Why aren't we rioting in the streets??

[Nimitz]

[Grandturk]

Nobody actually walks anymore unless it's to intentionally work out.

That's not completely true. I walk all the time around my town. I walk to the guitar stores. I walk to the coffee shop. I walk to the movie theater. Sometimes in the rain and sometimes uphill - both ways!

[rjohnstone]

If you need to know why the feds aren't doing anything, you need look no further than the current taxes on refined oil (gasoline).

Oil companies earn approx $0.07 on every gallon of gas in profit. (After refining costs and taxes)

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/news/companies/big-oil-gas-price-response/index.htm

"For every gallon of gasoline and other products we refined and sold in the United States, we earned about 7 cents," said a statement from Exxon vice president Ken Cohen. "Compare that to the 40 to 60 cents per cents per gallon that went to the government (state and federal) in gasoline taxes."

The State and Federal government collect between $0.40 and $0.60 per gallon of gas sold in taxes.
Averaging it out, for revery $5 billion in profits the oil companies make, the feds make $35 Billion in tax revenue.

So who is the real villain here?

[tooslowhand]

I think it's cool that whenever a discussion about alternative energy comes up, there is always someone to say "Well, that will be good someday but in the meantime, we have to do something to keep oil prices down until we get there." The truth as I see it is, there will be no serious discussion of alternative energy until and unless oil prices go up for good and there are no stop gap measures to temporarily deflate oil prices and soothe Americans back into depending on oil and gas as normal.

[Cygnus X1]

If you need to know why the feds aren't doing anything, you need look no further than the current taxes on refined oil (gasoline).

Oil companies earn approx $0.07 on every gallon of gas in profit. (After refining costs and taxes)

http://money.cnn.com/2011/04/29/news/companies/big-oil-gas-price-response/index.htm

The State and Federal government collect between $0.40 and $0.60 per gallon of gas sold in taxes.
Averaging it out, for revery $5 billion in profits the oil companies make, the feds make $35 Billion in tax revenue.

So who is the real villain here?

Well that's true, but it's just not popular to blame anyone but "Big Oil".
Record profits doesn't have all that much to do with market prices...that's not where the profit center is for
Big Oil right down to the local gas station.
My wife did the books for several stations for years and average profit was less than a nickel a gallon.
At that time auto service, and now convenience items run the profits.

But no one ever believes that fact because it's inconvenient.

[Cygnus X1]

I think it's cool that whenever a discussion about alternative energy comes up, there is always someone to say "Well, that will be good someday but in the meantime, we have to do something to keep oil prices down until we get there." The truth as I see it is, there will be no serious discussion of alternative energy until and unless oil prices go up for good and there are no stop gap measures to temporarily deflate oil prices and soothe Americans back into depending on oil and gas as normal.

Successful horse carriage manufacturers (Oldsmobile, Fischer Carriage, a few others) converted their operations to automotive through profits collected during the transition.
With that in mind, who do you think would have the most resources in place and be the best to operate non petrol based energy businesses?

Don't look now, it's already happening.
ExxMo, BP, etc are heavily investing in future energy resources.

[tooslowhand]

That's true, and it's in their interests to make very last penny they can wring out of oil while they develop it.

[Twitch]

Ok, what people fail to understand about the alternative fuel, is that the same thing will happen. Take electricity for example, a few 1000 people will be able to use it cheaply, once EVERYONE gets on board with it, the price of the kilowatt hour will go up. So long as anyone is able to regulate the manufacture of ANY energy source, there will be greed. When youve got 90% of the world by the balls, what else do you do?? It doesnt matter if its oil, electric, fusion, fission, hydroelectric etc. this is just how its going to be. Human beings are greedy, especially with a 90% scrotum hold on the world. Yes, and I do agree with the government needs to step off with the taxes, but they also will just tax the shit out of whatever energy source takes over. Until were able to just throw what the fuck ever we feel like in our tanks to make our car go vroom vroom(like in Back to The Future), this is how its going to be. An alternative energy source isnt going to change a thing thanks to human nature.

[lerxstcat]

Fuck rioting in the streets! We need to go to the oil companies' offices, drag the execs out and beat enough of them to death that the rest decide to quit screwing us in order that they can survive. Theyd just laugh if we rioted in the streets and just tore up our own shit! Like they'd give a fuck about that.

Throw a little Bastille Day action on the motherfuckers, THEN they'll pay attention!

[Frigo89]

Humans! Two birds with one stone!

I believe you mean "2 Birds Stoned At Once"

[rjohnstone]

Fuck rioting in the streets! We need to go to the oil companies' offices, drag the execs out and beat enough of them to death that the rest decide to quit screwing us in order that they can survive. Theyd just laugh if we rioted in the streets and just tore up our own shit! Like they'd give a fuck about that.

Throw a little Bastille Day action on the motherfuckers, THEN they'll pay attention!

This is exactly what I'm talking about. The feds have you focused on the wrong people.
Politicians have convinced everyone that "big oil" is to blame. "Big oil" doesn't set the price for a barral of oil, Wall St. traders, OPEC and governments do.
It's not the oil companies you need to go after.
The feds are.