water, and the inevitable risk of loss due to incompetence, pests or disease. I'd like to try it one day anyway. So far our yard is too shady.

[Roughstuff]

It's outrageous how much money I save by not driving. Even though my drive to work would only be 10 minutes. I have managed to save enough money in the last two years that I could actually tell my boss to take this job and shove it, end then relax for a year. I don't care about the price or availability of oil. My fantasy sustains me.

On the subject of the price of food, if only growing your own would be a money-saver. I'm not sure it would be a savings to grow a veggie garden. You have to buy all the raw materials retail, then there's your un-subsidized household water, and the inevitable risk of loss due to incompetence, pests or disease. I'd like to try it one day anyway. So far our yard is too shady.


I pay a bit more in rent living closer to the town and to the bus routes, but is just so much more convenient and enjoyable. I have never tried to gauge the money savings, if any; but the freedom from the hassle of owning a car, maintenance, parking, inspection, repairs, is worth its weight in gold. I love the way I can just flip my bike upside down and clean the whole shabang with a toothbrush and solvent.

Never owned my own place so never tried gardening.

roughstuff

[Roughstuff]

Carter wasn't the President during the '73 gas crisis, Nixon was. Carter was President during the '79 gas shortages.


Good point. I forget those wonderful days had two 'crises' not just one. The policies were the same though; price controls and excessive regulation. Once the markets were allowed to function normally, prices collapsed.

roughstuff

[H23]

I remember the late 70's gas crisis. I was just a kid playing in the alley, but I remember a teenager on a "ten-speed" that regularly went into garages with a rubber tube and siphoned gasoline out of cars. He emerged from the garages with-- and this is strange, some type of plastic bag that was filled tight with gas. He rode away with it under his arm.

[oboeguy]

you're talking $80 more. Still not much (and WTF are you doing driving 1000 miles each way?!? ).


If $80 isn't much, send me a check. In my world it is. Me and my children will be driving 1200 mi one way in august from WI to CO. to visit the other half of my family who I rarely get to see for my sisters 25th anniversary that's WTF. Some people's worlds are just a little bigger and more complicated than yours.

I didn't mean to be judgemental there, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you didn't either .

Maybe I'm insenstitive to the value of $80 because that's less than two days' rent for us (so by going away two days more than $80 is out the window already). The thing is, even when I wasn't working, $80 extra on a vacation wouldn't have seemed like a vast sum (ah, but no kids). Good luck with your situation if things are really that tight. We can get into it more over PM if you'd like.

[77Univega]

Carter wasn't the President during the '73 gas crisis, Nixon was. Carter was President during the '79 gas shortages.
--- OK right, so how did either of those affect you folks' bicycle usage?
And what do you think of Dr. Colin Campbell's predictions?

[spider-man]

As others have pointed out, high gas price affect all consumers, not just motorists.

I'm no economist, but I think the risk of out-of-control inflation is very real. I think it could rise exponentially faster than the price of gas.

Take, for instance, butter. When gas prices are up, the cost of transporting it to retailers rises by a comparable amount. But there are additional added expenses for the manufacturers. Grain must be transported to feed the cattle whose milk is used to make the butter. Gas-powered vehicles are used to plant and harvest that grain. I haven't figured out any sort of equation, but suppose gas prices increase by 1/5; butter costs to consumers may well increase by 1/2 or more.

The market is very skittish about fuel costs. And profit margins in certain industries (airlines, X-Mart-type retailers, automakers) are very, very slim because things are so competitive. I'm not saying that the feces is about to hit the air circulator, but I'm not ruling it out either.

During the fuel crisis of the Carter administration, my father had a fairly long commute: about 60 miles round-trip. He traded in the Suburban for a Datsun B-210.

[Roughstuff]

--- OK right, so how did either of those affect you folks' bicycle usage?
And what do you think of Dr. Colin Campbell's predictions?

It affected mine in the sense that it made the idea of owning a car something I would do as a last resort. I have owned two cars in my lifetime, for a total of seven years between them. Now this virtuous statement is deceiving, since I often used someone else's car when I was living at home with my folks now and then as a caregiver, etc.

