Gasoline has passed $3.00 a gallon

[Racin' Rick]

...$3.49 a gallon for premium here in Louisville. Fortunately, the tank on my HD only holds a little more than two gallons. Total fuel purchase: $9.00

[Imawhosure]

Just to let you people know------------>oil companys are saying that investing in refinerys is to costly.

 

ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?

 

Of course it is to costly. Why? Because if they do, the price of gas will fall.

 

Until most of you get the message that this is a false shortage created by purposely insuring refining capacity is low, you will continue to get screwed, and they will drag the economy down en mass.

 

Listen to the Enron tapes!!!! Now, what do YOU think the oil execs and traders are saying; without a tape recorder near, since we learned how to catch them with it, lol!!!!!!

 

This is no conspiracy, but rather duplicity. And both your political partys are happy you aren't anywhere near as pissed as you should be.

 

Will any of you ever write a congressmen/woman, and tell them you are not stupid and fix it, or get voted out of one of the most powerful jobs this world has ever seen?

 

If ya don't, don't bitch!!!! You can even e-mail them..........which will take about 30 seconds longer of your time than it will to reply to this thread. Is it not worth it?

[econolineman]

...$3.49 a gallon for premium here in Louisville. Fortunately, the tank on my HD only holds a little more than two gallons. Total fuel purchase: $9.00

 

Same here in northern Ohio, for plain 87 octane. Jumped .40/gal in some places in just one day with the promise of more to come. I think this summer we see that dreaded $4/gallon.

[econolineman]

You can even e-mail them..........

 

I am about to do so at this time...

 

Whether or not it will do any good, I do not know, but this last hike was enough for me.

[Savetheplanet]

What do you expect them to haul mulch in? A Civic hybrid?

 

What a frakkin idiot.

 

I am sure you are right, the f-150 gets the best MPG out of ALL the trucks, big and small.

 

Back to the topic, I agree that the oil company's are slackjawed ratfucks, but there is plenty of blame to go around and Americans don't hold theirself accountable for over consumption, nor do the wall street traders hold themselves accountable for helping to drive up the price, I could go on, there are others to blame, (Cheney, Enron, secret energy meetings)

But all I have hear from you guys is blame big oil and the tree huggers, 7 pages and no one talks about wallstreet, hedge funds, speculators etc.

Get some perspective

[Furious1Auto]

What do you expect them to haul mulch in? A Civic hybrid?

 

What a frakkin idiot.

I guess I'm not the only one who sees it! :gang:

[jrod]

...$3.49 a gallon for premium here in Louisville. Fortunately, the tank on my HD only holds a little more than two gallons. Total fuel purchase: $9.00

$3.49 for regular in Cleveland, as of yesterday and still today!!

[Savetheplanet]

$3.49 for regular in Cleveland, as of yesterday and still today!!

 

3.90 for reg. in downtown chicago today, I am sooo excited, can't wait until it gets to $5

[Len_A]

Or you could move closer to work, buy a car that gets good MPG, get off your fat ass and ride a bike once in awhile or---

 

 

Gas price = $3.20 a gallon

 

 

Gas price with carpool = $1.60 a gallon

 

Gas price with 3 in the carpool = $1.07 a gallon

What kind of car would that be? Even Toyota pays attention to what the majority of the market wants. I found it real interesting that the 2008 Toyota Scion xB grew hugely, in terms of size and horsepower, from the last model, the 2006: Toyota Scion xB grows with customer needs (click for link to article)

The 2008 Toyota Scion xB grew a foot in length (twelve inches) three inches in width, and grew six hundred and thirty six pounds in weight. Engine displacement (size) grew sixty percent, and fifty percent in horsepower and sixty percent in engine torque. At the same time, fuel economy falls significantly from the 30/34 city/highway ratings of the 2006 model to 22/28 city/highway for the 2008 Scion xB automatic transmission model. That's over a 27% drop in fuel economy. From Toyota.

 

Mark Templin, Scion's vice president, said at the introduction of the 2008 Toyota Scion xB: "No one in the automotive industry is as hard-wire-connected to its owners as is Scion (Toyota), and the 2008 xB is a perfect example. We've stated in the past that we'll probably always have a box in the Scion lineup, but our owners told us they wanted a bigger box. They talk, we listen and we responded with a bigger and better xB."

 

This isn't coming from General Motors, Ford Motor Company, nor Chrysler. This is coming from Toyota, the darling of the anti-Detroit crowd in Congress, and a frequent pillar of the decision to disbelieve the Detroit automakers, as to what they say is feasible, and discount what they say, when they make their case that the market place determines what they can and will build.

[fmccap]

Just to let you people know------------>oil companys are saying that investing in refinerys is to costly.

 

ARE YOU LAUGHING YET?

 

Of course it is to costly. Why? Because if they do, the price of gas will fall.

