Plant-eating dinosaurs did not eat grass, because there wasn't any, so it is thought. During the Mesozoic Era, when the dinosaurs lived, conifers - cone-bearing trees and shrubs - dominated the landscape. They included redwoods, yews, pines, palms, cypress and the monkey puzzle tree. Flowering plants and grass evolved only later.
By the way, a plant does not look like its parents, but will always resemble its grandparents
Estimates by experts indicate the price of a gallon of gas would drop 3 to 7 cents if the United States opened all its potential oil fields for production. It would be 7 to 10 years before oil from newly opened fields would reach anyone's gas tank.
How about something more immediate? Something that would save significantly more than 3 to 7 cents a gallon.
Changing the consumption pattern is the quickest way to reduce the cost of energy and help the environment. We've done it before. The effect is immediate, and it works.
We're talking about a 55 mph speed limit, or maybe 60 mph -- anything that would cause people to drive slower and use less fuel.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, each additional 5 mph over 60 costs about 20 cents a gallon.
Easing up on the gas pedal at the national level could cut oil imports from the Persian Gulf by 20 percent, according to the Washington-based Alliance to Save Energy. An enforced lowered speed limit would also improve traffic safety, reducing serious injuries and fatalities.
Rest assured, it would require a strictly enforced law because anyone trying to drive slower on their own would be run off the road.
The 55-mph national speed limit that was imposed in 1974 in response to the Arab oil embargo was unpopular, but effective. Taking longer to get to a destination means personal sacrifice, which no one likes.
Private industry seems to be getting the point. Con-way Inc., a trucking company in Ann Arbor, Mich., has put governors on its 8,400 trucks, allowing each to go no faster than 62 mph (down from 65 mph). Con-way expects to save 3.2 million gallons per year.
Schneider National, a large trucking firm based in Green Bay, WI., also limits its fleet to a strictly enforced 62 mph speed limit, saving millions of gallons of fuel per year.
Northwest Airlines dropped the speed on its Paris-to-Minneapolis flight from 542 to 532 mph. It added 8 minutes to an 8-hour, 50-minute flight. Savings: 162 gallons per flight.
They're doing it and so can we. Wouldn't a few extra minutes per day be worth saving 20 - 60 cents per gallon?
It's not a magic bullet but it's a step in the right direction. This is something Washington politicians could actually do rather than talking about things they have no control over.
