Whos to blame for the rise in gas prices??

[MASTERMOWER]

The price for 87 octane unleaded hit $2.89 here in Manhattan, Kansas today. Im sure it will increase over the weekend. Frankly I don't care. Even though the recent price increases are due to hurricane Katrina, we all are ultimately to blame for the rising cost of gasoline.

The USA consumes 80% of the worlds resources........that only leaves 20% for the rest of the world! Wouldn't you say that is way beyond where it needs to be? Yes, oil is included in there. What will it take before we as Americans relize that driving around in SUVs, Hummers, full-size trucks, etc, is stupid and a drain on our resources? (I do understand that certain people/ businesses need trucks, SUVs, etc.........but the majority dont!)

China is currently building our equlivant of the interstate system. There are billboards in China advertising Buicks.... The Chinese are litterally trading in their oxes and carts for gas-powered transportation. Another reason why our gas prices are rising.....increasing demand in China.

Sure we could start to pump out more gas from the earth to lower prices, but in the long run we are only hurting ourselves. How? Well as I stated before, the USA consumes 80% of the worlds resources. So if we still had ample amounts of gasoline laying about, which would mean lower prices, then we wouldnt be so concerned about gas consumption. Im not a liberal, but frankly I am glad the prices are high. At least it makes people think about how to conserve gas!

Did you know that there is a hole in the ozone layer right above Argentina and Chile? That hole should be above the USA since we are the primary reason the hole is there! Argentina and Chile didn't cuase it.......people like you and I did yet they are the innocent ones that have to suffer from the result. Think about that the next time you are filling up your gas tank.

Shame on us all...........

[MASTERMOWER]

blame the government. oil is not the problem, it is refining it. We can buy all the crude oil we want, but we haven't built a new refinery since the 70's. We are screwed because it takes at least 10 years to build a refinery and we haven't started yet.

Yes, you are right about building a new refinery, what does that solve? Yeap, it will lower gas prices. But if you would read my thread again, maybe you will see my point. If we continue to buzz around the U.S. in the gas guzzilers we do today, there won't be much of a future for our children. But then again....some people don't care.

For those that don't, thanks.....I appreciate it! Thank you for only thinking about yourselves.

[Shoal]

Good morning master mower, the amount of polution that the u.s. puts out pales in comparing what the third world countries put out. china is a non restrictive polution maker. Mexico has poluted her rivers and deserts for well over 100 years. Chile and Argentina are big time poluters as well. Argentina oil and Chile's agriculture nightmare, we on the other hand have more restrictions that most nations. since the seventies our cars have had smog devices, our refridgerators dont use tfc's "freon"

If a person wants to drive a SUV or a big truck,car it is up to them. I think it is up to the individual to choose what he drives. what is next? "they own a huge house for two people look how much energy they use!" that is very communistic sounding.

as far as 80% of the resources go, I dont feel guilty on my life style. I dont look at that as if it bad. I look at that and say I am very fortunate to live in the USA. I think the contributions that the USA has made due to her using 80% of the worlds resorces outweigh any other concerns. shoal

[wickedinhere]

i like high price gas, the higher the better because when its high my oil checks go up.hehehe i own some stock in a timber company and they are drilling new oil and gas wells faster than you can say cha-ching.

[lclandscapes]

The price for 87 octane unleaded hit $2.89 here in Manhattan, Kansas today. Im sure it will increase over the weekend. Frankly I don't care. Even though the recent price increases are due to hurricane Katrina, we all are ultimately to blame for the rising cost of gasoline.

The USA consumes 80% of the worlds resources........that only leaves 20% for the rest of the world! Wouldn't you say that is way beyond where it needs to be? Yes, oil is included in there. What will it take before we as Americans relize that driving around in SUVs, Hummers, full-size trucks, etc, is stupid and a drain on our resources? (I do understand that certain people/ businesses need trucks, SUVs, etc.........but the majority dont!)

