Would You Pay Double for Gas?

The problem is the people that would be affected the most by rising gas prices, do not own any of this.

You do know there are many people like that, don't you or maybe you don't.

Sometimes I wonder on this forum if people do realize how many people have so much less than they do. :idontno:

Fair and valid points. My post wasn't meant to be all encompassing. But rather examples of how drastically things can eventually change when taken one step at a time.

These are just symptoms of a much larger cultural shift. Perhaps the very symptoms explaining why there is such a discrepancy between my list and yours?

The greed of a relative few affect the needs of many.

It's a broken culture, is my point. Everyone thinks it's someone's elses fault or someone's ideology and I merely think it's the inevitability of too many people vying for too few resources.

It'll all work out the way it works out.

Fair and valid points. My post wasn't meant to be all encompassing. But rather examples of how drastically things can eventually change when taken one step at a time.

These are just symptoms of a much larger cultural shift. Perhaps the very symptoms explaining why there is such a discrepancy between my list and yours?

The greed of a relative few affect the needs of many.

It's a broken culture, is my point. Everyone thinks it's someone's elses fault or someone's ideology and I merely think it's the inevitability of too many people vying for too few resources.

It'll all work out the way it works out.

Agree.

Interesting tidbit on electric cars:

It takes energy (about 12 kWh) to explore for oil, drill, pump, ship, refine, distribute, and pump a gallon of gasoline into a car. If this energy is used directly by an electric car, which can go about 48 miles on 12 kWh, we would be net savers of energy compared to a gasoline car, which can go about 30 MPG. And, if you add up the energy to produce a gallon of gasoline (12 kWh) plus the energy in the gallon of gasoline (33.7 kWh), you get 45.7 kWh. A 100% electric car can go about 183 miles on 45.7 kWh, which is over 6 times farther than a gasoline car can go on one gallon of gasoline. :clap:

What we want to do is convert our old car to an ev and trickle charge it w/the extra solar energy we produce. That would be so cool! :cool:

True we don't have everything in place, but as I said before, we waste so much energy. Conservation is the NUMBER 1 KEY! So if we had commitment to conservation from all citizens we would have no need for drilling off our shores. I am NOT a fan of any offshore drilling and here's why

Federal records show steady stream of oil spills in gulf since 1964

Check out this video showing the opportunities for Florida - we need leadership who will lead this country to conserve and we need to get on the ball with alternatives that are in place. Why not all new buildings come to code for clean energy? Why are we still building 2x4 houses in FL what with the heat and storms? Crazy!

Opportunities for Florida on Vimeo

Interesting tidbit on electric cars:

It takes energy (about 12 kWh) to explore for oil, drill, pump, ship, refine, distribute, and pump a gallon of gasoline into a car. If this energy is used directly by an electric car, which can go about 48 miles on 12 kWh, we would be net savers of energy compared to a gasoline car, which can go about 30 MPG. And, if you add up the energy to produce a gallon of gasoline (12 kWh) plus the energy in the gallon of gasoline (33.7 kWh), you get 45.7 kWh. A 100% electric car can go about 183 miles on 45.7 kWh, which is over 6 times farther than a gasoline car can go on one gallon of gasoline. :clap:

What we want to do is convert our old car to an ev and trickle charge it w/the extra solar energy we produce. That would be so cool! :cool:

I've looked at the chevy volt specifically for this reason. When I finally find the right house and go solar, using an electric car for grocery getting would just be icing on the cake! No more power or gas bills.

SORRY - and the question was.......would I pay double for a gallon of gas?

We ARE paying double and then some for gas right now - in subsidies to BIG OIL and in the worse environmental disaster in history.

I don't know what the answer is for the average American - but when the prices climb we will have to find ways - through park and rides, carpools, buses, trains, smaller cars, ev's, working from home, etc.... Think of business travel too - many could do meetings via phone and computer. We will just have to get very creative and busy implementing change.

I have two appointments set for discussion of conversion to solar energy for my home. I will definitely need an architect as well because of the large oak I have shading most of my home and the age of this house approaching 100yrs. I will share my findings and cost estimates with Y'all.