Having a car is so habit forming I am amazed the FDA hasn't tried to regulate them as addictive drugs! ;)

roughstuff

[scarry]

Alot of the 'gas lines' in the 1970s were due to people 'topping up their tanks' because they feared running out of gas---it was a vicious hoarding/inventory cycle. Most people, under normal conditions, drive with their tank 1/3 to 2/3rds full. If you decide to keep your tank topped up at 90% thats a huge increase in overall gas demand, and it was almost entirely due to Jimmy Carter's wonderful economic policies. Once markets were allowed to function normally gas prices (along with most petrochemicals) collapsed.

roughstuff

I love it when cons lie........It was Nixon who was in office, Carter was not in office till 77.

Nixon instituted price controls and the 55 mph speed limit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_energy_crisis

[scarry]

I was in Florida in '73, just out of high school. Had a motorcycle and a bicycle. Didn't seem to notice the gas crisis. The only thing I was concered about at the time was pot and girls.
In 78/79 I was in California, had a van and my bicycle. Kept the van filled up with gas and parked in a garage, and rode the bike everywhere I could. I was happy to have a bike. In 79 I bought a nice new fast 10 speed, then sold it and bought a 18 speed touring bike which I used for loaded touring on 2 week self supported trips in Northern California. Happy times on my bike. Really gave me a sense of independence.
I also got the idea at the time that oil would be limited in the future, and decided to stay fit and able to ride a bike so I could get around without a car when the time came. Here it is 25 years later and the chickens are now coming home to roost, (oil peaking).

[beppe]

On the subject of the price of food, if only growing your own would be a money-saver. I'm not sure it would be a savings to grow a veggie garden. You have to buy all the raw materials retail, then there's your un-subsidized household water, and the inevitable risk of loss due to incompetence, pests or disease. I'd like to try it one day anyway. So far our yard is too shady.

Depends on what you eat, and what you grow. To wit:

*If you buy fresh sage, even twice a year, you're better off buying a sage plant and keeping it in a pot, because it's hardy and a small plant costs less than a package of 15 fresh leaves

*If you eat zucchini during the summer, you'll save money by growing them. In fact, if you grow zucchini and have any sort of a green thumb at all, you'll end up with more than you know what to do with.

*Ditto with spinach, whenever.

*Fava beans in the spring, in California, are likewise easy.

This is just off the top of my head. Water's not that expensive, even in California. The climate is temperate in Santa Barbara, even in the shade, so you would definitely make back your investment. Provided you don't have a black thumb, of course.

/hijack

[kf5nd]

YES IT DID !

I remember going to the local bike shop in the late 1970s (Rainbow Bikes, Providence RI), and whenever I wanted to buy something, John had to look up on a green computer printout what the current price was.

The high inflation rate of the time, driven by the fuel crisis, affected everyone.



Did that gas shortage affect your bike usage?

[supcom]

I expect that if gas prices continue to rise, that they will buy smaller cars, motorcycles, and scooters long before they resort to human powered transport. Don't expect a sudden bicycle boom because of gas prices.

[Paul L.]

My Dad would haul my 3 yr. old carcass around town on the back of his bike. I never realized what kind of good shape he must have been in to get me up the steep hill to get to our house on his Raleigh 5 speed (that had a humoungus frame). He would always either walk or ride the bike to work. It never occured to me that this habit might have started during the gas crunch. His example is probably why I commute by bike these days come to think of it.

[* jack *]

My Dad would haul my 3 yr. old carcass around town on the back of his bike. I never realized what kind of good shape he must have been in to get me up the steep hill to get to our house on his Raleigh 5 speed (that had a humoungus frame). He would always either walk or ride the bike to work. It never occured to me that this habit might have started during the gas crunch. His example is probably why I commute by bike these days come to think of it.

Nice. I hope to set a similar example to my kid when/if I ever become a parent.

[MichaelS]

I love it when cons lie........It was Nixon who was in office, Carter was not in office till 77.

Nixon instituted price controls and the 55 mph speed limit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_energy_crisis


Then the next gas shortage was in the early 1980's when Regan was in power.

Who's economic policies work better?

[spider-man]

Then the next gas shortage was in the early 1980's when Regan was in power.

Who's economic policies work better?


Depends on what race you are and whether you are poor or wealthy.

[cruentus]

Then the next gas shortage was in the early 1980's when Regan was in power.

Who's economic policies work better?

The second gas crisis took place in 1979, when Carter "was in power". I remember it well because I had just started high school.

The '79 gas shortages, combined with the Iran hostage crisis and "stagflation", are what ruined Carter's chances for a second term.

