Report says 25-cent a gallon gas price spike near!

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PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,747
579
126
Originally posted by: JDub02
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: JDub02
Originally posted by: Fatdog
Originally posted by: Queasy
Gee, drilling in ANWR and more oil refineries sounds good right about now.

And what do we do after draining the ANWR?

The price needs to go up to force us to wake up and get serious about conserving.

conservative estimates are that the oil reserve in ANWR is freaking HUGE. that'll give us another couple hundred years or so to develop alternate fuel technology.

We'd just piss those extra hundred years away like we did with the last 100, likely increasing our consumption rate in the face of the lowered prices. What happened when gas prices dropped down a little for 5 years or so? Everyone bought huge vehicles so they could use more gas. Imagine the effect after 100 years of cheap fuel, it'd quickly turn into 50 years.

Naw, alternative fuel won't take off until there's a real financial incentive to do so. We'll just keep going until all the oil's gone (or totally unaffordable), THEN we'll sh|t our collective pants and finally do something about.



but think of where technology and R&D was 100 years ago. in 1905, cars just started showing up. no such thing as computers, let alone ECU controlled engines. i can't imagine where it'll be 100 years from now.

What I don't get is how everyone talks about the price of gas but no one mentions the ~$.60/gallon tax on gas. The government has the ability to instantly lower the price of gas. So without the taxes, gas is sellign for something like $1.40/gallon ... way cheaper than even milk. heck, cheaper than alot of bottled water.

You're missing the point. There will be no serious research or infrastruction change until gas becomes to expensive. Lower the gas tax would simply retard progress on that front.

If gas suddenly cost $500/gallon tomorrow, it'd probably take us just a few years to switch over to some other fuel source. It would be literally all anyone was doing or thinking about. There would be a huge finacially incentive to get something, anything out there to solve the problem.
 

Fausto

Elite Member
Nov 29, 2000
26,521
2
0
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: JDub02
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: JDub02
Originally posted by: Fatdog
Originally posted by: Queasy
Gee, drilling in ANWR and more oil refineries sounds good right about now.

And what do we do after draining the ANWR?

The price needs to go up to force us to wake up and get serious about conserving.

conservative estimates are that the oil reserve in ANWR is freaking HUGE. that'll give us another couple hundred years or so to develop alternate fuel technology.

We'd just piss those extra hundred years away like we did with the last 100, likely increasing our consumption rate in the face of the lowered prices. What happened when gas prices dropped down a little for 5 years or so? Everyone bought huge vehicles so they could use more gas. Imagine the effect after 100 years of cheap fuel, it'd quickly turn into 50 years.

Naw, alternative fuel won't take off until there's a real financial incentive to do so. We'll just keep going until all the oil's gone (or totally unaffordable), THEN we'll sh|t our collective pants and finally do something about.



but think of where technology and R&D was 100 years ago. in 1905, cars just started showing up. no such thing as computers, let alone ECU controlled engines. i can't imagine where it'll be 100 years from now.

What I don't get is how everyone talks about the price of gas but no one mentions the ~$.60/gallon tax on gas. The government has the ability to instantly lower the price of gas. So without the taxes, gas is sellign for something like $1.40/gallon ... way cheaper than even milk. heck, cheaper than alot of bottled water.

You're missing the point. There will be no serious research or infrastruction change until gas becomes to expensive. Lower the gas tax would simply retard progress on that front.

If gas suddenly cost $500/gallon tomorrow, it'd probably take us just a few years to switch over to some other fuel source. It would be literally all anyone was doing or thinking about. There would be a huge finacially incentive to get something, anything out there to solve the problem.
:thumbsup:

Auto manu's won't go this route whole-heartedly until it's profitable. End of story.

