(Source articles contributing to this hybrid report: Business Week, CNN, Star Tribune)

A Continental Express pilot tried fervently to get her passengers into the Rochester, Minn., airport on Aug. 8 after being diverted from Minneapolis-St. Paul because of bad weather, according to federal transportation officials. The request was denied by Mesaba Aviation, a unit of Delta Air Lines (DAL), the 47 passengers were stuck on the small regional jet for more than six hours.

Mesaba, based in Eagan, Minnesota and owned by Delta Air Lines, was the only carrier able to assist Continental Flight 2816, which was on its way from Houston, Texas, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, when it was diverted because of strong thunderstorms, LaHood said. The flight’s 47 passengers described crying babies, overflowing toilets and cramped conditions.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said a representative of Mesaba Airlines improperly refused requests by the plane’s captain and crew to let passengers off the plane. They remained stuck on the tarmac in Rochester on August 8 from 12:38 a.m. to about 6 a.m. with nothing but pretzels to eat, LaHood said.

“We have determined that the Express Jet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or obtain a bus for them,” U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in an Aug. 21 statement. “The local representative of Mesaba Airlines improperly refused the requests of the captain to let her passengers off the plane. The representative incorrectly said that the airport was closed to passengers for security reasons, which led to this nightmare for those stuck on the plane.”

“There was a complete lack of common sense here,” LaHood said in a written statement. “It’s no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated.”

In audiotapes released by the Transportation Department, the unnamed captain of the aircraft can be heard pleading with an airline dispatcher to find a way to get the passengers off the plane. According to transcripts of transmissions from the cockpit released Friday, the pilot grew frustrated during the course of what she called a “ridiculous” ordeal, in which passengers on the nearly full plane had virtually nothing to eat, and the toilet and babies on board began to smell.

ExpressJet has posted audio files of conversations between the company and airport officials about how to resolve the problem. “There’s nobody willing to do anything,” an ExpressJet official tells the pilot in one phone call. “We have to do something… I just want to get people off the plane if we can’t fly,” the unidentified captain responds. In a later call, the pilot notes that “they’ve had lawsuits about this kind of stuff.”

“I just can’t sit here any longer,” she radioed to ExpressJet dispatchers in Houston. “… There’s no food, and [the passengers are] just getting really unhappy. … We’re stuck here with no lavs, no nothing. … There are lawsuits about this kind of stuff.”

According to a Department of Transportation preliminary report, Mesaba’s representative refused to help passengers off of the plane, incorrectly saying the airport was closed to passengers for security reasons.

The government is also soliciting public comment on whether it ought to mandate a limit on how long people may be left on planes during extended tarmac delays. A final rule from DOT is expected this fall, and the Continental Express-Mesaba imbroglio will figure into the decision, the agency says.

Mesaba is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines.

“Mesaba respectfully disagrees with the DOT’s preliminary findings as they are incongruent with our initial internal review of the incident,” CEO John Spanjers said in a written statement. “Because Continental Express Flight 2816 diverted to an airport where they have no ground handling service, Mesaba offered assistance as a courtesy during this delay.

Delta CEO Richard Anderson said in a statement Friday that he has contacted Continental Chairman and CEO Larry Kellner to “ensure we fully understand the facts of this unfortunate incident. Delta is working with Mesaba to conduct an internal investigation, continue our full cooperation with the DOT and share all the facts with Continental.”

TransportGooru Musings: Amidst this rabid finger pointing exercise, the poor passengers are the ones who are left begging for justice at this juncture! Glad that USDOT is taking a serious look at this issue. MESABA AIRLINES = BIG FAIL!

The Australian Intelligent Transport Systems Summit 2009 (ITS 09) will showcase the latest in transport technology in Australia together with new innovations from around the world. In addition to the Summit being a fantastic opportunity to learn from leading experts and discover new ideas, the program will also provide delegates the unique opportunity to be part of discussions and decision-making to take ITS for Australia into the next generation.

Road safety, congestion and sustainability are just some of the challenges facing, transport networks around Australia (and the world). Meeting these challenges requires close consultation from all state and federal governments, as well as the systematic implementation of intelligent transport systems technology (ITS).