There is another reason too. TAXES. You know how lately Illinois has been called the highest in the country.

Illinois gas prices highest

I came across some interesting things.

Illinois hits you twice, creates higher gas price

Besides state, federal, county and local taxes levied on fuel costs, Illinois assesses an additional 6.25 percent gasoline sales tax on top of that total.

Yes, Illinois taxes you twice.

Ima told me that we should all be worried when they do things like this. Eventually it will come to you.

 

Besides the point that we are getting taxed twice I would like to know how you in Indiana feel considering that yours used to be about 15 to 20 cents cheaper than Illinois. Everytime I take a ride to Indiana lately they are within a few pennies. A few times I have noticed that they would sometimes be a few pennies more also.

[sept68]

The fuel taxes have not increased in the pas 6 months, the refineries profits have. It's also not 60% at $3.00 a gallon. Cheap, Savetheplanet is out of his mind. I was just watching the local news and they where talking about our landscapers being put out of business. Their having trouble meeting the obligations of their contracts! !

 

 

I was referring to the cost of fuel in Europe. Most taxes on US gas are fixed. Don't forget state and local governments also tax your fuel as well. This is the main reason gas prices vary state to state and city to city. The government makes more of a profit on gas than big oil. Just because gas price jumps doesn't mean that the oil companies are raking in the dollars. We are paying more because there is a supply issue. Most people on this board don't understand basic economics. Big oil would make much more money selling oil at a lower price if they had more of it to sell. It is almost impossible to gouge the public without getting caught.

[Savetheplanet]

I was referring to the cost of fuel in Europe. Most taxes on US gas are fixed. Don't forget state and local governments also tax your fuel as well. This is the main reason gas prices vary state to state and city to city. The government makes more of a profit on gas than big oil. Just because gas price jumps doesn't mean that the oil companies are raking in the dollars. We are paying more because there is a supply issue. Most people on this board don't understand basic economics. Big oil would make much more money selling oil at a lower price if they had more of it to sell. It is almost impossible to gouge the public without getting caught.

Great post, you make some good points, and you are right, most people don't undrstand basic economics, they just repeat the quotes they here on the news.

[Heywood]

I was referring to the cost of fuel in Europe. Most taxes on US gas are fixed. Don't forget state and local governments also tax your fuel as well. This is the main reason gas prices vary state to state and city to city. The government makes more of a profit on gas than big oil. Just because gas price jumps doesn't mean that the oil companies are raking in the dollars. We are paying more because there is a supply issue. Most people on this board don't understand basic economics. Big oil would make much more money selling oil at a lower price if they had more of it to sell. It is almost impossible to gouge the public without getting caught.

 

I agree, most people on this board don't understand basic economics. The conspiracy theories that are bandied about are purely unsupported allegations, and have no basis in reality. Every time gas prices go over some threshhold amount, various state and federal investigations are undertaken, and except for one or two unscrupulous filling station owners, there is no finding of mass price gouging ever. Yet despite no findings of gouging, price fixing, or price manipulation, some people still believe Big Oil is out to gouge them, or that Bush, Cheney, and Rove are somehow "setting" the price. I don't get it.

 

 

Gas prices are a function of many factors, and are not immune to the laws of supply and demand. Right now, the demand is high and the supply is low. Result is higher prices. Here's one factor people may not know. Did you know that about 13% of our GASOLINE is imported? I'm talking about GASOLINE, not oil. This is being done by the oil companies in an attempt to meet the current demands because domestic refining capacity is maxed out. The foreign gasoline refiners are not as efficient and are having a hard time trying to meet all the local gasoline requirements, etc. Add in the transportation costs and it doesn't take a genius to see how this would impact prices.

 

I heard one politician on NPR the other morning rhetorically asking what lawmakers can do NOW to reduce gas prices. The answer is REDUCE THE TAXES ON GAS! Unlike other measures (e.g., building new refineries, etc.) which would take many years to see an impact on prices, the price of gas could be cut significantly tomorrow if lawmakers would just reduce the taxes paid.

 

All you UAW folks who will soon be out of jobs should go back to school and take some economics classes.

[Savetheplanet]

I agree, most people on this board don't understand basic economics. The conspiracy theories that are bandied about are purely unsupported allegations, and have no basis in reality. Every time gas prices go over some threshhold amount, various state and federal investigations are undertaken, and except for one or two unscrupulous filling station owners, there is no finding of mass price gouging ever. Yet despite no findings of gouging, price fixing, or price manipulation, some people still believe Big Oil is out to gouge them, or that Bush, Cheney, and Rove are somehow "setting" the price. I don't get it.