 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
I know a guy with an H2. His response, when asked by somebody, about whether he felt guilty using all that gas was basically along the lines of "We're all going to use it up at some point, and not do a damn thing until the levels run low anyway, so what's a few extra years really going to help us?" His logic is not bad. In fact
Naw, alternative fuel won't take off until there's a real financial incentive to do so. We'll just keep going until all the oil's gone (or totally unaffordable), THEN we'll sh|t our collective pants and finally do something about.
is precisely right. It doesn't matter if oil runs out in 10 years or in 100. Alternative energies will not be common place until they are _cheaper_. Nobody gives a sh*t about anything else. So whether we hit an oil catastrophe in 2007 or 2027 we'll hit it just as hard in any case.
 

psteng19

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2000
5,953
0
0
Glad I kept my Sentra :thumbsup:
45 mpg baby! :)


Originally posted by: UglyCasanova
Good god I could not imagine paying $5.64 for a gallon of gas. Why is it so expensive over there?

As already stated, taxes.
And they don't drive nearly as much as we do so they're not affected as much.
US is much larger and suffers from urban sprawl.
Plus every family here has at least 3 cars.


What the US needs to start doing is rationing gas.
Forces us to drive less and buy more efficient cars.
Or maybe not...
 

KingPhil

Golden Member
Apr 27, 2000
1,154
0
0
Time to start drilling in Alaska :)

Now, you would think the government would give the car manufactures a HUGE break on taxes IF they sold their hybrid cars for cheap.

I mean, like 10k / hybrid car, not 20-30k.

If they were 10k, and reliable, they would sell like hot cakes!

~Phil
 

Fausto

Elite Member
Nov 29, 2000
26,521
2
0
Originally posted by: KingPhil
Time to start drilling in Alaska :)

Now, you would think the government would give the car manufactures a HUGE break on taxes IF they sold their hybrid cars for cheap.

I mean, like 10k / hybrid car, not 20-30k.

If they were 10k, and reliable, they would sell like hot cakes!

~Phil
Then people would bitch about the gov subsidizing the auto manufacturers.

 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Originally posted by: psteng19
What the US needs to start doing is rationing gas.
Forces us to drive less and buy more efficient cars.
Or maybe not...
Yeah, that won't kill the economy or anything.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,333
136
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: UglyCasanova
Good god I could not imagine paying $5.64 for a gallon of gas. Why is it so expensive over there?
Taxes. Their actual cost of gas is not much different than ours, but their taxes are MUCH higher. The British government makes something like 3 times more revenue from a gallon of gas than the oil companies do.
Yeah its all taxes. Most of europe is pretty tightly packed, and as such pollution is a much bigger consideration for them. Thus, they tax the living sh|t out of gas to keep things from getting out of hand.
Which backfires by making government dependent on the revenue.
When did that backfire? The government is of course dependent on the revenue...but I fail to see how this is any different from income taxes or general sales taxes.

Sure, suddenly people might stop driving all together and the trucking industry would vanish in favor of carrier pigeons and the pony express...but thats about as likely to happen as people stop buying groceries or clothes, or everyone up and stop working thus eliminated the income tax revenue.
Europe is not exactly paving the way to alternative fuels, now is it?
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,747
579
126
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: Vic
Originally posted by: UglyCasanova
Good god I could not imagine paying $5.64 for a gallon of gas. Why is it so expensive over there?
Taxes. Their actual cost of gas is not much different than ours, but their taxes are MUCH higher. The British government makes something like 3 times more revenue from a gallon of gas than the oil companies do.
Yeah its all taxes. Most of europe is pretty tightly packed, and as such pollution is a much bigger consideration for them. Thus, they tax the living sh|t out of gas to keep things from getting out of hand.
Which backfires by making government dependent on the revenue.
When did that backfire? The government is of course dependent on the revenue...but I fail to see how this is any different from income taxes or general sales taxes.

Sure, suddenly people might stop driving all together and the trucking industry would vanish in favor of carrier pigeons and the pony express...but thats about as likely to happen as people stop buying groceries or clothes, or everyone up and stop working thus eliminated the income tax revenue.
Europe is not exactly paving the way to alternative fuels, now is it?

Who said it was? Its cheaper (and possible) for most of them to not drive at all or as much.
 

