im gonna try to ride my bike all summer, almost exclusively. It will suck in the rain, but as i work outside in the summer, its not that big of a deal.
The oil industry is subject to the same driving force that controls the rest of our economy: supply and demand. Everyone is calling for oil companies to lower their prices, especially because they are pulling in record profits. However, the vast majority of consumers has NOT cut down on demand; that is, we still use the same amount of oil products that we always did.
If consumers continue to buy the same volume of gasoline at $3 per gallon as we did when it was half that price, the companies will not lower prices. It's just business.
By the way, a $100 voucher would keep my Prius filled for about 5 weeks (at about 325 miles a week).
Supply and demand isn't 100% applicable here. For many, the need for gasoline is as pressing as the need for water and electricity. If you live in a small town and you work in the city, you HAVE to have gasoline, and as such, it should be regulated like any other utility. But it'll never happen.
A lot of people tell folks to "move closer to work", but that's about as realistic of a solution as telling people who can't afford heat during the winter to "move someplace warmer". The people who are feeling this are the people who don't have much money in the first place; if you can't afford gas, you sure as hell can't afford to just up and move.
Great beautiful irony:
Find the old "election by county" chart showing how overwhelmingly poor rural communities supported the Bush administration.
The red geographical areas represent all of the people who are absolutely fucked because they need cars to commute. Thanks, George.
I was born in to a conservative family, raised conservative, and remain fiscally conservative and socially moderate. When I was growing up, that meant voting Republican. Never again.
Supply and demand is 100% applicable. You are almost correct when you say the need for fuel is as pressing as the need for water and electricity. I need to point out that not all utilities are regulated. Also, oil-fired power plants account for less than 2% of all electricity generation in the United States. It is impossible to compare gasoline with electricity and water since we have infinitely more control over both electricity generation and water.
Petroleum imports account for roughly 60% of the U.S.' oil consumption. This means we have much less control over the situation than I'm sure we'd like.
You can blame the President, politicians, liberals, conservatives, whatever - but they aren't at fault. People are pissed - yet, it sucks. Price gouging? The proft margin of oil companies in the U.S. is far less than most other major companies. That is, Verizon, Comcast, Microsoft, Apple - they're all "gouging" you far more than any oil company. Medicine is by far the worst. Hell, food & drink companies make more percentage profit than oil companies, but you don't see anybody asking us to investigate Nabisco. (Or do you?)
You want somebody to blame who's actually at fault? Try the nutjob in Iran, whose irrational behavior has done nothing but increase fears about a confrontation with Iran and serve to skyrocket oil prices. Try African nations like Nigeria and Chad where civil wars, corrupt governments, and bank disputes lead to oil supply disruptions (or threats of oil supply disruptions, which is good enough to increase the price). Try China and India, who have the nerve to move more into the modern age and use more oil.
There's also the fact that seasonal gasoline blends are different. Ethanol is more difficult to mix and transport, adding some cost. I remember the annual spring price hike usually sparked talk of gouging (remember when gas "shot up" to $1.75?).
C72 had the only practical answer to this - buy less, and the price will fall. Drive as little as possible. If you decrease demand, supply increases and prices fall.
I'm sorry to inform you that our government cannot control the COST of oil even if they would try to control the PRICE.
"Also, oil-fired power plants account for less than 2% of all electricity generation in the United States."
And yet my [I]gas bill has spiked dramatically every year since I moved out four years ago. Straw man.
"The proft margin of oil companies in the U.S. is far less than most other major companies. That is, Verizon, Comcast, Microsoft, Apple - they're all "gouging" you far more than any oil company."
Proof or gtfo, the only place I've EVER seen those claims is on oil company apologetics sheets. Even Conoco-Phillips openly admits that their profits are higher than "All industry" averages (and their figures use some weasely math; their calculations were all done based on average profits over half a decade, not their current profit margins).
Fact 1: The price of oil has doubled, but the price of gas has tripled.
