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Who's Responsible for Gas Prices?


Richhamleigh, DC

Gas Prices in the US  

37 members have voted

  1. 1. Prices too high?

    • Too high
      28
    • Too low
      5
    • Just about right
      4
  2. 2. If you think prices are too high, what's to blame?

    • Car makers
      1
    • President Bush, VP Cheney, Cheney's Energy Commission and Bush's oil pals
      19
    • Gas taxes
      1
    • The "War on Terror"
      1
    • Disruptions in oil supplies; low refining capacity
      5
    • Hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico
      0
    • Increase demand in China and India
      10
  3. 3. Are gas prices affecting your spending on other things?

    • Yes, I've cut back b/c I don't have as much money to spend on other items
      23
    • No, it hasn't affected my spending habits at all
      14
  4. 4. Will gas prices hurt the US economy?

    • Yes, it's already hurting the economy
      30
    • No, the economy isn't being affected
      7


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^^ I think that is a hollow excuse . . . it does take some hard work and probably a few hundred dollars at least. It is by no means a "quick fix" but if you gave it a few days a week by mid-May most Americans could be much less oil dependent. One of Charris Ford's big secrets is that most fast food restaurants are CHARGED to dispose of their grease, Ford takes it off their hands for FREE. With that kind of deal you have a vast supply for hundreds of thousands of American commuters to tap into, and that doesn't even get into what Dancing Rabbit is doing.

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Or many Americans could just do what I've done and ride a bike or jog to work every day, not all of course but if you live within 5-10 miles of work commuting is almost enviromental suicide. I'll also challenge every American on the myth that mass transit CAN'T get them to work, even though mass transit funding has been cut and some expansions have been put on hold, almost every corner of this country no matter how remote is connected by a web of metro transit . . . sure you might have to take a big bad bus but if 260 million Americans did that we would cut gas consumption by half overnight.

Americans for the first time in our history lack the WILL to change. God help this generation if we were the ones called on to go through the Great Depression, a World War, a Civil War or the darkest days of the Cold War, we might all be speaking German now :( .

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The Gaston County school district (next to Charlotte) is now running its school buses on bio-diesel and they are using the left over grease from frying up food for the kiddes in the school cafeterias to make the stuff. They set up their own processing facility to make biodiesel. It is saving the the district a great deal of money in fuel costs, grease disposal costs, and of course it doesn't pollute as much. In fact, the buses have a pleasant french fry smell. Win win for everyone.

I wish there were more diesels on the market here as there are in Europe.

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This is absolutely true, and is largely due to the fact that our government gives massive subsidies to the oil companies. European countries instead subsidise alternatives like public transit and alternative energy sources. It is much more expensive to drive there, but driving isn't the necessity to Europeans that it is to most of American society.

You have hit the nail squarely on the head. Mass transit is sorely lacking in this country and I would like to see much more money spent on subsidizing affordable mass transportation.

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The Gaston County school district (next to Charlotte) is now running its school buses on bio-diesel and they are using the left over grease from frying up food for the kiddes in the school cafeterias to make the stuff. They set up their own processing facility to make biodiesel. It is saving the the district a great deal of money in fuel costs, grease disposal costs, and of course it doesn't pollute as much. In fact, the buses have a pleasant french fry smell. Win win for everyone.

I wish there were more diesels on the market here as there are in Europe.

That is great news, I remember that Mayor Daley of Chicago touted his metro busses switching over to 100% hydrogen at a news conference around 5-6 years ago. The initial investment for thousands of those busses was steep but the cost and environmental savings were huge for years to come.

This isn't rocket science, if you really really were determined to do it in your own garage you could at the very least cut down consumption by half of what your spending now. Even better anyone can buy a hybrid or take a bus or ride a bike for short trips. There are ways to lessen our dependence and until we do that be it the Clintons the Bushs the Arabs or the Oil Execs we will have someone that is willing to take advantage of the American people.

I vote Republican more then I do Democrat, but neither party is going to end our oil addiction, maybe Clinton kept the lid on in the 90's but for all their talk they only increased our dependence, Bush the same way, he talks of the "next generation" being oil free, this when there are hundreds if not thousands of people right now that are living oil free.