Is it 2012 yet? Is the world coming to an end? Because - TA DA - I agree w/Edgy Grammy's post. OMG that's amazing.............:shock:

Oh MY, Ms Gidget, not sure if you are old enough to remember Fred on TV played by (Red Fox) who was always having the "big one." Sweetie you agreeing with me, is giving me the "big one" too. :wub: See we can agree on stuff.. the important stuff!!!!

I already pay double for gas - that's how much it has increased in price since I got my first car (which I am still driving BTW). ;-)

And yes, I would be willing to pay more for gasoline BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES PEOPLE CHANGE THEIR HABITS AND THINK THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS BESIDES OIL.

If you want to drive an SUV or other vehicle with low MPG, that is fine with me - you just have to be willing to pay $$ to fill it up. Most people find that when the price of gas goes up they don't really need the turbo and oversized engine to drive down the highway or drop the kids at school.

The recent spike in prices had a lot of people rethinking their vehicles and most of the new cars you see Sowallers driving get better mileage and are smaller than their old one.

Papa Scooterbug has always driven a truck or SUV - because he actually needs that kind of vehicle. He regularly does the things they show the vehicles doing in the commercials - he hauls things, he tows things, he drives through streams, up mountains, through blizzards, over roads that have us wishing they hadn't changed the locations of the JC handles, has to put it in 4 wheel to reach his house or get in and out of the driveway several months of the year etc. He is also willing to pay $$ for the gas that lets him do that...................and Mama Scooterbug has a car that they drive when not needing those features because it gets better mileage. ;-)

I believe the magic number is $3.50-4 a gallon (as it varies by state and region). That is the point at which conservation, alternate fuels, public transportation, carpooling, and high MPG vehicles etc. become feasible solutions to most Americans.

Yes, the more expensive gas is, the more shipping/transportation costs - but it also means locally grown and manufactured products become more affordable - and outsourcing becomes less affordable. More local jobs that actually produce something, more dollars kept in the community.

In the US, the price of gas had not kept up with inflation until Hurricane Katrina (some spikes in the 70's and 80's, but leveled out). In 2008, I was paying almost double (from 2005 Katrina days) as we approached $5/gal. then only due to the price of a barrel. Which, can be infuriating because there should be lag. However, the retail prices reflect global issues immediately and we all know the crude has to be refined, shipped, etc.

I bought the beach cottage in 2003 and gas was under $1.50/gal. then......am, paying 200% of that now. Double is double, but I think it's evaluated based upon the benchmark of inflation.

$8/gal for gas?

At 7% inflation, prices will double every 10 yrs.

If gas was $.25/gal in 1960 it will be
$.50/gal in 1970
$1/gal in 1980
$2/gal in 1990
$4/gal in 2000
$8/gal in 2010

Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an interesting article on gas prices. We are generally very low (compared to other countries) with the exception of Mexico and Venezeula, of course. And, the reason we are low is because our gov't doesn't tax the beheyzeus on gas like many, many other governments do. When our gas prices spiked a few years ago, Germany was paying $15/gal.

At 7% inflation, prices will double every 10 yrs.

If gas was $.25/gal in 1960 it will be
$.50/gal in 1970
$1/gal in 1980
$2/gal in 1990
$4/gal in 2000
$8/gal in 2010

God forbid we ever experience inflationary rates of 7%!

Ok all you greenies, there's no excuse now, all electric consumer vehicles are here. Get to your local dealership! If you aren't driving one of these, your carbon emissions are too high! go go go! 😀

General Motors and Nissan on Tuesday said they're on target to roll out some of the first mainstream electric cars in U.S. history late this year, as the auto makers seek to attract buyers who want to cut their carbon footprint.

General Motors said its new Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that uses a gasoline-powered motor to charge the battery once it's been driven about 40 miles, will carry a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $41,000.

The auto maker is quick to point out that the car is eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $7,500, bringing the possible cost of the car down to $33,500.

Electric cars readying mainstream rollout - MarketWatch

I like the Nissan - but want a shorter wheel base - looks like it has a horrible turning radius!