ITS technology helps our transport and road users to utilise infrastructure more effectively and efficiently. It is the link that will help all state, territory and federal governments meet their transport challenges. This was the pre cursor in establishing Australia’s first ITS Summit. Improving road and rail safety.

• Speakers that will present case studies on local and international developments in ITS and innovative applications of ITS
• Panel discussions and debates on appropriate directions, policy development and actions
• Facilitated workshops and/or working group sessions

Themes:

• Improving road network management
• Providing better travel and traveller information
• Improving public transport operation
• Facilitating a more efficient freight industry
• Reducing environmental impacts
• Improving security, safety and emergency planning

The program will include:

• Speakers that will present case studies on local and international developments in ITS and innovative applications of ITS
• Panel discussions and debates on appropriate directions, policy development and actions
• Facilitated workshops and/or working group sessions

Click here to learn more about the ITS Summit 2009

(Source: NPR & SFChronicle.com)

Several hundred auto workers rallied near New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont Thursday afternoon in support of an incentive plan, backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, designed to persuade Toyota to keep building cars at the plant.

The rally drew local business leaders and elected officials who are working with the governor’s office and state legislators, as well as with the Port of Oakland and PG&E, on a plan that includes tax breaks, improved transportation facilities, and lower electricity costs to make it economical for Toyota to stay in Nummi.

During the boom years of the U.S. car business, California was dotted with auto plants. Now the sole survivor may be on the verge of closing.

The New United Motor Manufacturing Inc., or NUMMI, was a unique joint venture between General Motors and Toyota, but the partnership is now history, and thousands of jobs are on the line in Fremont, which can’t afford to lose them.

The NUMMI plant sits in the middle of Fremont, a bedroom suburb of San Francisco. It has cranked out cars such as the Toyota Corolla and, until recently, the Pontiac Vibe for the past 25 years.

It is a point of pride among members of the United Auto Workers that their plant, which can produce abut 400,000 vehicles a year, is known for its high-quality cars. NUMMI began as an experiment tying unionized U.S. workers with Japanese management practices.

“It was a big question for both sides,” says Harley Shaiken, a labor expert at University of California, Berkeley. “The result was NUMMI, and the result was an extraordinary success story.”

Toyota could now decide, however, that the cost of going it alone is too much to bear.

Ever since GM went bankrupt, Toyota has been left negotiating with what’s left of the U.S. automaker. News reports in Japan say that Toyota is ready to pull out, though the company insists no decision has been made.

NUMMI is Toyota’s only unionized shop in the U.S. and also the only factory in North America where Toyota would have to deal with the UAW, and industry observers have suggested that union concessions would have to be part of any deal to keep the plant open and is widely believe that this fact could affect Toyota’s decision.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: Transit Wire & Progressive Railroading)

Amidst the flurry of negative publicity surrounding Washington, DC’s Metro rail system, there was some good news shining like a lone star in the dark sky! Metrorail passengers will soon be able to go online while underground. Four major cell phone providers have started to install the hardware that will enable riders to make calls, surf the Web, or send text messages from many of the Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s busiest stations starting in October.

Verizon Wireless, Sprint Nextel, AT&T and T-Mobile recently began installing hardware at the 20 below-ground stations and expect to complete work by Oct. 16. According to the WMATA press release, during the next two months, the companies will install a wireless network at the following Metrorail stations: Ballston, Bethesda, Columbia Heights, Crystal City, Dupont Circle, Farragut North, Farragut West, Federal Triangle, Foggy Bottom-GWU, Friendship Heights, Gallery Pl-Chinatown, Judiciary Square, L’Enfant Plaza, McPherson Square, Metro Center, Pentagon, Pentagon City, Rosslyn, Smithsonian and Union Station.

The companies will build, operate, maintain and own the new wireless network, as well as establish a second wireless network that WMATA will own, operate and maintain. The wireless contract will generate a minimum of $25 million during the initial 15-year term and an additional $27 million during renewal terms, according to the transit agency.

