WTF?! Why is everyone biotching about gas prices?!?!

[sillymofo]

I'm not complaining about high gas prices... I'm just complaining about the bastages that drove gas prices higher.... and all (most) of them come from Texas....

 

[Aharami]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
BTW I read the original post as not blaming SUVs, but basically saying "Don't bitch about gas when you're driving a huge gas guzzler you don't need." I think SUVs probably have had a fairly small impact - barely even worth mentioning, but hearing somebody whine about gas while they cart their family of 3 around in a navigator is pathetic.

quite true.

 

[Doggiedog]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Hafen
Only the emission from burning the hydrogen. The problem is that you first have to produce the hydrogen, a very energy intensive process, and really the only way to do that now is by fossil or nuclear fuels. You are not eliminating the pollution, just making (and concentrating) it somewhere else.

I am aware that that hydrogen suffers the "electric car" problem. Solution: biodiesel -- cheap, renewable, environmentally friendly, and more efficient than petroleum.
C'mon... used rancid cooking grease burns better in a diesel engine than petroleum diesel fuel does... why does everyone think that oil is all there is?

I'd like to see you try to start up your congealed cooking grease car in 0 degree temps. You may need to "pre-heat" the car to get it started.

I saw that history channel program on cars too. Pretty interesting.

 

[RossMAN]

My wife heard on the radio that supposedly San Diego has the highest average price, around $2.15 a gallon for regular unleaded.

 

[MattCo]

Those people who are cheering the prices to keep rising so that the SUVs will get off the road don't realize that they are killing themselves in the process. Hey, I am for driving more "friendly" vehicles, but raising gas prices isn't the answer.

As prices on fuel rises, it will become more expensive to fly, heat/cool your home, run your computer, buy groceries, produce plastic, etc.

And until we figure out better electricity generation methods, the hydrogen economy is just pushing the fossil fuel devil into a centralized location.


-MC

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: Skoorb
BTW I read the original post as not blaming SUVs, but basically saying "Don't bitch about gas when you're driving a huge gas guzzler you don't need." I think SUVs probably have had a fairly small impact - barely even worth mentioning, but hearing somebody whine about gas while they cart their family of 3 around in a navigator is pathetic.

Yeah really, we need gas to be up around $6 a gallon to start getting these Mamoth Urban Assault Vehicles off the road. Higher Higher Higher!

Dave... why are you your own worst enemy? Raising the price of gas may get some of the monsters off the road, but it will simply put more money and power in the hands of the oil cartels, and it will lengthen their time in power by lowering oil consumption (prolonging that inevitable day when we finally run out and their reign is ended).

Not to mention cause high inflation due to the increased cost of shipping by Truck.

 

[Amused]

Some things people seem to not understand:

OPEC is not just middle eastern countries.

OPEC, as a combined force, controls a majority of the world's oil.

It wouldn't matter if the US bought ALL of it's oil from non-OPEC countries, because OPEC still has enough influence to control the price of oil on the world market. Oil is a commodity and is priced accordingly.

The prices in Europe are artifically inflated with extremely high taxes. With state and local taxes here in the US, we pay 40-80 cents per gallon in taxes. It doesn't need to be any higher.

When adjusted for inflation, US gasoline costs are NOT that high. We were spoiled by OPEC undercutting the market for years in an attempt to drive other oil producing concerns out of production.

 

[conjur]

Imports of Crude Oil into the United States

 

[Kyteland]

Originally posted by: Amused

Originally posted by: Techie333
No, I ain't married. hahaha. So its OPEC? What about our Iraq supply, dammit. But didn't somebody predict we will run out in like 30 years?!??

They predicted that 30 years ago. We were supposed to run out of oil in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. They're full of sh!t. Didn't Y2K and the end of the world flunkies teach you anything?

I remember reading reports from 100-150 years ago stating the coal crisis. They claimed that the coal supply would run out in 30 years and plunge the economy in to chaos. Between new ways of getting coal and new energy technologies we now have an extimated 300 year supply of coal. I'm not woried about running out of gas.

