Why Are Gas Prices So HIGH?

Impose a tax...anything that doesnt get at least 25mpg or so has to pay a yearly tax of 20% of the cost of the car new.

ie 50k hummer pays, 10k a year in tax for crappy mileage.
(obviously those who already have them cant pay)

 

You, like most Prius owners probably last bought gasoline when the price was much lower. Don't worry. It will go down again before you need a fillup....sometime in November.

(Tounge in cheek as I assume the original post was)

 

How is it possible you just noticed?

Released from the state pen? Just got your license? Wake up from a coma? After 10 months of CPR the medic finally saved you? Got to the edge of Greenbough county and you "just kept runnang"?

 

I've been hearing and reading such predictions since Dr. Paul Erlich (The Population Bomb) 30 years ago---but his analysis, for obvious reasons, was based on different factors.

Some folks believe that an increase in the standard of living in the rest of the world must come "come at the expense of" a corresponding decrease in ours, i.e., Western countries. Others don't.

I personally wouldn't object if the (what I consider) excessive consumption in the U.S. were driven down a notch or two. Really: RINGTONES a multi-billion-dollar industry? BREAST ENHANCEMENT SURGERY for teenagers? So we can "feel better about ourselves"?

A "self-concept" driven by hype and terminal trendiness must be fragile indeed.

:waits for libertarians to come out of the woodwork:

 

My 10 cents worth is simple

USE LESS...AND SAVE MONEY., you should already be doing it if you are in this board. It is great for this country, and doing the world a favor too. The world and the U.S. are changing, we can change too and stay on top, or complain and fight it and go down, our choice. I think this country is smart enough as evidenced right here on this board, to come out on top.

 

I sorta agree---

except that the people here (really, maybe 1,000-1,500 of the 9,000+ "registered") are a tiny fraction of Prius owners...

and in turn a miniscule fraction of owners in general...

but I hope the tide is actually turning.

 

djasonw:

what's your problem, dude?

it's S-C-H-M-U-C-K

but you got "putz" right

 

If you believe gas prices are high now, just wait a year. In 2004 China became a net importer of oil and due to domestic growth and continued rises in exports, at 8%/yr. Lets not forget about China's 1.3Billion population that, along with India's 1.0Billion population, will increase energy demand thats off the scale. Take a look at natural gas futures. Last year they were about $4-6mBTUs, today they are over $12. So, for your house, take last December's natural gas bill and double it, thats what we'll be paying to heat our homes.
I wonder if Toyota makes furnaces?

 

All of these are factors and make sense however it doesn't make sense that daily changes in crude are reflected daily at the pumps. Profit taking!

Yesterday I filled up my diesel Mercedes at $3.38 per gallon. A year ago diesel was always 20 cents per gallon lower than premium. Today it was 20 cents higher. Premium and Plus were both the same price and regular was $3.08. Makes no sense to me.

Oil company profits are at a record level. The higher the price of oil the more money the Bush family makes.

Nuf said!

 

Well to make you feel better I can tell you the gas price in Sweden are now at SEK 12.58/liter and that makes it around $6.40/gallon and rising...

/Zappa

 

Americans have been in relative comfort in terms of our gas prices for the past few decades.

One of the reasons why Americans have so many cars and drive so much. <_<

 

I've been anticipating the climb in gas prices, and that's part of why I got a Prius. Today the gas station down the street from me had these prices posted: $3.19, $3.29, $3.39. Admittedly this is the over-priced place, a few blocks down it was 10 cents cheaper per gallon, but it's only going to get worse. I anticipate less than two years before you're lucky to get gas at $5 a gallon.

Let's face it, even with hybrid cars we're using up a finite resource. Sure we are part of the solution, but until we look beyond even hyrbid technology to alternate fuel sources (perhaps renewable ones?) prices will continue to rise, and eventually, we WILL run out.

If only I hadn't watched Back to the Future 2 so many times, I long for a car that runs on garbage.

 

Exactly... Gas prices (until recently) have been remarkably low given the natural rise in the costs of items over time. How much was a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk 20 years ago? Of course, this is not a direct comparison, but the gist of it is the same... Prices rise for everything over time, and everyone adjusts to it... Except when it comes to gas. I haven't seen any news stories about the price of a gallon of milk going from $2.09 to $3.09 over the last few years.

The people that I have met who are the most fired up about the higher gas prices are the ones who think there's no reason they should have ever gone above $1... ever. The price of gas you see now, I think, is about how much gas SHOULD cost in this day and age. Maybe $3 is over the line, but certainly more than the $1.50 it was not too long ago.

 

Looks like you fell for the ol' PR from the oil companies and lobbyists, hook, line and sinker. A study was done almost a year about what it would take for gas to reach above $3.00 a gallon in the US. Oddly enough, the study said OPEC would have to be charging over $90 a barrel to make that happen. Yet oil is under $70 a barrel and we have those prices... That's because nobody actually believed GREED would get this far out of hand and no one in the the Bush Administration is willing to take them to task... Oh I know it is just coincidence that Bush hasn't gone after the oil companies and he is from the big oil state of Texas, and Cheney from the energy company Haliburton. Yeah, it's all just coincidence... At least the Attorney Generals in several states are taking them to court. Perhaps there will be some justice in the end.

All those factors you mentioned above have been going on for years, but never have they been blaming on skyrocketing gas prices like they are now. Oil production has shut down hundreds of times in the Gulf due to hurricanes, but now a few days shut down and we see the prices SPIKE overnight. Don't you find it odd that the oil companies are reporting record profits each quarter?

Don't believe the hype the oil companies are telling you (demand, refinery cost, etc) If that is the case, tell them to use some of those record profits to build more refineries and stop making EXCUSES.

 

Stop whining , I pay about twice as much, 6 - 7 $ per gallon.

Maybe the anwer to the question is :
http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/04...ure5/index.html

 

Hmm. I wonder if Foxy's battery can run our heater this winter?

 

Foxy's battery can run FOXY'S heater, and you can fold down the rear seats and SLEEP in Foxy!

(In the driveway, not in the garage.)

 

Here's a nifty Inflation Calculator that helps put things into perspective. For example, $3 in 2005 was 86 cents in 1976.

I remember an cartoon from Mad Magazine back in the 70s that had to do with the price of gas. The first panel had the car owner with his hands raised and an offstage voice saying "Stick 'em up!" We also saw a hand holding what looked to be a gun.

The next panel showed that it was the gas station owner holding the pump nozzle and it was his little joke. When the driver asked if there was any gas, the owner replied, "Yeah, all you want, at a dollar a gallon. And I ain't joking now."

The driver raised his hands again and said, "You're right, this is a stickup!"

 

Endoil-
The garage walls are trellis rick-rack. We live in a floodplain, the first floor required break-away walls. So we could sleep in Foxy, in the garage!
Whadda think - would she use full or queen size sheets?

 

Don't complain in the USA. In Holland one gallon cost about $ 6,50.
1 liter is € 1,42.