Customers at those stations will begin to see large, cabinet-like enclosures that will house the hardware at the ends of station platforms or on mezzanines, in areas that will not impede the flow of customers or impact the safe operation of the Metrorail system. New cables and antennae also will be installed as part of this work, which will take place late at night when the Metrorail system is closed.

“This is the first phase of Metro’s effort to bring expanded cell phone carrier service to the entire Metrorail system by 2012,” said Suzanne Peck, Metro’s Chief Information Officer. “After we complete the first 20 stations this fall, the carriers will install service at the remaining 27 underground stations by the fall of 2010. Customers will be able to use these carrier-provided wireless services in tunnels between stations by October 2012.”

Riders can now receive cell phone service from multiple providers at above ground stations, but the current underground wireless network only supports Verizon customers and Sprint phones that roam onto the Verizon network. In 1993, Metro agreed to allow Bell Atlantic Mobile Systems, which later became Verizon Wireless, to build and maintain the current wireless network. In exchange, Verizon built a public safety radio communications system for Metro. Verizon also pays annual fees to Metro.

“Customers have been asking for expanded cell phone and Internet access in the Metrorail system for a long time,” said Metro General Manager John Catoe.  And now they are finally getting what they pleaded, fought and begged for years!

(Source: Washington Post, New York Times, Bloomberg, The Detroit News, Autoblog)

The federal government’s Cash for Clunkers program began with a bang on July 24th and, despite the original plan having it last until Labor Day, will officially end next Monday night (August 24th) at 8PM. The end date was announced today by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and takes into account what he calls conservative sales estimates that have the pot running dry sometime over the weekend.

“This program has been a lifeline to the automobile industry, jump-starting a major sector of the economy and putting people back to work,” LaHood said in the statement.

As of today, C4C has recorded 457,476 sales worth $1.91 billion in rebates. The feds estimate about $400 million worth of rebates have yet to be submitted and are reserving another $100 million for administrative costs. That leaves $600 million left for what should be a very busy weekend on dealer lots.

After just a week, the program, which began July 24 and was expected to last until Nov. 1, ran out of the $1 billion originally appropriated by Congress. An additional $2 billion was approved two weeks ago, and it was supposed to last until Labor Day. Now that’s almost gone, too.

With the end in sight, many dealers are preparing for a flurry of last-minute customers over the weekend, and some are calling and e-mailing customers who were on the fence, perhaps threatening a surfeit of business.

“It’s not clear at all if there’s enough of the $3 billion to last through the weekend,” said John McEleney, chairman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. “My concern is if we go past the $3 billion between now and Monday.” He said, however, that he had been assured that the government has done calculations to make sure there is enough money left to get through the weekend.

In the days leading up to Thursday’s announcement, dealers and dealer groups said that uncertainties about the program’s ultimate conclusion were creating financial hardships and confusion. Among the organizations pressing for a resolution to the program was the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), which warned its members that “dealers who accept additional ‘clunker’ deals face a growing risk that they may not be reimbursed.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, asked LaHood in a letter today to speed up payments, saying “dealers have been forced to effectively finance the CARS vouchers for buyers until the dealers are reimbursed by the federal government, placing a strain on dealers’ balance sheets that, if prolonged, could eventually offset some of the benefits of the program.”

More than 1,000 people are processing the applications, LaHood said yesterday. That compares with fewer than 200 when the program began. The agency is training more of its staff and is using Citigroup Inc. contractors to handle the paperwork.

Also late today, Chrysler Group LLC joined General Motors Co. in announcing they will advance funds to dealers who are awaiting payment from the government for clunkers deals. The administration disclosed that it has paid just $145 million of the $1.9 billion in vouchers submitted — or less than 10 percent of the funds requested.

LaHood has been holding two or three meetings daily on the progress of the program in an effort to ensure an orderly shutdown.