 

[eakers]

everyone who is saying go to europe needs to realise that in europe cities are planned so that people can walk places and take public transport. here everything is so spread so far apart that it makes it impossible to not have a car.

 

[Rudee]

Not everyone is like Techie333 and lives at home with Mommy and Daddy, who pay their car insurance and fuel costs.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: SportSC4
the problem isn't with gas prices or fuel economy, but the layout of the US of A. In Europe, Japan, etc; everything is built on top of each other. The USA had its boom during the age of personal transportation so suburbs were built far from the city and everything was spread out, there wasn't a need to build on top of each other. I would love to use public transportation here in Colorado but it's nearly non-existant (I can't wait for light rail to be built along I-25) and cabs charge a ridiculous amount of money. When I was in London, I had an incredibly easy time using their subway system (the tube). There are busses everywhere in Greece and Spain. Paris's system was easy to get around in.

Now, people who buy cars with mpg in the teens shouldn't complain too much... I know what I was getting into with a car ~21 mpg.

Agreed. So many cities and urban areas could benefit from a rail/train system. Most people are forced to commute because they have no other choice. Too bad hardly no one would ever vote to raise gas prices to help subsidize the construction and upkeep of better public transit systems.

Too many people don't see past tomorrow and won't admit that gratuitious wasting of resources is a bad thing.

I agree. Although it would never fly, I think a solid gas tax would be able to fund research for renewable energy and more useful public transportation. But cars are a bigger part of America than in Europe simply because of its geographic layout....you could not switch entirely to a system like that here.

But increasing the gas tax would be an easy way to get people to use less of it. And if the money was cyclied somewhere else like I said, to research ways to produce hydrogen cleanly and cheaply or something along those lines, we could reduce our dependence on foriegn oil.

I think we shouldn't drill the oil reserve. Save that for an unexpected war.

 

[Jumpem]

Originally posted by: Wolfdog
One of the biggest misconceptions is that we get most of our oil from OPEC, when in reality it is only a small percentage. Typically less than 20%, with the remaining coming from US based suppliers and a small percentage coming from places like argentina. My major problem with the gas prices is that there is absolutely no supply and demand issue here folks, they jack the price up whenever they feel like it. This is the second time this year they have pulled this crap. With the first price hike actually taking place when demand is at its lowest during the year. My vehicle gets 20~25mpg but it sucks since I drive to and from work everyday. Although it is 14 miles roundtrip that still takes more money out of my wallet every time I fill up. It is only a 20 gallon tank. It is around an extra $100 a year if the prices stay where they are or get worse. Thats $100 that I won't be spending on anything else but to get to and from work. Now you add this all up accross all Americans and thats a hefty sum that the economy won't be getting. Hence less jobs created since people can't spend that money on anything else than gas. That also comes directly out of my takehome pay. Which has been already raped via the federal and state governments. Don't even go into the social security that they are stealing from us all, that will never be repayed. I'm putting aside the mega-suv's and the like to make the point. It isn't like I'm going on trips or going places just to go, working is needed to actually pay the bills. You can't get to work without your vehicle. Mass transit here sucks. No trains or other viable ways of getting there. So yes I do get upset when the greedy oil consortium uses thier monoplistic tactics to gouge americans without any reason. You see this is where the Governmnet needs to step in and whip up some of the Sherman anti-competitive act on thier sorry buttocks. Since they all generally price all thier fuels the exact same price, it isn't exactly like there is any real competition happening at the pumps. Pumping the oil reserves is only putting a band-aid on a flesh wound. Someone with a big set of manhoods needs to standup in the government and tell the oil corporation of america that they are SOL and fine them a hefty sum for their practices. Making sure to give thier ill gotten monies back to us.It is exactly the same feces that the music sellers industry did with thier price fixing. In the end they ended up paying back in a settlement. So when it comes down to it maybe we should band together and sue the living crap out of the oil big wigs.

You're bitching about gas with a 14 mile commute!?:| That's 70 miles a week going to work. Mine is 175 miles round trip. I drive 875 miles a week just going to work!