[sbhikes]

I can totally relate to this history (http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/lifestyle/70s.htm) of cycling in the 70s.
That's an interesting read.

I was 8 in 1973. I remember the big deal for the bicentienniel. They converted two streets downtown from two-lane streets into one-lane/one-way streets with bike lanes. Some big bike tour was supposed to come through town and use these bike lanes. Must have been the one the article talked about.

I guess my dad was caught up in the bike craze of the 1970s. He traded in his Raleigh 3-speed for Centurian 10 speeds for himself and my mom. When I was old enough for Jr. High I got a Nishiki 10 speed.

It was during the 70s that I was growing up. My dad took me on many many bike rides to get ice cream and go to Radio Shack for free batteries. Highlight of my weekends at the time. His love of biking coupled with the forced cycling to Jr. High (which I loathed--any 13 year-old girl experiencing becoming a woman and trying to maintain Farah hair can tell you how hateful riding a bike to Jr. High is) made a dent on me. In my adult years, starting in the mid 80s until now, I got into bikes off-and-on. Rode my bike to work anytime I lived close enough and felt guilty any time I I couldn't. Now I'm into recumbent bikes, the next big thing. You'll see. Everybody will have them now that these 70s bike craze guys are old guys.

[77Univega]

...in todays lazy, apathetic society no one is going to stop an SUV driver from heading to the mall. They could charge 5.00 a gallon and people will complain but they will still drive two blocks to the liqour store or WaL-MArt without thinking twice.
--- Heh heh, yes. OK speaking of gasoline shortage, what do you, my fellow Bike Forums contributors, think about the predictions by several respected experts as stated here: www.hubbertpeak.com

And for those of you who are click-impaired, here is the basic premise by Dr. Albert Bartlett:
"MY ANALYSIS, BASED ON GEOLOGICAL ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL WORLD RESOURCE OF PETROLEUM, SUGGESTS THAT WORLD PETROLEUM PRODUCTION WILL PEAK AROUND THE YEAR 2004 AND THEREAFTER WILL START ITS INEVITABLE DECLINE TOWARD ZERO."

/

[Platy]

...what do you, my fellow Bike Forums contributors, think about the predictions by several respected experts as stated here: www.hubbertpeak.com/

That site has a copy of Hubbert's 57-page paper. I found it very insightful and interesting. Something I wouldn't have picked up from most of the current discussions is that Hubbert's analysis included not only petroleum production, but also nuclear energy reserves.

The conclusion I would draw from Hubbert's analysis is that increased energy consumption after peak oil is reached will have to come from coal or nuclear.

IMHO, when people face giving up their cars, they will quickly learn to love the coal mine and the breeder reactor.

Transportation costs will have to go up. No alternate design comes anywhere near the simplicity of turning oil into gasoline and burning it in internal combusion engines.

Also, in a world where there is no reserve oil production capacity, every supply glitch will have a maximum disruptive effect.

Individuals can reduce some of the direct impacts by using bikes more. I doubt bikes will ever become the dominant transportation mode in the US. On the other hand, even a tiny fraction of auto drivers switching to bikes could easily double or triple the number of cyclists. We would notice that.

[-=£em in Pa=-]

--- Heh heh, yes. OK speaking of gasoline shortage, what do you, my fellow Bike Forums contributors, think about the predictions by several respected experts as stated here: www.hubbertpeak.com

And for those of you who are click-impaired, here is the basic premise by Dr. Albert Bartlett:
"MY ANALYSIS, BASED ON GEOLOGICAL ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL WORLD RESOURCE OF PETROLEUM, SUGGESTS THAT WORLD PETROLEUM PRODUCTION WILL PEAK AROUND THE YEAR 2004 AND THEREAFTER WILL START ITS INEVITABLE DECLINE TOWARD ZERO."

/

I am going to read the paper on my lunch break. Related, I was watching the financial talking heads
last Sunday morning, thier predictions etc...and they said the hot ticket was going to be investments
in companies that deal with energy resources to China. And, due to anti-Chinese sentiments alot
of 'reputable' trading companies are looking into ways to do this without it being public or
looking unamerican. But they all agreed, China, already a mega-consumer of petroleum etc is going
to be off the chart energy consumption-wise in the near future. Gives ya hope, dunnit ? :eek:

[Nicodemus]

That there are not more people taking this stuff very seriously demonstrates our species' limitless capacity for self-deception.