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The biggest problems are both the chinese/indian demand and the lack of refining capacity around here. Is there something Bush did besides the war that would result in an increase in oil prices? Isn't the refining capacity in Iraq better than it was a year ago? Why is the gas NOW at an all time high? Not that higher gas prices would be much of a problem for our environment... I dislike the Bush Administration but it's not because of wacky conspiracies about 911, katrina, or the war; but because of the lack of a response to Katrina, their aversion to conservative (libertarian) principles, their alliance with the "christian right", their lack of a backbone when dealing with obstructionist (and socialist) Democrats. A lot of the things they've wanted to do that was a good idea was shot down by these jackals. They claim to care about the "little guy", but shoot down one of the administration's best ideas, school vouchers, probably because of their allegance to the teachers unions. This at the expense of their most loyal constituants, poor inner city people. The administration that was supposed to cut spending has run up the biggest deficits we've seen (as a % of GDP) since the early 1950s. To be honest I'm just about fed up with politics, you've got scumbags on both sides of the aisle and it seems like no one that's any good ever makes it to the top.

The US government is gonna be, along with Alberta, the next Saudi Arabia. All that oil shale out West (and on government lands) is gonna make our government very powerful when they start refining it, which is likely years from now when the middle east starts to run dry. I believe they're at their highest output capacity right now and their oil will only become more and more scarce soon enough...

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I voted too low.

The big problem with this issue is that we as a society are only willing to do something that will affect change if it's very easy. Get out of our cars? No way. We won't even drive smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles. We're far too spoiled and lazy for that and too many of our cities are planned with that spoiled and lazy mentality in mind.

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The US government is gonna be, along with Alberta, the next Saudi Arabia. All that oil shale out West (and on government lands) is gonna make our government very powerful when they start refining it, which is likely years from now when the middle east starts to run dry. I believe they're at their highest output capacity right now and their oil will only become more and more scarce soon enough...

Interesting, if this is true it is a very smart move by our government. By the time the Middle East runs dry we will almost certainly be using alternative fuels, while China, India and any other up and coming countries will still likely be oil dependant.

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Brazil already has, every vehicle is ethanol-powered.

I didn't take the poll because the choices didn't include The Oil Companies' Greed, which is obvious as the retiring CEO of Exxon-Mobil just took home a doggy bag containing $400,000,000.00

Supplies are currently at an all-time high. The working man is getting screwed and its the oil companies are driving the shaft.

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Oil hit $71/bbl yesterday. And George Bush is still blocking lots and lots of mass transit projects to fund his war in Iraq.

The sad thing is, you can be as angry as you want. This president isn't going to change a damn thing and we'll all be paying for his wreckless idiotic leadership when all is said and done. Send the man back to Texas... the man is unfit for his duties.

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Oil hit $71/bbl yesterday. And George Bush is still blocking lots and lots of mass transit projects to fund his war in Iraq.

The sad thing is, you can be as angry as you want. This president isn't going to change a damn thing and we'll all be paying for his wreckless idiotic leadership when all is said and done. Send the man back to Texas... the man is unfit for his duties.

As he said in a recent press conference they replayed on Imus ... "I'm the decider and I'm gonna decide what's right for the country". Now that he got us in Iraq, I think we should continue the funding til the Iraqis can fight the war themselves (they're getting better). Isn't he trying to kill Amtrak? It's something probably has a good chance to pass since Amtrak is so horrible and not many people care about it. I'm wondering when the decider will decide to invade Iran or N. Korea...

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Oil hit $74 intraday today and closed above $72, some stations on the east coast are now charging more then $4 a gallon for gas!?!

Americans should start the boycott today, no more gas, take the bus, the subway, buy a bike, SHUT THEM OFF. I'm into my 18th month of independence from the pump. It's not for everyone but it's not rocket science either, all of us can be energy independent or lessen our dependence on it by at least 50% by the end of the month if we really really wanted to.

Boycott them into submission, the price per barrell will hit $25 if we were serious about wanting it to happen.

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Oil hit $74 intraday today and closed above $72, some stations on the east coast are now charging more then $4 a gallon for gas!?!