The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade association that represents General Motors Co., Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and seven other automakers, praised the government’s handling of the program.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Sources: WSJ, NPR, LA Times)

Hundreds of auto dealers in the New York area have withdrawn from the government’s Cash for Clunkers program, citing delays in getting reimbursed by the government, a dealership group said Wednesday.  The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, which represents dealerships in the New York metro area, said about half its 425 members have left the program because they cannot afford to offer more rebates. They’re also worried about getting repaid.

“(The government) needs to move the system forward and they need to start paying these dealers,” said Mark Schienberg, the group’s president. “This is a cash-dependent business.”

Many dealers have said they are worried they won’t get repaid at all, while others have waited so long to get reimbursed they don’t have the cash to fund any more rebates, Schienberg said.  Schienberg said the group’s dealers have been repaid for only about 2 percent of the clunkers deals they’ve made so far.

“The program is a great program in the sense that it’s creating a lot of floor traffic that a lot of dealers haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.  “But it’s in the hands of this enormous bureaucracy and regulatory agency,” he added. “If they don’t get out of their own way, this program is going to be a huge failure.”

In contrast, today’s LA Times article notes that in California, which tops the list of states in terms of clunker transactions, most dealerships appear to be sticking with the program. The frenzy of buyer interest that greeted the program when it kicked off July 24 has dropped considerably partly because of shortages of popular cars such as the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Ford Focus.

“The gold rush is over,” said Eric Choi, fleet manager at Hollywood Ford. “We’re still getting some business from it, but like every other dealer, we’re pretty much out of cars.”

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood sought to reassure auto dealers Wednesday that they would be reimbursed for discounts given to customers under the program. With weeks-long delays in processing reimbursements, many dealers have feared the program’s $3 billion funding would run out before they received the money owed them.

An administration official said on Monday that the Transportation Department hoped to have 1,100 public and private sector workers processing the vouchers by the end of the week, up from a work force of about 350 through the end of last week.

Employees at a department service center in Oklahoma City have taken the lead in processing the vouchers, the official said, and workers have responded to calls for voluntary overtime to process the forms.

Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal reports that Obama administration will wind down its popular “cash for clunkers” incentive program on auto sales — and may do so as soon as early September, according to one person familiar with the matter.

When to end the program is a tricky question. The administration is closely watching the money remaining in the program, and expects there to be a surge in last-minute clunker deals once an end date is announced, said the person familiar with the matter. The administration wants to avoid having dealers agree to sales after all the funds have been used up, this person said.

Through Wednesday morning, dealers had submitted requests to be reimbursed for roughly 435,000 vouchers totaling more than $1.81 billion, though many of those hadn’t yet been approved.

The backlog at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration also has dealers worried that authorities won’t know when the funding is gone, he said. “That has clearly been something that the industry has been constantly asking: When is it at $3 billion and one and there’s no money left? You need to have a soft landing kind of approach.”

Click here to read the entire article.

(Source: BBC, TMC Net, US Infrastructure)

For the first time in more than a quarter-century, a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The Ares I-X rocket, its simulated crew module and launch abort system are assembled on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy in preparation for launch this fall.  Ares I rocket is a key component of Nasa’s next-generation space transportation system.

Image Courtesy: NASA

“More than three years of hard work with the NASA and contractor team has brought us to this historic moment,” said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. “This flight test is a critical step in continuing our design process for the Ares vehicle and the first flight for the Constellation Program.” The Ares I-X is wired with more than 700 sensors to gather data during the two-and-a-half minute flight test. The launch will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The data collected during the launch will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the integrated Orion spacecraft and the Ares I rocket.

The Ares I rocket will be used to launch the Orion capsule, the next man-controlled space craft destined to take over from the Space Shuttle.

The craft was finished a few days ago with the final elements being constructed on the 13 August; them being the stacking of the simulated crew module and launch abort system on the mobile launcher platform. Below is the presser from NASA on this topic (courtesy of PRnewswire.com).

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — For the first time in more than a quarter-century a new space vehicle stands ready in NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building. The Ares I-X rocket, its simulated crew module and launch abort system are assembled on a mobile launch platform at Kennedy in preparation for launch this fall.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

The final segments of the Ares I-X were stacked on Aug. 13, completing the 327-foot launch vehicle and providing the first look at the finished rocket’s distinctive shape. The Ares I-X flight test is targeted for Oct. 31.

