In Senator Warner’s (R-VA) letter to the Secretary of Energy, he asks in a nutshell, “How come you all haven’t done anything yet?”
His primary idea is old (Go back to 55 mph on interstates), but he wants there to be research to find out exactly how much fuel we would save.
I have an even simpler idea than going back to 55 mph (I, for one, hate driving 55).
ENFORCE THE CURRENT SPEED LIMIT. (Yes, I had to yell that.) What would happen, if all of a sudden, anyone going 3 mph over the speed limit was ticketed? The average speed would go down, states would get some income, and gas would be saved. And if all of us were going the same speed, it would be harder to get into accidents. (But right now, state patrols are putting few cars out on the road since gas prices are eating into their budgets.)
And if this is not enough, let’s reduce the interstate speed limits by just 5 mph. This way, 70 would become 65, 60 would become 55 and I would keep 55 at 55. The jump between 70 and 55 may be too much for the big empty stretches of road in the middle of the country, but this would be almost not noticeable.