China is currently building our equlivant of the interstate system. There are billboards in China advertising Buicks.... The Chinese are litterally trading in their oxes and carts for gas-powered transportation. Another reason why our gas prices are rising.....increasing demand in China.

Sure we could start to pump out more gas from the earth to lower prices, but in the long run we are only hurting ourselves. How? Well as I stated before, the USA consumes 80% of the worlds resources. So if we still had ample amounts of gasoline laying about, which would mean lower prices, then we wouldnt be so concerned about gas consumption. Im not a liberal, but frankly I am glad the prices are high. At least it makes people think about how to conserve gas!

Did you know that there is a hole in the ozone layer right above Argentina and Chile? That hole should be above the USA since we are the primary reason the hole is there! Argentina and Chile didn't cuase it.......people like you and I did yet they are the innocent ones that have to suffer from the result. Think about that the next time you are filling up your gas tank.

Shame on us all...........

So what is your solution to this problem? Of course we all can point fingers and blame others, however that solves nothing. Only a solution to the issue can/will help. So, what do you present as a fix?

[TooTall]

Gary you are absolulty right. The US spends billions of dollars to clean up pollution around the world and we are always the first that people point the finger at. Nature has a way of cleaning itself, remember Exxon Valdez? There is no longer signs that it even took place. The ocean floor leaks more oil naturally than any human caused event, probably combined. Does anyone know that it cost OPEC less than $15 to produce one barrel of oil? If thats not price gouging I don't know what is. The United States has enough oil on its own to last hundreds of years. We can even extract oil from shale and believe or not from sand. We have our hands tied because we can't do anything without the environmentalist complaining about it. Don't get me wrong they do alot of good things too but not all of us want to live in trees. It always cracks me up when I see a EPA employee driving into a chemical plant driving a Suburban. We can't drill off California, more in the Gulf of Mexico (deep-water), people don't want to put up wind turbines because birds may fly into to them, and also nobody wants to even mess with nuclear power which is now the cleanest and safest form of energy. What ever happened to using methanol (corn-gas)? We have the resources for alternative fuels but with the oil companies making record profits we won't be tapping into to those anytime soon. Almost everything that we use is made with oil one way or another. Oil is plentiful and we need to get on OPEC to stop ripping us off. One last thing, do you want to see what $70 oil pays for? Click on the link and you will see why gas is so high.

http://www.funmansion.com/html/A-Home-Fit-For-A-Sheikh.html

[Brian@Greenleaflawn]

I'm with you shoal, unless you have been to some of these other countries you shouldn't be blaming the USA,mastermower. After seeing parts of Mexico, it makes you really thankfull that we get to breathe the air that we have here. As far as gas goes this is ridiculous, I woke up to regular in the low to mid $3's this morning. They say it is because of the hurricane, which I could understand to a point. What I dont understand is why the prices were so high before this horrible disaster. Mr Bush needs to pull his head out of his arss, and his hands out of the oil company pockets. Oops I forgot he owns oil wells as well, I guess thats the answer to the prices. Well enough of the Bush bashing, hopefully we will all come to some sort of solution with the gas and the pollution but until then happy cutting to all and to all a good cut....

[MBDiagMan]

The US does more to fight pollution than any country on Earth. The Kioto(sp?) treaty would have made it even more restrictive on us. The idea was for the US to shoulder the load for cutting down pollution for the entire world. So what else is new? In what area does the US NOT shoulder the load for the world?

What REALLY kills me, so to speak, is that adjusted for inflation we have had cheap gas for the last 22 or 23 years. Cars, real estate, food, etc. have tripled or more in price in the last 22 or 23 years while gas prices have not, they even went down for awhile. Now that the gas prices catch up with all the inflation rates for almost everything else we buy, then most people are looking for someone to blame it on and for a tall tree to hang them from.

Wake up folks. Things happen. We have had cheap fuel prices for years. We've just been on borrowed time. Now we get to pay for it. It is simple supply and demand.