Americans should start the boycott today, no more gas, take the bus, the subway, buy a bike, SHUT THEM OFF. I'm into my 18th month of independence from the pump. It's not for everyone but it's not rocket science either, all of us can be energy independent or lessen our dependence on it by at least 50% by the end of the month if we really really wanted to.

Boycott them into submission, the price per barrell will hit $25 if we were serious about wanting it to happen.

I spent $70 today to fill-up my (work) truck. No more eating out for this boy.

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Oil hit $74 intraday today and closed above $72, some stations on the east coast are now charging more then $4 a gallon for gas!?!

Americans should start the boycott today, no more gas, take the bus, the subway, buy a bike, SHUT THEM OFF. I'm into my 18th month of independence from the pump. It's not for everyone but it's not rocket science either, all of us can be energy independent or lessen our dependence on it by at least 50% by the end of the month if we really really wanted to.

Boycott them into submission, the price per barrell will hit $25 if we were serious about wanting it to happen.

I'm not too familiar with it ... but I believe big parts of the problem are OPEC and emerging countries' increasing demand coupled with decreasing supply. It's not like Americans have been innocent in this, how many millions of SUVs have been sold? How many hummers? How many Jets (espescially the private jets) are there taking up tons of jet fuel? As our great Decider has decided to say during the SOTU address, we're addicted to oil, specifically because of all the power it places upon our enemies (i.e. EVERY arab country, Venezuala, Sudan). The national security issue, not the environment or even supply, has what seems to me brought alternative fuels more to the forefront with this government. It certainly wasn't all those Americans who don't want to give up their way of life. I live in CT, where the gas prices are still in the 2.90s. I had a few friends from "Taxachusetts" over last weekend and they said gas was still in the 2.60s there. Where is this $4.00/gallon gas? The highest estimate for the summer's peak I heard was $3.50. Anyways, I'm in favor of higher gas taxes ($5.00/gallon, perhaps) implemented in stages with the stipulation being these revenues are 100% invested in public transportation. There is a huge problem though, with such a large populace living in areas with little to no public transport, it'll really hurt the average taxpayer. I live in the country (my choice, it's where I grew up...) and drive a good half hour each way to work in an "exurban" corporate campus. The only buses that run to my town are Casino buses, so there's no way I can take mass transit to work from where I am. At least it'll help to stop or slow down the exurbanization of America, and cut down on pollution.

Our oil companies don't set the oil prices the way OPEC does, but since their oil and natural gas is harder to find and harder to get to than Arab oil, it's somewhat good that they're making a huge profit if they actually reinvest it into R&D, and some of them are. If you have the money and live in a state with good tax incentives, like CT and NJ, definately get solar panels for the house; you'll be off the grid and you'll start making money on your investment from selling your excess power within a few years.

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I doubt we will ever see this

I wonder...seems like the oil barons are testing the resolve of Americans.

I think that a sizable number of people participating in Urban Planet would prefer to live in places where they aren't required to drive for every bloody every day thing... I believe that most of us could live with $5 or even $20 a gallon if we had a choice in transportation...and I suppose this is the point, the overwhelming majority of Americans have no choice, no option, but to pay.

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^^PD, I challenge you to tell me you can't take masstransit to work tommorrow . . . might take an extra hour (take along some ppwrk to do or make some calls) might have to walk a mile or two to get to the office. I have yet to see a major or minor metro NOT provide some form of mass transit to nearly every inhabitable corner. If only a quarter of the nation did this tommorrow gas prices would COLLAPSE, it would be the biggest selloff of oil futures we've ever seen, only a quarter of us doing it (actually it would take a few consistent days for Wall Street to crunch those #s but as soon as they hit the street the price per barrell would fall through the floor).

Americans are _____, imagine this generation sacraficing through a Great Depression, risking themselves and rationing almost every daily neccesity during 4 long years of World War, let alone the horrors of the cold war's early days. Would African Americans even have the moral fortitude to risk themselves and their fortunes to boycott companies and organizations that victimized them today, as they did during the Civil Rights movement?