Fact 2: Oil companies are posting dramatic profit increases. Conoco-Phillips profits are up around 100% in just one year. Record profits are being posted industry wide.
I don't think anybody agrees with you Flintsilver. I'm normally right there with you towing the conservative party line, but we're getting fucked over, man.
you know, this my be a bit off topic but im going to speak my mind anyways. the gas prices piss me off just as they do anyone else. but if you think about all the products that is made from oil, it gets a bit scary when you relize we will eventually run out of it.
that really takes your mind off the rising prices. but the sad part is, i can never see myself driving an eletric vehicle.
I'm not toeing any line. "Conservitarians" don't even have a line to toe. This isn't about politics. Why can't people get that? It's not as if another party were in office they could do anything about the world situation. If you want subsidized gas, then just say so.
What does your gas bill have to do with oil? I'm not sure where you're going with that. My point was that our resources for electricity generation and water are largely domestic; those that are not are far less volatile than petroleum. So the regulation of utilities in the U.S. - limited as it is - makes more sense than the regulation of petroleum.
It's not "oil apologetics" that deliver these numbers. I remember reading articles in several major newspapers - including the left-leaning Washington Post as well as BBC.
As far as I know, this isn't an issue of oil companies "making this up." Gas is ubiquitous - think about the number of millions of drivers in the United States and how often they fill up. Their average MPG. Even at a 9% profit margin, that means the oil companies take in a sick amount of money in total revenues.
I don't think your "Fact 1" is true. I think that talking point was that prices of gas have doubled, while oil company profits have tripled. The fact is prices of crude oil have tripled while profits have only doubled. If you remember 1998, oil was around $10 a barrel and gas was $.89. You'll notice that the price of oil is now 7.5 times that while the price of gas is roughly 3.33 times that. This is not inflation-adjusted, but it doesn't change the bottom line.
Yearly oil profits are irrelevant, as you may know. Oil companies have massive reserves of oil that they purchased long ago at oil prices far less than what they are today. This makes their cost basis minimal compared to their income, which is where the profit margin comes from. You pay for them stocking their oil reserves now, not for the price of gasoline as it reflects outdated oil prices.
We might be getting hosed, as you so eloquently put it, but it isn't by our own government. (Did you bother to read what I wrote about the world oil situation? What about Katrina and Rita? Did that affect anything?)
yah. i dont know too much about the oil companies or their profits but they're getting filthy rich. as we have the largest reserve of oil that weve ever had but the highest price of gas ever. i live in a bumfuck town in virginia and gas here is at like 3.10. the cost of living here is like less than 40k and with the gas that high and everyone around working at least 30 miles from where they live or use a car daily to get to their jobs (ie construction workers, etc) its insane. and public transit doesnt run because of all the back roads it impossible to make someone walk 10 miles just to get to a public transit station and wait around for it to show up, if at all. so all in all, that 100 isnt going to help shit. and the not buying it wont really work. as if you dont buy it you cant go places/work. and living in the rural areas, you have to drive to get anywhere.
Part of the problem is demand is not high just because of Americans making poor car choices, driving too much or any kind of energy policy, though our energy policy does suck. It's high because countries like China and India are on fire economically and growing very quickly. Their demand for oil, steel, timber, etc. has gone through the roof.
The president of Venezuela has mentioned capping his output at 50 dollars a barrel. If he did that it would probably be the only way gas prices would fall quickly.
Otherwise, it's going to be one long gouge up to Peak Oil, so start thinking about other ways to propel yourself. In the meantime, try to remember we still pay fairly low gas prices compared to our pals in Europe. Maybe that's why they have had small, efficient cars and good public transportation for a good while.
We should have learned our lesson in the 70s, and we did, sorta, for a while. But as soon as gas got cheap we started building big retarded vehicles again and now we'll pay, again. I remember the 1st Oil Crisis. It was bad, because often there was no gas to even be bought. I remember sitting in our car with my Dad waiting for an hour or so to get gas. At least we have fuel, even if it's expensive.