From what little I understand (and admittedly this is very little), the 70's oil crises were largely a result of limited supply because of oil barons, cartels, and politicians mucking things about. There was not a problem of limited oil output, just limited immediate availability.

Well, now we're facing soon-to-be decreasing output. Production is stretched to the max, and still it cannot meet the rise in demand. This will not go away, and it's only going to get worse.

Hey, it's already hit over $60 a barrel. How many people do you think would have expected this only 2-3 years ago? Now, how many people think that "peak oil" will happen in the next 5 years? Not nearly enough.

[cruentus]

That there are not more people taking this stuff very seriously demonstrates our species' limitless capacity for self-deception.

From what little I understand (and admittedly this is very little), the 70's oil crises were largely a result of limited supply because of oil barons, cartels, and politicians mucking things about. There was not a problem of limited oil output, just limited immediate availability.

Well, now we're facing soon-to-be decreasing output. Production is stretched to the max, and still it cannot meet the rise in demand. This will not go away, and it's only going to get worse.

Hey, it's already hit over $60 a barrel. How many people do you think would have expected this only 2-3 years ago? Now, how many people think that "peak oil" will happen in the next 5 years? Not nearly enough.

The first oil shock of the 1970's was the result of an oil embargo imposed by OPEC in retaliation for the US government's support of Israel during the '73 Arab-Israeli war. This action backfired on OPEC because it resulted in resentment by the US public against Arabs but had no affect on US public opinion as concerns Israel.

The second oil shock was caused by a disruption of Iranian oil production as a result of an Islamic revolution that overthrew Iran's CIA installed Quisling government.

[cc_rider]

Mid 70's I was in high school, headed for college. Didn't have a car, so it didn't affect me much directly.
'79 I was graduating from college. Had an older, used car that was a gas burner, so I tried to avoid driving. Luckily my apartment was walking distance to my first job, and my bike, my feet and the DC Metro got me around town. When my car battery died, I went without for two months and didn't miss it much.
Helped being in a urban area. If I had taken a job farther out in the suburbs, I might have been more car dependent.

[PaulH]

I was riding to school and only using my car on weekends anyway during the 1973-1974 shortage. It really had no effect on my cycling, since there was no parking anywhere near my school and office. I filled up my car tank about once a month, so it was no big thing.

Paul

[scarry]

--- Heh heh, yes. OK speaking of gasoline shortage, what do you, my fellow Bike Forums contributors, think about the predictions by several respected experts as stated here: www.hubbertpeak.com

And for those of you who are click-impaired, here is the basic premise by Dr. Albert Bartlett:
"MY ANALYSIS, BASED ON GEOLOGICAL ESTIMATES OF THE TOTAL WORLD RESOURCE OF PETROLEUM, SUGGESTS THAT WORLD PETROLEUM PRODUCTION WILL PEAK AROUND THE YEAR 2004 AND THEREAFTER WILL START ITS INEVITABLE DECLINE TOWARD ZERO."

/

It seems we are watching it unfold before our eyes. $60 a barral and climbing. The question in my mind is how high it has to go before it puts a dent in our car-centered way of life.

[bike2math]

It has to get much higher than 60 a barrell that it is now. Or 2.10 at the pumps in my town.

It has to get to the point where a full tank of gas is considered a "durable good". That is you buy it and it is supposed to last for more than three years (I think that's how they define durable goods). So how much do typical durable goods cost? My wife and I bought a new washing machine for 200 or so bucks (and damn I hope it lasts more than three years). So Once the full tank of gas reaches 200 dollars (guess that would be about 20 dollars a gallon) people will start treating it as something to conserve and make last three years.

Until then, expect immeasurable *****ing and moaning, talk show producers will make their fortune lining up the talking heads on the price of gasoline and how it is hurting everyone from beavers to robber barons. People won't stop filling up on their way to the corner store to pick up a gallon of milk unless it represents a significant chunk of the last weeks wages.

I think some people will end up going homeless before they sell their precious F-350 super duty \begin{sarcasm} which shows how tough an sob they are \end{sarcasm}

The worst part of it is going to be watching the price of beer go up as the cost of transporting it rises. But then again as the cost of transporting it rises perhaps we will see more local brewery's spring up. Before prohibition each major city had its own collection of brews. I guess it would be kind of nice to see that again.

[spider-man]

Don't forget homebrewing.