If the environmental extremists did not have so many ridiculous restrictions on new refineries then they would have been in place for years. No one is interested in building a refinery because with gas prices of the past they could not make money. Can you blame someone for not making an investment that will not turn a profit? Would you go out and do lawncare for a loss? I don't THINK so.

Stop being a bunch of babies and realize that we still have the cheapest gas in the world. Have you been to Europe lately? Not even lately, have you been to Europe? They have ALWAYS had gas prices at least DOUBLE what we pay. Right now they pay a minimum of $6 a gallon and have for a LONG time.

BTW. I have not done any research but I find it extremely hard to believe that the US consumes 80% of the worlds oil supply. I would have to see some facts to back that one up. Even if we do, my Grand Dad used to say "if you're gonna dance, you've got to pay the fiddler." If we do indeed consume 80% of the worlds fuel supply and have kept our prices down so low for so long then I think we've had it pretty darn good.

Have a great day,
Doc

[dvon104]

like I said in a previous thread ...if we all just went one day without buying any gas that could help boost supply...and if you increase supply and lower demand prices have to come down...i do not think there is one person to blame or one country ...and yes we need more refiniries...however it was about a year or so ago opec cut production for a period of time and now it is catching up with us ........not to long ago I was in lumber sales and lumber is a commodity just as is oil (prices change daily) and one of the larger osb sheating companies shutdown 3 osb sheating mills saying that the market was flooded....which it wasnt ...but how ever they cut their production and prices doubled and then some ...they made alot of money and when it got to be cheaper to use regular plywood than osb ...lo and behold they fired those 3 mills back up...I feel something similar is going on now ...Story on Texaco ....last year was their best year ever and now their latest earnings are showing a 47% increase in profits up from last year (Internet story do not know if its true)...just my opinion ...I blame opec and greed

[beto 1]

There is a solution, but legislators are a big part of the problem. The technology to make it happen (fix the problem) is on existence, but we do nothing about it. In brazil, the goverment is getting ready for a big change for the comming years. Vehicles are going to be converted to alternative fuels derived from vegetables. We have a plug in electrical car vehicle that gives X amount of miles per battery charge (let's say 50 miles). They are recharged during the night, you plug it and go to bed. We also have hybrid vehicles that can give you above 50 MPG. The average american drives less than 30 miles per day. The commercial world does more than 50.
If we can pressure legislators to come up with a tax incentive for people that buy those vehicles that combines all the mentioned technologies, can you imagine what an impact will that be. Do the math. We are talking about a vehicle that will give you about 400-500 MPG.
Regular american * 30 Miles per day (working day) X 5 days = 150 miles (all elecric power, no gas) * Weekend trip = 100 miles (60 of those are electric power)and 40 will be from gas (hybrid power) but since the hybrid gives you around 50 MPG before you spend your first gallon you will be recharging that battery again, and therefore will have to wait for the next week to finish your first gallon of gas. By this time you will have traveled about 500 mile. It sounds crazy but the vehicles do exist. What is it going to take to make it happen? i don't know, but it sure sounds cool doesn't it?

[RTR]

like I said in a previous thread ...if we all just went one day without buying any gas that could help boost supply...and if you increase supply and lower demand prices have to come down...i do not think there is one person to blame or one country ...and yes we need more refiniries...however it was about a year or so ago opec cut production for a period of time and now it is catching up with us ........not to long ago I was in lumber sales and lumber is a commodity just as is oil (prices change daily) and one of the larger osb sheating companies shutdown 3 osb sheating mills saying that the market was flooded....which it wasnt ...but how ever they cut their production and prices doubled and then some ...they made alot of money and when it got to be cheaper to use regular plywood than osb ...lo and behold they fired those 3 mills back up...I feel something similar is going on now ...Story on Texaco ....last year was their best year ever and now their latest earnings are showing a 47% increase in profits up from last year (Internet story do not know if its true)...just my opinion ...I blame opec and greed

Don't believe everything you read. Don't believe anything you get in an email. Not buying gas for one day would hurt us more than help. Buying a little less everyday going forward is the only beneficial "consumer strike".