My car will go about 420 miles on a 12 gallon tank. That's pretty good mileage really, but I still flinch at the pump. I can't imagine what the poor slob filling up his refuckingtarded Hummer feels like.
There was a little blurb on the radio about retired people getting stranded in parks because they are waiting for social security checks to buy gas. Crazy.
America has been slowly going nuts for the past 60 years. I think we have finally arrived at in Bat Shit Crazy Town.
I think our only way out is nuclear power, really. Just ask India and China.
i'm going to just take a guess here, but a good number of the people driving Hummers and other gas-guzzlers probably don't give two shits about gas prices. gas could be $10 a gallon for all they care, they just want to impress everyone else with their waste-of-space-mobile (but in reality, they're the ones fucking everyone else over with an incredibly inefficient SUV). and that's what's really disappointing: that people are so concerned with being flashy and ostentatious that they don't care what effects their actions will have on the future. our kids and grandkids are going to be seriously f'd in the a unless we start to make some serious changes.
You're probably right, but i can't imagine anybody, no matter how self centered they are, likes dumping hundreds of dollars a month into their gas tank.
i mean i had a miata, 10 gallon tank. it used to cost me less than 20 bucks to fill it up, went like 340 miles max. but now (not anymore due to unfortunate incidents) it costs me almost 35. and plus for single guys living alone that just adds to an expense and plus i have to drive to get anywhere where i live so its inevitable.
also i know the demand for gas has went through the roof (im an economics major) but also the reserve/supply of gas is also through the roof but we're operating at such an inefficent point that everyone but the consumer gains.
"try to remember we still pay fairly low gas prices compared to our pals in Europe. Maybe that's why they have had small, efficient cars and good public transportation for a good while." Bingo!
When you start traveling to countries other than North America its surprising how efficient the rest of the world really is. And not just when it comes to cars, other things like electricity and water as well. Learning lessons from what other countries have done would probably be a good place to start.
On another note, while taking a business class, we tried to hypothesize on what the price of oil would have to be in order to stimulate serious investment in alternative fuels. The sad reality is, that no real action will be taken while oil is still the "cheapest" alternative. Lets be honest, as much as we love to bitch about the price of oil, not many of us will go out and buy a much more expensive hybrid car. Thats just the way it is, and sadly I think it will get much worse before it gets any better.
Matrix is right you know, we pay 5.6 dollars per gallon here in uruguay, south america. On the other hand, right next to us in argentina they use natural gas, its waaaaaay cheaper than oil so I belive there are way cheaper alternatives than oil, I belive its not really about cheaper technologies, but about who runs the oil.
I'm not toeing any line. "Conservitarians" don't even have a line to toe. This isn't about politics. Why can't people get that?
This is a hard argument to make when the President a) Is so heavily involved in oil and oil lobbyists he can't see straight b) He did nothing to positivily affect change until his approval ratings was at an all time low
Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is an easy solution to this. But with each Oil Company's stock profits soaring year over year since invading Iraq, and the utter stupidity of W, I have to argue that conservative or not, you have to see some of the "politics" of this. W has stood by while his oil buddies have gotten richer, and us poor slobs with less than 6 figure salaries got screwed.
You won't see me defending President Bush or any politician on this subject. I personally don't think he's involved any more in oil than many politicians, but I could be wrong. Logically, I would think it's too public for him to get away with it.
The oil profits are a different story altogether. I've heard arguments on both sides - some say that oil companies make a lot more profit on oil exploration and exports than on gasoline. I really have no idea. I don't think the oil companies have nearly as much control over this situation as people think. People who trade oil futures on the stock markets, I think, are more culpable than the oil companies in my opinion.
If you ask me, 99.9% of what politicians say on the subject - from the President down to state representatives - is nothing more than pandering. They wet their finger, see what people want to hear, and then tell them. That doesn't mean they actually do anything about it - if they did, we'd probably have a better situation.