Vic

Elite Member
Jun 12, 2001
50,422
14,333
136
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Who said it was?
Which is how the tax has backfired. While it does effectively discourage high fossil fuel use, it also keeps the European governments from helping to develop alternative fuels.
 

freegeeks

Diamond Member
May 7, 2001
5,460
1
81
I pay $5,40 / gallon

I have a Peugeot 106 (1.4 4 cyl)
I take the train to work (cost 0,0 euro, fully paid by my employer)
I hardly use my car (I'm doing maybe 8000 miles a year)
I use a bike or public transportation whenever I can

There are plenty of alternatives where I live to not use your car and I hope our govt. taxes car use even more because there are still plenty of morons who use their car to go to the grocery store around the corner.
 

sonoma1993

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,410
19
81
yesterday morning, gas was about $1.90. when i came home from my dad house, gas was upto $2.15-2.17 for unleaded gas. this up in the port huron,michigan area.
 

sonoma1993

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,410
19
81
from george w bush tax cuts, i dont see any of that money. with the hike of gas prices, whatever money i gain from his tax cuts gone right into gas money. iit sucks having to pay $2.15 a gallon
 

sonoma1993

Diamond Member
May 31, 2004
3,410
19
81
no id never said i was blaming him for high gas prices, i said from his tax cuts, i dont see any of my money i gain from them, it goes straight into my gas money. but there been reports around because of bush tax cuts and the rising defcits, since the value of dollar has been dropping. it effect how much we can buy a barrel of oil for.
 

broon

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2002
3,660
1
81
Originally posted by: FoBoT
we jumped from $1.86 when i filled up last night to $2.05 this morning

I'm in the same area. Should have filled up yesterday instead of waiting until this morning.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Originally posted by: sonoma1993
no id never said i was blaming him for high gas prices, i said from his tax cuts, i dont see any of my money i gain from them, it goes straight into my gas money. but there been reports around because of bush tax cuts and the rising defcits, since the value of dollar has been dropping. it effect how much we can buy a barrel of oil for.

Increased worldwide demand is what is currently driving the prices upward.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: freegeeks
I pay $5,40 / gallon

I have a Peugeot 106 (1.4 4 cyl)
I take the train to work (cost 0,0 euro, fully paid by my employer)
I hardly use my car (I'm doing maybe 8000 miles a year)
I use a bike or public transportation whenever I can

There are plenty of alternatives where I live to not use your car and I hope our govt. taxes car use even more because there are still plenty of morons who use their car to go to the grocery store around the corner.
That's the nice thing about a place like belgium or any other tight city. In a city like birmingham public transportation hardly exists, and is not economically feasible. Cars are required for _everything_. THe majority of people don't even live within a reasonable walk of a corner store.

 

funboy6942

Lifer
Nov 13, 2001
15,308
393
126
What really gets me is these hybrid cars. They advertse them to be so gas saving and such and people are buying them up. Anyone give any thought into what it is going to cost you to get any repaires done on such a vechile. I am sure the mantinance cost have to be super high on one of them. Then they really are not saving you that much as far as the MPG goes. 37 HWY really isnt that huge when you think back on the Geo Metro that got 50 MPG. Sure it was a small car but it wasnt a hybrid and it got 40-50mpg. I am sure with all that extra weight of a hybrid a fully loaded Metro would be faster in the 0-60 range, goes further, and much less to maintain. Hell the engines were so small if it died you just unbolted it. Picked it up. And throw in another one. Because of this it dosent work fo rbig car makers to make these because they wont make any money from you being able to do your own repairs. Because of that they make it not only impossable to do work on hybids but regular cars as well. This forces you to go to the dealer because aside of the engine itself that is almost unchanged its the computer controlled BS, sensors, led screens, and usless crap that makes it unrepairable by the adverage Joe.

