Here we go again with gas prices...

[Seattle S65B40]

So, it's almost $4.00 a gallon for premium here in Seatown now. All because of Libya? Not really. 35% of the increase is due to tensions in the mid east, the rest is greed and oil companies taking advantage of the situation. I'm tired of our nation's vulnerability to these situations.

Drilling our own oil here is not the solution. We need to do something as a nation to regulate the bidding/pricing process better while at the same time keeping a steady supply. We're gonna be F-ed one day if we keep our current plans and policies in effect.

Oh, and so much for that economic recovery. The chain reaction to gas prices has already begun.

[BTM]

Yes. Let's implement more short sighted price controls. Price ceilings have always gone wel.... 88mph in reverse to Jan 11 IMO FWIW

[MontegoGoGoGo]

I hate my period too.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by MontegoGoGoGo

I hate my period too.

gas prices went up because no pics of you tongue sushi with your GF so far

[Want]

Originally Posted by BTM

gas prices went up because no pics of you tongue sushi with your GF so far

Thanks a lot montego. I hope you're happy now.

[MontegoGoGoGo]

Originally Posted by Want

Thanks a lot montego. I hope you're happy now.

As a clam.

[jibaholic101]

FPEC food producing exporting countries. Stick it right back to them. Oil companies don't necessarily set prices. OPEC has more of a hand in that.

[Feyd]

I'm sorry, are you inferring that someone is manipulating information to make more profit?



csb

[Georgeair]

Whatever.

For the average person using 600-800 gallons per year another dollar per gallon isn't really an issue. Not that you'd know it from the overhyped bullshit leading every newscast for the past two weeks!

Gimme a break!

[Augenbrauezug]

Originally Posted by Georgeair

Whatever.

For the average person using 600-800 gallons per year another dollar per gallon isn't really an issue. Not that you'd know it from the overhyped bullshit leading every newscast for the past two weeks!

Gimme a break!

For the average person, 600-800 dollars per year is a huge difference.

[KingOfJericho]

Originally Posted by jibaholic101

Oil companies don't necessarily set prices. OPEC has more of a hand in that.

Nobody "sets" the price of oil. OPEC controls supply which can be used to manipulate prices to some extent but the open market dictates the price. We're talking about futures so if you think the price of oil will go up in the next several months (or supply will be disrupted) you would buy contracts now for a presumably lower price than you would in several months. More people trying to do that drives up the price. Uncertainty is what is currently driving up oil prices.

[ragingclue]

It was the most effective cause of increased efficiency at the individual level. However, the hurting it puts on the economy, especially with its already weakened and broken state, is something to worry about.

Otherwise, I'd say high gas prices are the best way to get Amurricuns to GTFO the unnecessary SUVs and pickups and into more sensible modes of transport. And yes, I do realize some people do actually need trucks and SUVs and whatnot, and I'm not suggesting everyone buy a Prius, but if you look at what the first gas price panic did (in 2008) to car sales by type, it was clearly the biggest "successful" method to get people into sensible autos. It also encouraged carpooling and mass transit where applicable, and encouraged many to reconsider their planned move to the burbs or encouraged the move from the burbs to the urban centers.

Then gas prices went back down and most Amurricuns forgot about the scare and went back to their old habits. Now gas prices are going back up and we're going through the same shit.

[solefald]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

it's almost $4.00 a gallon for premium

It's $4.65 a block from my house.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by solefald

It's $4.65 a block from my house.

Yup it's about that here in Chicago too. I was in SD for the 2008 gas price explosion and when I departed on my trip from SD to Chi, premium had just hit $5+ in some areas around there. Was a great time to do a cross country jaunt in a LR Disco.

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by Augenbrauezug

For the average person, 600-800 dollars per year is a huge difference.

yeah. And it's not just 600-800 in gas. It's the increased cost of everything. Local businesses in Seattle have already raised prices to account for their higher costs (Pagliacci Pizza for example raised the price of all it's pizzas by a dollar because their cheese costs went up).

So, now you have Jonny McSmallbiz raising prices, which hurts Joe the Plumber and causes him not to buy products and services, which causes Jonny to lay off employees. So really, in the aggregate, it's like a 4000-5000 difference in people's lives. If gas hits $5.00/gal like it's expected to, we could be in serious trouble.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

Yup it's about that here in Chicago too.

Didn't something come out that we have the highest gas prices in the country? WTF

[InCityPhoto]

Nothing I can do about it, Seriously I am not going to go avenging the gas god's..

So why complain about it?

[Freakazoid]

I can tell you this much, watching the airfare prices go up, I'm sure as fuck not flying any time soon....

[McMuffin]

4.15 a gallon in my area. Seems like I went from 40 to 60 bucks to filling up now. Since the City I work for gives us 50-60 dollars a month for public transportation, I might consider that if gas goes over 5. Would save me a lot since a bus pass is only 60-70 a month.

[E90SLAM]

http://www.oilcrashmovie.com/film.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_Storm

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by BTM

Didn't something come out that we have the highest gas prices in the country? WTF

Yeah there was some news about that in January and February..

Chicago seems to duke it out with the Cali markets though. The nice thing about Chicago is that I can live in the city and work outside the limits, and it makes a HUGE difference in the price of gas. In Cali, you're just F'd no matter what, and in Chicago, if you're stuck filling up in the city, you're F'd. What's the difference out here anyway, isn't it like $.40/gal difference between city gas and suburb gas? It's fkn ridiculous.

[bolinp78]

If you are complaining about $4.00/gallon (which, in the big picture is cheap), just wait until the oil companies have their taxes increased ten fold to make way for the new green energy revolution that is so important to everyone that doesn't have a clue about how economics work.

When the cost of extracting/refining that fuel you think is so expensive goes up astronomically, you'll be the one paying for it. But at least the tax dollars will be going to support the new energy revolution! The people in power right now have no earthly idea how to even spell energy policy, much less enact a policy with a LONG TERM FOCUS. They want to tax the big bad oil companies (while also taxing the smaller ones that cannot afford to shoulder the tax increases) so that they can prop up and accelerate their green energy. They don't have the intelligence or foresight to understand or see that you can't just hopscotch from one energy source to the next. They want to build windmills with high maintenence costs for what they produce and electric cars (laugh) with no infrastructure. It's going to be years before any sort of infrastructure is in place that can support more greener forms of energy en masse. What sources of energy are you going to use while we move towards the green?

I almost stopped right when I saw that you were blaming 'greedy oil companies' but this thread just has so much potential I couldn't help myself. Drilling here is not the solution? You sound clueless. Do you also need a lesson on the ramifications of China holding a vast amount of our debt?