‘Aunt Ednas’ are easing foreign fuel dependency

Tim Rundquist - Fergus Falls

Published Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Quick: What do Jimmy Carter, Sammy Hagar and your Aunt Edna have in common? Hint: it has something to do with a very simple way to reduce fuel consumption.

First, let’s recall the Carter Administration: détente, malaise, killer rabbits, disco fashion (admittedly, not Jimmy’s fault) and, most of all, the “Energy Crisis.”

Some of you might even recall waiting in long lines at the gas pump to purchase fuel that (God forbid) was pushing a buck a gallon.

In response to this situation, President Carter proposed a head-scratchingly simple solution: Drive more slowly. Studies at the time showed that the optimal automobile speed for fuel efficiency was about 50 miles per hour; the president, perhaps realizing that such a glacial pace was perhaps asking too much of the American driver, backed legislation that ultimately set the national limit at 55.

And, say what you will about the Carter Administration, ol’ Jimmy got this one right: Fuel consumption in fact modestly, but measurably, decreased, and American consumers were a little less vulnerable to the foreign crude-oil cartels that had driven the crisis.

Now we fast-forward a few years to the go-go 80s, where “greed is good,” where OPEC fears have long since faded into the rear-view mirror.

Rock-n-roller Sammy Hagar (later of Van Halen fame) is wailing about how he “Can’t Drive 55,” and indeed, this seemed to reflect the national sentiment.

In response, the Reagan administration cuts loose the conditional limit (i.e., linking the setting of highway speeds to the receipt of federal transportation funds), and the states, one by one, release the reins; Detroit gears up its assembly lines to crank out the monster trucks and SUVs, and we’re back to guilt-free gas guzzling.

Finally, we fast-forward to modern times. Buck-a-gallon gas is but a distant memory, and even $2 would seem like a steal. It can now cost $100 or more in some locales to fill up that Hummer, and indeed, the guzzlers are increasingly gathering dust on the retail lots.

We never saw too many of those ostentatious displays of horsepower in our small community, anyway, and the local dealerships with their sensible Fords and Buicks have been doing just fine, thank you.

One of their most loyal customers is your elderly Aunt Edna, who is on her third generation of patronizing the Nelsons and the Brimhalls whenever her LTD or LeSabre finally wears down.

She may be seen cruising down Union on most Sunday mornings, doing about 20 in a 30/mph zone, veering a little to the right when she needs to make a left-hand turn onto Summit, and when necessity dictates that she visit the Twin Cities (she still refuses to call it anything but Dayton’s), she is the one in the right-hand lane, poking along at an even 55 mile-per-hour— as everyone else impatiently flies past.

It takes her maybe 20 to 30 minutes longer to reach downtown Minneapolis from Fergus, but she has plenty of time anyway.

We all have been “stuck” behind Aunt Edna in local traffic; indeed, it is one of the signature characteristics of our region. But, what does she know that we don’t, or that we seem to have forgotten? Is there a reason why she seems to get more out of a tank of gas than anyone else? Is Aunt Edna thinking about easing foreign fuel dependency, curbing the release of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, old-fashioned values of thrift and economy?

And finally, why does she seem to be about the most relaxed, unhurried, stress-free person (other than on bingo night) that anyone knows?