The technlogy is there not to have these super technical, high cost, out of this world to maintain, and so-so MPG but people with money are stupid and will buy them. These cars are going to harm the inviroment in the long run. Think about it. The rich afford them, then get sold a few times over the years. By the time the lower middle class and poor have no choice but to buy them you wont be able to afford to get them repaired when a sensor craps out. Whats going to happen then is they get junked. All of these high cost to repair cars are going to over crowd car lots and junk yards because no one can afford to get them fixed down the road. They also dont save sh!t after you factor the cost to repair, fuel, and the MPG they really dont get. We need a revamped metro to come back out IMO if people want great MPG and the car wont cost 30-40K more like 8k.
 

JoLLyRoGer

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2000
4,153
4
81
Originally posted by: Rogue
$78.96 to fill up my car @ 5.64/gallon! I'd be a motorcycle or bicycle riding mofo in most of those countries.

$141.00 to gas up my 'Effie' at that rate. DAMN!
 

psteng19

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2000
5,953
0
0
Originally posted by: funboy42
What really gets me is these hybrid cars. They advertse them to be so gas saving and such and people are buying them up. Anyone give any thought into what it is going to cost you to get any repaires done on such a vechile. I am sure the mantinance cost have to be super high on one of them. Then they really are not saving you that much as far as the MPG goes. 37 HWY really isnt that huge when you think back on the Geo Metro that got 50 MPG. Sure it was a small car but it wasnt a hybrid and it got 40-50mpg. I am sure with all that extra weight of a hybrid a fully loaded Metro would be faster in the 0-60 range, goes further, and much less to maintain. Hell the engines were so small if it died you just unbolted it. Picked it up. And throw in another one. Because of this it dosent work fo rbig car makers to make these because they wont make any money from you being able to do your own repairs. Because of that they make it not only impossable to do work on hybids but regular cars as well. This forces you to go to the dealer because aside of the engine itself that is almost unchanged its the computer controlled BS, sensors, led screens, and usless crap that makes it unrepairable by the adverage Joe.

The technlogy is there not to have these super technical, high cost, out of this world to maintain, and so-so MPG but people with money are stupid and will buy them. These cars are going to harm the inviroment in the long run. Think about it. The rich afford them, then get sold a few times over the years. By the time the lower middle class and poor have no choice but to buy them you wont be able to afford to get them repaired when a sensor craps out. Whats going to happen then is they get junked. All of these high cost to repair cars are going to over crowd car lots and junk yards because no one can afford to get them fixed down the road. They also dont save sh!t after you factor the cost to repair, fuel, and the MPG they really dont get. We need a revamped metro to come back out IMO if people want great MPG and the car wont cost 30-40K more like 8k.

The older Civics and Sentras used to start around $10-12k and got like 40-50 mpg.
Too bad they've ballooned in size and engine displacement, and not to mention price :thumbsdown:
 

freegeeks

Diamond Member
May 7, 2001
5,460
1
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: freegeeks
I pay $5,40 / gallon

I have a Peugeot 106 (1.4 4 cyl)
I take the train to work (cost 0,0 euro, fully paid by my employer)
I hardly use my car (I'm doing maybe 8000 miles a year)
I use a bike or public transportation whenever I can

There are plenty of alternatives where I live to not use your car and I hope our govt. taxes car use even more because there are still plenty of morons who use their car to go to the grocery store around the corner.
That's the nice thing about a place like belgium or any other tight city. In a city like birmingham public transportation hardly exists, and is not economically feasible. Cars are required for _everything_. THe majority of people don't even live within a reasonable walk of a corner store.



I know, this wasn't a rant against the USA or anything, I know the situation is completely different in some parts of the USA where it is difficult to organize efficient public transportation, but I'm still convinced that some common sense can make a difference.

I see perfectly healthy young people using their car to go to the post office that is 3km away. That doesn't make any sense.

I work in Brussels and my employer pays 100% of the cost if you take public transportation to work. I still have co-workers who prefer to be in traffic jams for 2 hours every freaking day because they refuse to use public transportation. IMO they have that right, the right to be morons that is