Gas prices are a function of many factors, and are not immune to the laws of supply and demand. Right now, the demand is high and the supply is low. Result is higher prices. Here's one factor people may not know. Did you know that about 13% of our GASOLINE is imported? I'm talking about GASOLINE, not oil. This is being done by the oil companies in an attempt to meet the current demands because domestic refining capacity is maxed out. The foreign gasoline refiners are not as efficient and are having a hard time trying to meet all the local gasoline requirements, etc. Add in the transportation costs and it doesn't take a genius to see how this would impact prices.

 

I heard one politician on NPR the other morning rhetorically asking what lawmakers can do NOW to reduce gas prices. The answer is REDUCE THE TAXES ON GAS! Unlike other measures (e.g., building new refineries, etc.) which would take many years to see an impact on prices, the price of gas could be cut significantly tomorrow if lawmakers would just reduce the taxes paid.

 

All you UAW folks who will soon be out of jobs should go back to school and take some economics classes.

 

Maybe you should take one of the new Economic classes, you know, one where they calculate the REAL cost of buisness practices.

 

companies adopting sustainable buisness practices is the new rage

 

A new system of accounting, this is not the old Keynes system you learned back in the day. That system was precise in it's ability to account for capitol goods, it was inprecise in it's ability to acccount for natural and human resources.

Keyne's national accounts are directly affecting a company's ability to generate revenues, manage risks, and sustain competitive advantage.

Even without a regulatory framework like the EU's emission trading scheme, voluntary markets in the US. are emerging, like the Chicago climate exchange, state level initiatives like the Regional greenhouse gas initiative are working for change.

 

Have you heard of the" Equater principles"? designed to help financial institutions manage enviromental and social risk in "project financing" EP has now been adopted by 40 banks, which arrange over 75% of the wor4lds project loans.

 

 

You must admit there has to be some type of regulation in place for the environment. I am pretty sure that dergulating the amount of sulfer that is released into the air would be a bad idea, but yeah I can't wait until Europe and the US work out their regs on importing diesel's, Ford has some great diesel engine's over in Europe that get superb MPG.

It just seems that every time the US has tried to pass sensible legislation the ppl who are afraid of change get up in arms about it. Examples might include the Catylitic converter, floro carbon's, the clean water act, the clean air act, CAFE, etc.

[methos]

I agree, most people on this board don't understand basic economics. The conspiracy theories that are bandied about are purely unsupported allegations, and have no basis in reality. Every time gas prices go over some threshhold amount, various state and federal investigations are undertaken, and except for one or two unscrupulous filling station owners, there is no finding of mass price gouging ever. Yet despite no findings of gouging, price fixing, or price manipulation, some people still believe Big Oil is out to gouge them, or that Bush, Cheney, and Rove are somehow "setting" the price. I don't get it.

Gas prices are a function of many factors, and are not immune to the laws of supply and demand. Right now, the demand is high and the supply is low. Result is higher prices. Here's one factor people may not know. Did you know that about 13% of our GASOLINE is imported? I'm talking about GASOLINE, not oil. This is being done by the oil companies in an attempt to meet the current demands because domestic refining capacity is maxed out. The foreign gasoline refiners are not as efficient and are having a hard time trying to meet all the local gasoline requirements, etc. Add in the transportation costs and it doesn't take a genius to see how this would impact prices.

 

I heard one politician on NPR the other morning rhetorically asking what lawmakers can do NOW to reduce gas prices. The answer is REDUCE THE TAXES ON GAS! Unlike other measures (e.g., building new refineries, etc.) which would take many years to see an impact on prices, the price of gas could be cut significantly tomorrow if lawmakers would just reduce the taxes paid.

 

All you UAW folks who will soon be out of jobs should go back to school and take some economics classes.

 

Oil companies are making exorbitant profits. While the growing global demand for oil might have been somewhat of a surprise, the steady rising demand for gas here at home has not been. The fact of the matter is that refining is costly and the margins are low. Hence, the oil companies neglected to add as much refining capacity required last decade, likely due to low prices, not some grand conspiracy. That is one of the drawbacks to deregulation; companies are rightfully only concerned with shareholder wealth, not the greater good. Why should they? It is in their best interests keeping supply low, which keep prices high. The more refining capacity they add, the lower their margins - not much of an incentive.

 

As far as reducing or eliminating taxes, that money is for the Highway Trust Fund, a program that is already underfunded. They can cut the taxes, but the fund is already lacking in maintaining the infrastructure our parent's taxes built. They could do it, but it would just a shell game, they would have to raise taxes somewhere else, or most likely leave it up to the states to raise the revenue.

 

If anything, they need to raise taxes to curtail demand. Global demand will continue to rise and eventually the price for crude will get to the point that demand falls and refining will no longer be the bottleneck it is now. It’s inevitable, the only thing that will slow growth is a global recession. They could take that additional revenue and invest in developing new technologies and helping the domestics change over to existing gas-saving technologies.

 

Of course, that will never happen. With the ongoing partisan fighting, neither party will do anything that might upset the voters and tip the balance of power.