If only every fourth house in America boycotted oil, we would go a long long way in ending dependency tommorrow. Charris Ford, the folks at Dancing Rabbit, the Chicago Transit Authority, Gastonia Schools and I seem to be the only ones realizing the sheer power and glory we have over the Oil companies and countries. Or does the average American just lack the will of their forefathers of generations ago, we'd rather just whine about being victimized. If our fathers or grandfathers would have settled for that we'd be living in a Jim Crow south, a second rate power to the communists, still suffering with the Great Depression or speaking German right now. It was the blood sweat and tears of those people in black and white photos that gave you and I the freedom and prosperity we enjoy today, time for us to ante up and sweat some for the future of what LIBERTY really means.

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^^PD, I challenge you to tell me you can't take masstransit to work tommorrow . . . might take an extra hour (take along some ppwrk to do or make some calls) might have to walk a mile or two to get to the office. I have yet to see a major or minor metro NOT provide some form of mass transit to nearly every inhabitable corner. If only a quarter of the nation did this tommorrow gas prices would COLLAPSE, it would be the biggest selloff of oil futures we've ever seen, only a quarter of us doing it (actually it would take a few consistent days for Wall Street to crunch those #s but as soon as they hit the street the price per barrell would fall through the floor).

And if people do that and gas pices collapse I will benifit because I will still be driving. One thing your forgetting about is that to many, if not most people in America don't simply consider cars a way to get around, they are a way of life. There is a whole culture to cars and driving them, cars are the ultimate status symbol, when you see someone in a Lamborghini or Porche you know they have money. I would give anything just to drive around a Lamborghini for a day, where you could probably care less. Thats the main reason people want to drive, and are willing to pay the high gas prices, they love their cars.

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^^PD, I challenge you to tell me you can't take masstransit to work tommorrow . . . might take an extra hour (take along some ppwrk to do or make some calls) might have to walk a mile or two to get to the office. I have yet to see a major or minor metro NOT provide some form of mass transit to nearly every inhabitable corner.

I agree with everything you say but I think you over-simplify the commuting and daily activity travel conundrum. First of all, I'm a landscape architect and can't take a bus to every one of my sites. Furthermore, if I were fortunate enough to work in an office in a central city and lived a typical mid-sized or small metropolitan area - where most of us live...the two-hour bus commute would be fine - I'd get a lot done on the bus and the walk to / from the bus stop sure would be healthy - if I didn't get killed walking to get to there on the non-pedestrian friendly roads that dominate our landscape. I sure hope though that once I got to my office park or center city office location I could also get my groceries and dry cleaning. Oh, I forgot my kids...

I agree with you - in principle - and wish it were true. It's just NOT that simple. With VERY few exceptions, because of our laws and lending principles and our urban myths - we've built a country that for the majority of Americans requires the use of a personal vehicle. You know what's really sad? A majority of Americans CAN'T drive!!!! They're too old, too young, too poor, or physically unable...

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^^PD, I challenge you to tell me you can't take masstransit to work tommorrow . . . might take an extra hour (take along some ppwrk to do or make some calls) might have to walk a mile or two to get to the office. I have yet to see a major or minor metro NOT provide some form of mass transit to nearly every inhabitable corner. If only a quarter of the nation did this tommorrow gas prices would COLLAPSE, it would be the biggest selloff of oil futures we've ever seen, only a quarter of us doing it (actually it would take a few consistent days for Wall Street to crunch those #s but as soon as they hit the street the price per barrell would fall through the floor).

I can't speak for everyone else, and I know you didn't address this post to me, but although my metro area offers mass transit, it's only within the limits of the twin cities. For those of us in the suburbs, it's not feasible. And you may be just talking about city dwellers, I'm not sure... I may have missed that. I just wanted to point out that, in most smaller midsize cities, mass transit isn't available to suburbanites.