Hopefully they will get that figured out by the time I am ready for a new car and have my solar panels installed!

ugabuga, gas prices in Europe are so high because most of that is taxes! Also, the price of oil today is probably less related to usage and more related to commodity trading. It seems like back in 2005 when prices of gas shot to $4 / gallon here, it had nothing to do with us using more gas. My driving habits haven't decreased enough to justify a price drop of almost 45% since then, nor have anyone else's that I know. One other little interesting note is that grocery prices increased across the board, all supposedly due to increase in fuel/distribution prices. However, when gas prices were reduced by half, the prices of all groceries remained the same.

I'm hearing a lot of talk about electric cars being "carbon neutral" but that is only the case if you use something like solar panels to charge the car. If you are not changing your source for electricity, in most of America, you car is basically burning coal, which isn't carbon neutral. You have to think through all steps of what people are pushing. Buy some solar panels to charge that electric car, otherwise you are ripping out mountain tops to burn dirty coal. "Green" isn't always "green."

We also highly subsidize oil at various levels - my guess is that is also part of the reason why it is more expensive other places.

good point, scooterbug44, about the subsidies. It is crazy that we reward people for buying heavy vehicles which tear up the road more than lighter weight vehicles, and basically pay for some of their gas in the subsidies.

Wouldn't it make more sense to reward people for driving lighter vehicles which cause less wear and tear on the roads? Then, we could lower the gasoline taxes because we wouldn't need to repair and replace the roads as frequently. Our country gives incentives in a backwards manner.

You are correct. Here is an article just a few days old that made my eyes cross trying to figure out what might go into oil pricing...I bet less than 1% of the population can accurately describe what goes into the pricing of a barrel of oil. Crude Oil Rises as Storm System Threatens to Disrupt Gulf of Mexico Output - Bloomberg

But I have to say, based on what happens to the price of gas and heating oil when hurricanes enter the gulf, I have a hard time believing that 'shutting everything down' would result in anything other than the price of goods and services rising uniformly to a miserable level. I try to imagine what would happen in our little SOWAL bubble...so many of our relatively low paid workers have to commute in to work and our tourism industry, which is our economic life blood, is fully dependent on regional discretionary income. It does not take much imagination to envision an economic train wreck, but hey, I have been wrong before and will be again, so who knows.

Maybe that would be the case, but I cannot help but notice that since this multi-billion dollar screw up of BP, that gas prices decreased, and that on top of a summer season, when gas prices usually increase. If the gas prices did go up, maybe that would encourage more people to buy fuel efficient cars and trucks, and the actual prices of those other items wouldn't change at all. (I know that isn't reality, but it makes sense on paper.)

The pricing of a gallon of gas at the pump is indeed a very complicated business.

One thing we know: Americans absolutely hate it when gas prices go up!

The folks on this forum would be more likely than the rest of America to accept higher gas prices in return for a cleaner Gulf.

The economic lifeblood of SoWal is tourism.
The economic lifeblood of Louisiana is fishing & OIL. In one southern LA town there is an annual Oyster and Oil Festival! They're truly conflicted.

There's another thread on this forum entitled "Does the deficit matter?" Reducing the deficit requires more revenues (taxes) and/or reduced gov't services. Higher taxes on oil/gas would have the benefit of reducing use/dependence and possibly increasing revenues, thus reducing the deficit.

New Leak in The Gulf

NEW LEAK IN THE GULF

We're likely to continue to have spills in the Gulf as long as we continue to drill in the Gulf.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/us/28leak.html

Ok all you greenies, there's no excuse now, all electric consumer vehicles are here. Get to your local dealership! If you aren't driving one of these, your carbon emissions are too high! go go go! 😀




Electric cars readying mainstream rollout - MarketWatch

Part of the problem is, right now, for the most part, green = uglY!😱

I made this case on another thread and no one chimed
in. Folks don't want to look like Ed Begley- our love affair with cars is superficial. So make hybrid versions of the cars we want to
drive and more people will drive them. same applies to electric vehicles.