Another bitch about gas prices

[guitarsjb]

Went up .05 here TODAY.

We had a trip to take. Filled up this morning at 3.67 (I know..it's less than a LOT of you pay..but it's high for here) Trip was 320 miles round trip. Needed gas when we got back. Went to the SAME station, was 3.72. This all was in around 10 hours time.

[thetroy]

4.09 for regular here yesterday afternoon

[442w30]

3.79 here on friday. Holy dick suckin m'fer!
$30.00 for 1/3 tank!

Yep, gauging at it's finest - supply nad demand my ballsack.....

Someone should destroy these frickin speculators.

[lerxstcat]

$3.85 at the Shell station down the block as of around 7:00 PM tonight. This is not amusing....

[Ralph E.]

and not a peep out of Washington from ANY politician on EITHER side.

[lerxstcat]

The late local news said it might be $8.00 per gallon by the end of the summer! I truly think we will be looking at economic catastrophe and widespread violence if that is allowed to happen. Like widespread hijacking of gasoline tanker trucks and shooting some politicians and oil execs who are so smug and clueless to the effect on working class people.

This is going to get very ugly...

[SlasZ]

Well welcome to Europe.
Normal working people can simply not afford to buy cars with 4L and 300hp because of tax and fuel consumption. I drive a 1.9L 105hp VW Passat and can do about 600 miles with one tank. Refueling costs me now around € 80 (about $126). Fortunately my employer pays that for me
People driving sports cars here or big engine cars either got one from work and don't pay their own gas, or can afford to spend $1000 a month on a car. That's the way it has been for many years here.
I personally don't mind if you guys pay more, it will hopefully force you to buy more economical cars, thus reducing pollution over there.

[JacksonDean]

I saw the price of gas at the 7-11 down the street here go up 20 cents in less than 5 hours and it went up another 10 cents the next day.

[lerxstcat]

Well welcome to Europe.
Normal working people can simply not afford to buy cars with 4L and 300hp because of tax and fuel consumption. I drive a 1.9L 105hp VW Passat and can do about 600 miles with one tank. Refueling costs me now around € 80 (about $126). Fortunately my employer pays that for me
People driving sports cars here or big engine cars either got one from work and don't pay their own gas, or can afford to spend $1000 a month on a car. That's the way it has been for many years here.
I personally don't mind if you guys pay more, it will hopefully force you to buy more economical cars, thus reducing pollution over there.

I can see your point but what you may not realize is that the continental U.S. is probably twice the size of Western Europe, and our cities with suburbs present a vast problem in building mass transit.

It's not uncommon in larger cities here that you may have to commute up to 100 km one way to your job. Even with more fuel efficient cars, with a minimum wage that's half of what yours is and proportionally more Americans making close to the minimum than people in Europe, it has a harder effect on us than the same prices do on you. The minimum wage will only go to $7.25 by later this summer. That's probably 4 or 5 Euros per hour.

As for pollution, we're already cutting down a lot. You need to worry about the 3 BILLION people in China and India, not the 300 million in the USA, for driving pollutants. Do they have ANY emissions controls? We do.

The effect of fuel prices on the price of everything else will be catastrophic. You give us $8.00 per gallon gas and Americans will want to go take somebody's oil to get the price back down. You will no longer hear "No blood for oil". You'll hear, "We need gas and food. Do what it takes to make them affordable". That's what the government will hear from the people. And it will do what it has to to prevent bloody revolution in the streets.

[goodwood]

BUY SMALL CARS!!!

Why is it that the North American lifestyle requires that everyone have the SUV or the big truck or whatever? The golden age of vehicles is long gone and so are the low gasoline prices that existed in those eras. You can no longer legally enjoy a powerful car on the road because of safety concerns. Having a truck so it is convenient to throw a few things in the back from Home Depot once every two months isn't enough reason to have a truck...and if it is then calculate the cost and it would cost less to have it delivered.

I see way too many people commuting in their vans and trucks with nobody else in the vehicle. Society has made itself dependent on the big rich oil companies. If you want to break free from that then you have to make some tough decisions and sacrifice in other areas. Government will not help out the people on this one.

[Jacksons Shred]

This is why I'm selling my truck and buying a civic X_X...

[thetroy]

Unless you have an EXTREMELY inefficient vehicle, you won't be able to save money by buying a newer and more efficient car unless you own it for years.

Most people today simply cannot afford to make a big initial investment in a vehicle that won't save them any money for 5+ years.

[SEEGERMANY]

Predictions are now $5.00 per gallon by the July 4th weekend.

[guitarsjb]

I can see your point but what you may not realize is that the continental U.S. is probably twice the size of Western Europe, and our cities with suburbs present a vast problem in building mass transit.

It's not uncommon in larger cities here that you may have to commute up to 100 km one way to your job. Even with more fuel efficient cars, with a minimum wage that's half of what yours is and proportionally more Americans making close to the minimum than people in Europe, it has a harder effect on us than the same prices do on you. The minimum wage will only go to $7.25 by later this summer. That's probably 4 or 5 Euros per hour.

As for pollution, we're already cutting down a lot. You need to worry about the 3 BILLION people in China and India, not the 300 million in the USA, for driving pollutants. Do they have ANY emissions controls? We do.

The effect of fuel prices on the price of everything else will be catastrophic. You give us $8.00 per gallon gas and Americans will want to go take somebody's oil to get the price back down. You will no longer hear "No blood for oil". You'll hear, "We need gas and food. Do what it takes to make them affordable". That's what the government will hear from the people. And it will do what it has to to prevent bloody revolution in the streets.

No, minimum wage won't hit 7.25 til July 09. July 08 it goes to 6.55.
Gas will cost more than people make an hour.

Oh, and I drive a small truck. 4 cly engine that gets 27mpg. I don't drive a big SUV etc...

[Norton]

Unless you have an EXTREMELY inefficient vehicle, you won't be able to save money by buying a newer and more efficient car unless you own it for years.

Most people today simply cannot afford to make a big initial investment in a vehicle that won't save them any money for 5+ years.

You don't have to buy a "new" car(go second hand). You can just sell the bigger one for a more efficient and small one. There are lots of 1.6 sedans with very decent engine performance.And you'll probably have some money left.