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hood: maybe you will, but think of it this way in most areas 50% of the price is just local road taxes, so as we are all biking and busing and driving cars fueled with french fry grease you'll be building that new onramp, bike crossing and bus stop lane for us fueling up that lamborghini :).

~~~

PD: I'm not a dad (yet) and your right, it does take some creative balancing to be able to put food on the table and dryclean etc. if your limited to bike and/or rapidtran options. Very very doable but your correct no more 1am runs for beer or icecream etc.

In your profession you have to drive to get paid, no other way, but again that is really only about 25% of Americans, if the other 75% went off oil the same affect would transpire. We aren't talking big numbers here, not even half, like any business Oil is happy if there is a 5% or 10% pop in demand, if there is a 25% drop in demand overnight it is catastrophic to their business model and you'll find us oil independent overnight. A boycott's goal is not to give something up but to put the balance of power back in the consumers hands. Your right though there are some professions and businesses that could and should not participate, the magic is if only 1 out of every 4 Americans did it would crack the pricing power oil companies have over us within hours.

~~~~

SBCm,

I find that rather surprising. I know Shreveport isn't exactly a "major" metro but I wonder if you did some investigation if there were link ups with surrounding county transit agencies. I'd be curious to know that, again it totally sucks most of the time (maybe 2 link ups all day lousy service etc.) but it can be down if you are a strong enough believer in it.

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SBCm,

I find that rather surprising. I know Shreveport isn't exactly a "major" metro but I wonder if you did some investigation if there were link ups with surrounding county transit agencies. I'd be curious to know that, again it totally sucks most of the time (maybe 2 link ups all day lousy service etc.) but it can be down if you are a strong enough believer in it.

Maybe. I'd have to contact SporTran to find out. Not only would using mass transit help with fuel consumption, but it would also put less miles on my car. Right now I'm putting at the very least 50 miles per day, but since I go to the gym after work most days, I'm putting about 80 on most days.

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^^ouch!

I know these last few posts were slightly off topic but again asking why it is happening is only half the solution ;).

Though bike and masstransit is useful, I would encourage all of you to check out those Charris Ford and Dancing Rabbitt (on the fuels and such) links I posted earlier in the thread. If your looking for more then a short term fix that is definetly the route to go to forget oil once in for all.

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PGH,

I forgot to mention that I'm all-over your idea of a boycott. I heard a report this morning that the spike in prices. The gas companies are blaming the switch-over to summer fuels....something they've had to do for years without a "shortage". I seems like they are trying to deflect blame to environmentalists - hoping that the majority of Americans will blame "tree huggers", etc., for the rise in prices...

WHERE'S THE ANGER?!?!?!!!!

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PGH,

I forgot to mention that I'm all-over your idea of a boycott. I heard a report this morning that the spike in prices. The gas companies are blaming the switch-over to summer fuels....something they've had to do for years without a "shortage". I seems like they are trying to deflect blame to environmentalists - hoping that the majority of Americans will blame "tree huggers", etc., for the rise in prices...

WHERE'S THE ANGER?!?!?!!!!

Well ... part of the reason we have high gas prices are the "tree huggers". No new oil refineries (they also block coal power and nuclear power) in 30 years, we can't drill for oil in the Gulf like the Mexicans are, we can't drill off California or in Alaska. If they're not gonna want to allow for any of these sources of power or refing capacity to be built, what do they expect? They obviously don't expect the US to invest in windmills, as evidenced by all the "liberal environmentalists" out on Cape Cod. God forbid anyone consider putting up a dam. Out of I dont know how many people with the means, not many people have solar panels on their houses. Here in CT and I know NJ the state has great incentives for putting up solar panels on your house, you make your money back in a few years and then start making money on your investment. I don't see too many of these houses, but there are a few out there. I work at a fortune 50 company in a facility that employs mostly people in the top 5% of the tax bracket, so there's no shortage of people with the means to put up expensive solar panels around where I live. Meanwhile, more Americans are consuming more power/gas than ever before. I think people kinda expect their politicians to do everything and that they have no part in our dependence on foreign oil.

Yes part of the gas hike is the switch over to summer fuels. The additive they used to use was a big pollutant and they no longer use it. I think they're using ethanol now. I heard on Imus this morning that part of the shortage that there are still refineries that are either out or running on a limited capacity from the hurricanes and others are undergoing yearly maintenance. Another factor is increased demand from developing countries (esp. China) which will only get stronger as the years go on.

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