[Heywood]

Congress just passed a $2.9 TRILLION budget. I have a hard time understanding that with that mind-boggling amount of money, any program is "underfunded". But assuming you are right, raising the tax now will put more burden on people already struggling with high gasoline prices (especially the usual victims: women, minorities, the poor, etc.). I don't think people will stand for that. Gasoline is like food today -- you have to have it to live your life. Its all fine to work on renewable energy sources, hydrogen, etc., but for the immediate term, gasoline and oil power our economy and they are needed by everyone.

 

What about this catch-22: The government has steadily been increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. Since cars today use less gas and get better MPG than in previous years, less gas is being used. Since less gas is being used, less gas tax revenue is flowing to the government. Could this be the source of the "underfunded" Highway Trust Fund you mentioned??

[Savetheplanet]

Gasoline is like food today -- you have to have it to live your life.

 

You are being overly dramatic, I have not had a car in 5 years.

 

 

The government has steadily been increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.

 

Can you tell us how much it has been raised over the last 20 years? How many times has it been raised in the last 20 years?

[sept68]

The price of corn is rising because the demand is. Maybe we need price controls on the greedy farmers. I have to pay more for my beef, milk and chicken because they are gouging us.

[Heywood]

Can you tell us how much it has been raised over the last 20 years? How many times has it been raised in the last 20 years?

 

Here you go...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CAFEStandard.png

[methos]

Congress just passed a $2.9 TRILLION budget. I have a hard time understanding that with that mind-boggling amount of money, any program is "underfunded". But assuming you are right, raising the tax now will put more burden on people already struggling with high gasoline prices (especially the usual victims: women, minorities, the poor, etc.). I don't think people will stand for that. Gasoline is like food today -- you have to have it to live your life. Its all fine to work on renewable energy sources, hydrogen, etc., but for the immediate term, gasoline and oil power our economy and they are needed by everyone.

 

What about this catch-22: The government has steadily been increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. Since cars today use less gas and get better MPG than in previous years, less gas is being used. Since less gas is being used, less gas tax revenue is flowing to the government. Could this be the source of the "underfunded" Highway Trust Fund you mentioned??

 

 

I agree the budget is enormous, but it's still not big enough to accommodate the shortfall in the fund. This is a link to the future of that fund. I am not certain, but I believe mileage has dropped in recent years. I know that consumption has steadily increased. Although, if prices rise further, that will no longer be the case, so in part this will affect the fund further.

 

I also agree that many would suffer if the government raised taxes. My point is that they will suffer anyways and instead of the revenue remaining here going towards our future, it will go abroad. Demand is outstripping supply, prices will continue to rise, and we will inevitably pay the higher amounts anyways. Nonetheless, it would still take more fortitude than Congress has to raise the taxes, despite the realities of the market. The only thing that will curtail rising prices is expanding the supply or curtailing demand. The former is not likely but the latter is certainly feasible.

 

Moreover, there are other factors that would make lessening our demand more attractive, for instance, it would enhance our National Security. We import almost 2/3 of our oil now, and given the growing instability in the oil producing states, it only makes sense to lessen our reliance.

[Savetheplanet]

Here you go...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CAFEStandard.png

 

I don't understand, that graph shows that CAFE has increased .5 in 20 years, but yet you claim that---- "The government has steadily been increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles."

 

I see no increase, much less a steady increase

 

Please explain

[Heywood]

I don't understand, that graph shows that CAFE has increased .5 in 20 years, but yet you claim that---- "The government has steadily been increasing the fuel efficiency standards for automobiles."

 

I see no increase, much less a steady increase

 

Please explain

 

What's to explain? It shows CAFE requirements going up over 20 years, just like you asked for. If you want more info, google it yourself.

[fmccap]

Developing New Bush Scandal Helping Big Oil Companies Hide Billions from Government at Taxpayer Expense

In a nutshell, oil companies leasing federal land to drill for oil are required to pay the government royalties based on a percentage of their sales. But under the Royalty-in-Kind program, the companies can pay in the form of oil and gas instead of cash. The problem is that oil prices have increased more than the value of the oil and gas royalty revenues being recieved, meaning that the oil companies are managing to withhold a growing amount of their profits from Uncle Sam.

 

As you might guess, Royalty-in-Kind was proposed and remains supported by the oil industry, and Bush implanted officials with deep ties to the oil industry in charge of the agency responsible for enforcing the program, the Minerals Management Service (MMS).

[leam4evr]

boo freakin hoo !!!!!!!

[Savetheplanet]

What's to explain? It shows CAFE requirements going up over 20 years, just like you asked for. If you want more info, google it yourself.

 

Explain what, "steadily increasing" means? How could the Government have "steadily increased" CAFE over 20 years when it's only gone up .5?

Can't you admit you just got it wrong and move on?