“More than three years of hard work with the NASA and contractor team has brought us to this historic moment,” said Bob Ess, Ares I-X mission manager. “This flight test is a critical step in continuing our design process for the Ares vehicle and the first flight for the Constellation Program.”

The Ares I-X is wired with more than 700 sensors to gather data during the two-and-a-half minute flight test. The launch will provide NASA an early opportunity to test and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The data collected during the launch will allow NASA to gather critical data during ascent of the integrated Orion spacecraft and the Ares I rocket.

Now that the Ares I-X is assembled, numerous evaluations will be run on all the rocket systems, including complex instruments that will constantly measure the vehicle’s movements as it launches and the first stage separates. The evaluations include a process called “modal testing,” which will shake the stack slightly to test stiffness of the rocket, including the pinned and bolted joints.

Video B-roll of the Ares I-X will be available on NASA Television’s Video File feed. For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

To follow Ares I-X processing on Twitter, visit:

http://twitter.com/NASA_Ares_I_X

For more information about the Ares I-X and NASA’s next-generation spacecraft, visit.

http://www.nasa.gov/ares

(Source: Reuters via Yahoo, Times of India)

Shah Rukh Khan, 43, one of India’s best known actors, was enroute to Chicago for a parade to mark the Indian independence day on Saturday when he was pulled aside at Newark airport Friday, he said. The Indian Bollywood star said he felt angry and humiliated after he was detained and questioned at a U.S. airport, sparking an uproar in India among his fans.

“I was really hassled perhaps because of my name being Khan. These guys just wouldn’t let me through,” he said in a text message to reporters in India.

After a couple of hours’ interrogation, he was allowed to make a call, he said, and he got in touch with the Indian consulate who vouched for him and secured his release.

“Absolutely uncalled for, I think. I felt angry and humiliated,” said Khan, who had just finished a month-long shoot in the United States for his upcoming film “My Name is Khan,” which is about a Muslim man’s experience with racial profiling.

SRK, as the actor star is known by his popular acronym, was asked to indeed step aside for a ”secondary inspection” at Newark’s ironically named (in this context) Liberty International airport on Friday en route to an event to celebrate India’s Independence Day in Chicago, President Barack Obama’s hometown. But that was only after a ”primary inspection.”

A ”secondary inspection” is when the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer manning the immigration counter asks a visitor (or even a US citizen) to move to a separate area for questioning if he cannot initially verify the visitor’s information or does not have all of the required documentation, so as to not hold up the rest of the queue.

Indian and US officials rushed into damage control mode after word came in from Khan’s family that that the actor had been ”detained” and Khan’s vast fan base went ballistic. Timothy Roemer, the new US ambassador in New Delhi whose first week on the job it is, said he was trying to ascertain what exactly had happened at Liberty, and that Shah Rukh Khan was a global icon whose film were much loved even by Americans and he was always welcome in the US.

But Khan, from all accounts, doesn’t feel so welcome and says he will review his plans to visit the US again. In a slew of media interviews after the incident, he said his papers were in order, it seemed to be a case of religious profiling, and the incident was a ”little embarrassing” for an entertainer of his stature.

The incident comes days after a US government panel, gratuitously in the eyes of many Indians, panned New Delhi for its “inadequate protection of religious minorities,” even as the US President and Secretary of State lavished praise on Indian democracy on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day on August 15. It also comes on the heels of the flap over security procedures former President APJ Abdul Kalam has been subjected to in violation of protocol.

But there is an American side to the story too. US officials who have spoken to this correspondent on the subject in the past feel that some Indian visitors are needlessly huffy about routine security procedures, and there is a broad cultural mismatch or misunderstanding between the two countries in their view of rules and authority. India, one official said, has too much of a ”VIP culture” that gives some people a false sense of privilege and entitlement that does not sit well in a world of ever increasing security threats. Even minor delays and inconveniences are exaggerated and conflated into major protocol breaches by some Indians.