"First of all, everyone's "not purchasing a drop of gasoline for one day" will not cause oil companies to "choke on their stockpiles." Oil companies run their inventories on a weekly basis, and since the "gas out" scheme doesn't call on people to buy less gasoline but simply to shift their date of purchase by one day, oil company stockpiles won't be affected at all.

Next, merely shifting the day(s) of purchase will not "hit the entire industry with a net loss of over $4.6 billion." Consumers won't be buying any less gasoline under this "gas out" proposal; they'll simply be purchasing gas a few days earlier or later than they usually would. The very same amount of gasoline will be sold either way, so the oil companies aren't going to lose any money at all.

By definition, a boycott involves the doing without of something, with the renunciation of the boycotted product held up as tangible proof to those who supply the commodity that consumers are prepared to do without it unless changes are made. What the "gas out" calls for isn't consumers' swearing off using or buying gasoline, even for a short time, but simply shifting their purchases by a couple of days at most. Because the "gas out" doesn't call on consumers to make a sacrifice by actually giving up something, the threat it poses is a hollow one."

snopes.com


"When the profits of major oil companies reached a record $53 billion in 2003 and far surpassed the results from 2002, the big percentage increases in profits helped support the impression that oil profits are excessive. Much less public attention was drawn to the fact that the $21 billion the industry earned in 2002 represented nearly a 50 percent nosedive from 2001 profits of $38 billion.

[MBDiagMan]

The problem with vegetable grown fuels is that if you took all the farm land in the US and used it only to grow crops for fuel, you would not supply a significant amount of fuel. Not to mention that if you did that, what would we eat?

Have a great day,
Doc

[Xylem]

Want to see the alternative the "oil" (well, except for Wesson ) companies dont want you to see?

Do a google search on biodiesel.

[RRS]

Every single city vehicle in Arlington, VA is run on alternative fuels. The big trucks are a 50/50 biodiesel mix, the smaller trucks and cars are biodiesel, natural gas, and electric.

It's certainly possible, but it's expensive to make the switch.

[dvon104]

Don't believe everything you read. Don't believe anything you get in an email. Not buying gas for one day would hurt us more than help. Buying a little less everyday going forward is the only beneficial "consumer strike".

"First of all, everyone's "not purchasing a drop of gasoline for one day" will not cause oil companies to "choke on their stockpiles." Oil companies run their inventories on a weekly basis, and since the "gas out" scheme doesn't call on people to buy less gasoline but simply to shift their date of purchase by one day, oil company stockpiles won't be affected at all.

Next, merely shifting the day(s) of purchase will not "hit the entire industry with a net loss of over $4.6 billion." Consumers won't be buying any less gasoline under this "gas out" proposal; they'll simply be purchasing gas a few days earlier or later than they usually would. The very same amount of gasoline will be sold either way, so the oil companies aren't going to lose any money at all.

By definition, a boycott involves the doing without of something, with the renunciation of the boycotted product held up as tangible proof to those who supply the commodity that consumers are prepared to do without it unless changes are made. What the "gas out" calls for isn't consumers' swearing off using or buying gasoline, even for a short time, but simply shifting their purchases by a couple of days at most. Because the "gas out" doesn't call on consumers to make a sacrifice by actually giving up something, the threat it poses is a hollow one."

snopes.com


"When the profits of major oil companies reached a record $53 billion in 2003 and far surpassed the results from 2002, the big percentage increases in profits helped support the impression that oil profits are excessive. Much less public attention was drawn to the fact that the $21 billion the industry earned in 2002 represented nearly a 50 percent nosedive from 2001 profits of $38 billion.

well I was just passing it on...and those poor bastards only ....PROFITTED....21 BILLION...PROFIT....see the key word is profit and if they took a "50% nosedive " well lord knows the are recouping their losses now ... god bless'em...they earned it