Click here to read the entire article.

(Sources contributing to this hybrid report:  Streetsblog, Tree Hugger, The Huggington Post & Guardian, UK)

The US oil and gas lobby are planning to stage public events to give the appearance of a groundswell of public opinion against legislation that is key to Barack Obama’s climate change strategy, according to campaigners.

A key lobbying group will bankroll and organise 20 ”energy citizen” rallies in 20 states. An internal memo obtained recently by Greenpeace USA details polluting interests’ plans to launch a nationwide astroturf campaign attacking climate legislation at public events scheduled throughout the final weeks of recess before the Senate returns to debate the issue in September.

The email memo (shown below), which appears to come from the desk of American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard, asks API’s member companies to recruit employees, retirees, vendors and contractors to attend “Energy Citizen” rallies in key Congressional districts nationwide in the closing weeks of the August recess. Taking a page from the playbook of astroturf campaigners currently crashing health care town hall events across the country, API hopes to similarly sully productive communications between Congress members and their actual constituents at public events scheduled for the coming weeks.  Gerard states that API is ready to bus in company members and provide logistical support, and reveals that API has retained “a highly experienced events management company that has produced successful rallies for presidential campaigns, corporations and interest groups.”

“Our goal is to energise people and show them that they are not alone,” said Cathy Landry, for API, who confirmed that the memo was authentic.

The email from Gerard lays out ambitious plans to stage a series of lunchtime rallies to try to shape the climate bill that was passed by the house in June and will come before the Senate in September. “We must move aggressively,” it reads. Gerard called this a “sensitive” plan that puts a “human face” on opposition to climate and energy reform. The campaign plan places a special focus on 21 states picked by API for having “a significant industry presence” or “assets on the ground.”

The rally sites were chosen to exert maximum pressure on Democrats in conservative areas. The API also included talking points for the rallies – including figures on the costs of energy reform that were refuted weeks ago by the congressional budget office.

The API drive also points to a possible fracturing of the US Climate Action Partnership (Uscap), a broad coalition of corporations and energy organisations which was instrumental in drafting the Waxman-Markey climate change bill that passed in the House of Representatives in June.

Whether the oil-industry rallies will command even a fraction of the attention that the health care events are getting remains an open question. Most of the health “town halls” were organized by Democratic lawmakers as a forum to hear constituent concerns, while the “Energy Citizen” events — one of which appears to be slated for next week in Houston — would be purely private-sector productions.

Environmental groups’ advance knowledge of the anti-climate rallies, however, could lead to on-the-ground battles over the future of the climate bill. The ultimate intended audience for that showdown: Democratic senators who remain on the fence about regulating emissions.

The memo closes with a ‘for your eyes only’ plea: “Please treat this information as sensitive and ask those in your company to do so as well… we don’t want critics to know our game plan.”

TransportGooru Musings: What a pity! For the sake of money, people like Jack Gerard tend to ignore the growing threats of global warming and seem to care less about what can happen to the very planet they live .  They seem to be ready to even pledge their children’s future, let alone their own future by playing such “Games.”  Why does the oil lobby engage in such a thing?  Treehugger said it aptly:  “…is all to say, to ensure that anything that cramps the business-as-usual, carry us down the path to catastrophic climate through continued rampant use of fossil fuels, plans of the petroleum industry is pushed aside in continued favor of big profits.”

Or may be it is the fear of losing out to the growing environmental movement that is making people like Gerard to resort to such  measures to keep their business afloat.  With more people buying energy efficient cars and the Government making a big push for electric vehicle technology, there may soon be a day the oil companies will be left behind trying to peddle their gooey black mess to unsuspecting folks in rural pockets of America.

When that day arrives, you can imagine the price of oil crashing down!  It might someday sell for $10/barrel, if you are ready listen to this investment guru.  There is an interesting post on the Infrastructurist blog that features Robert Prechter, an investment guru with a fairly impressive record of prognostication, who says oil is headed below $10 a barrel (maybe as low as $4) and destined to stay there for a long time. This is just a week or so after the world’s leading energy economist declared that we should expect oil to cost perhaps a few hundred bucks a barrel in the not-too-distant future. So, only a one hundred-fold difference, or so. In gasoline prices, it’s the difference between $10 a gallon and 75 cents a gallon. Prechter relies on a form of analysis called the Elliot Wave. It’s based on the principle that the price history of an asset (oil in this case) can tell you something about where where its price is going in the future. It will be really fun to watch what happens to Jack & his band of brothers at API when that day of $10/Barrel arrives for big oil.

Click here to read the entire article.  Here is a copy of the above-mentioned e0mail (courtesy of Greenpeace, via desmogblog)

(Source: Wired, CNET & Consumer Reports)

Images Courtesy: Apture

Volvo made history — and the world a far safer place — 50 years ago today when it delivered the world’s first car with standard three-point safety belts.

And it all started with a Volvo PV544 delivered to a dealership in the town of Kristianstad, Sweden.  The three-point belt was invented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin, who was looking for a better way of keeping people secure in a collision.

Before the three-point belt, there was the basic lap belt. This two-point design did a good job of keeping passengers in their seats during a collision, but it failed to evenly disperse crash forces resulting in a bruised forehead or–at high speeds–a possible fractured pelvis.

The three-point design, developed by Volvo, a company fanatical about safety and engineer Nils Bohlin, more evenly spread impact forces across the passenger’s torso and helped to keep the upper body in place.  Bohlin, a former aviation engineer at Saab who worked on airplane catapult seats, came up with an ingenious solution that combined a lap belt with a diagonal belt across the chest. He anchored the straps low beside the seat so the geometry of the belts formed a “V” with the point directed at the floor.  The design was created to help absorb the force on the pelvis and chest, while keeping the belt in position and not moving under the load.

Even after 50 years of automotive safety innovation, the three-point safety belt remains the most effective protection for occupants in the event of a collision. The belt reduces the risk of fatalities and serious injuries from collisions by about 50 percent. A design as obvious as it is intelligent, the three-point belt is perfectly suited to the seat occupant’s body. It is the safety belt’s ability to keep the occupant in the seat that is of crucial importance.

We take them for granted nowadays, but the three-point belt was revolutionary when it appeared on Aug. 13, 1959. In the years since, the V-shaped safety belt has saved well over a million lives. It has been called one of the most significant inventions of the 20th century, and it remains the most widely used safety innovation in automotive history. Every single car sold today uses three-point belts.  Here are some facts dug from various sources on the internet, which I thought are very interesting:

• In 1963, Volvo introduced the three-point belt in the United States after performing a number of crash tests that validated their claims that it offered the best protection to occupants. In 1967, the Swedish automaker presented data from collisions in Volvo cars over a one-year period that found the seat belt saved lives and reduced injuries by 50-60 percent. That same year, Volvo offered the seat belt as standard on front and rear outboard seats.
• Within five years, three-point belts appeared in cars throughout Europe and the U.S. Bohlin’s invention has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and prevented or reduced the severity of injuries for countless people. That makes the three-point safety belt the single most important safety device in the 120-year history of the automobile.
• The real breakthrough in legislation actually came from Victoria, Australia, which was the first state worldwide to draw up legislation in 1970 requiring not just the fitting of seatbelts, but also their actual use. In the first year of law, traffic deaths in the state dropped by 18 per cent.
• Consumer Reports blog states that in the year 2006, the use of seat belts saved an estimated 15,383 lives. During the five-year period from 2002 through 2006, seat belts have saved over 75,000 lives.
• Currently all U.S. states except New Hampshire have seat belt laws. However, 18 states do not have primary enforcement laws, meaning penalties can only be applied if the car is pulled over for another infraction. Studies show that stronger laws lead to higher use rates. Seat belt use continues to climb in the United States with 83 percent of all occupants buckling up.

What’s even more interesting is that neither Volvo nor Mercedes kept their inventions to themselves, and in fact encouraged other automakers to adopt the safety devices.  Thank you, Mr. Bohlin and Volvo for making our world a little more safer.

Click here to read more.