We haven't hit our gas price peak yet - Page 2

GoVols! · #11 01-25-2011, 04:14 PM

I'm as capitalistic as they come but I believe the time has come to nationalize oil reserves and other non-renewable resources located on or under publically owned land and water. Those resources belong to the country, not whatever company finds them first. In this case, the oil would be owned by the US, reserved for use in the US, and sold to refiners for say $60 a barrel. Any oil they buy must be refined in the US and distributed within the 50 states.The oil companies/drillers would be paid a fee for drilling, not given ownership of the resource itself.

Any additional oil needed would be sourced on the world market at the going rate. Let's see how OPEC likes us creating our own personal cartel.

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AzNMpower32 · #12 01-25-2011, 07:01 PM

I don't really care if prices rise in the US, because the US already has way too many cars and generally consumes too much fuel.

I recently did the math on my commute. Luckily, my parents live near a subway stop so I could take the subway and connect to the bus (a pretty straight shot). Alternatively, I could drive. Even at current fuel consumption and prices, public transit costs more, $7/day versus $3,60/day driving myself.

Driving just isn't expensive enough especially for urban areas. If petrol cost $1,50/litre or $6/US gallon, perhaps public transit would be the clear choice.

I'll probably do a mix of driving and public transit, even if the latter costs more because I can't stand driving in the DC area and it's better for the environment.

Quicksilver · #13 01-25-2011, 07:23 PM

AzNMpower32

I believe many would agree with your basic premise except where public transportation is minimal, non existent or the transportation infrastructure has been poorly executed.

Many years ago this was not the case. There are many reasons why the system we had was replaced but to go back and put it place again would cause a huge fight among those who have their own ideas about what should or should not be be done. I guess you could say that today more than anytime in history what we find is for every Ying there's a Yang and everything in-between.

I use to ride this system for a dime Key System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FSETH · #14 01-25-2011, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

AzNMpower32

I believe many would agree with your basic premise except where public transportation is minimal, non existent or the transportation infrastructure has been poorly executed.

Yep, like Atlanta. Public transportation is typically not an option and if it is, it is most likely in an area that the majority of the commuting public do not want to be in. Atlanta is a pretty bad case of urban sprawl though.

motordavid · #15 01-25-2011, 07:27 PM

Not to drift into the transportation/sociology debate, but 'public transit' is an alternative in metro areas only, and that accessibility or user friendliness varies considerably from one 'metro' to another.

One should 'care' if gas/petroleum derived energy costs increase rapidly or 'too much' in the US, or developed nations; everything we own, look at, think about, or use is derived from or transported by petrochemical products somewhere in the chain.

All those rising costs, for each step of any process, are usually exaggerated by the time they reach the consumer stage.

And, the US is not Europa or, any where else on the planet, under our current taxation and 'fuel/energy' costs...

Sure, 5 buck a gallon will make many people drive less, etc., just as that ~$4 a gal hit did a couple of years ago. But, 'mass transit' and solar cells are not going to pop out of the ground in the meantime, to fill in some of the gaps and needs.

I don't wish 5 buck gas, day in and day out, on anyone here in The Colonies. It will surely add to the wound poking in the general economy, and exacerbate the real cost for many standard families. The drivers of 5,000+ lb X///Ms will sniff, and I won't miss lunch or 'not drive', but sustained spiking gas/energy costs will be a tough row to hoe for much of the population, especially in light of this country's utter lack of current alternatives.
BR, mD

Quicksilver · #16 01-25-2011, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motordavid

Sustained spiking gas/energy costs will be a tough row to hoe for much of the population, especially in light of this country's utter lack of current alternatives.
BR, mD

Personally I have my senior public transit card. Combine that with the good clip to get to the bus stop and we're talking keeping in shape and saving money. Now If I could make the whole process take less time I would really be into something. Anyone want to buy a well maintained X????

Meiac09 · #17 01-25-2011, 07:41 PM

$8 a gallon doesn't hit anywhere near as hard in Europe. First off, everything is walkable and, except for farmers who are subsidized, driving is NOT a necessity. You can't drive where you buy your food unless you live in a fake, new American style town, and then you just have to deal with buses. And since their continent is the size of the region of the US I live in, that kind of speaks for itself. I drive 25,000 miles a year, mostly in 1,000 mile + trips that are more efficient than flying from the regional airport where I live, to Atlanta, to Orlando and THEN drive two hours to my family's house. Shit, if I don't hit traffic I can almost make it there by the time I would get to Atlanta flying.

I gallavanted across europe for four months and only had a car for the purpose of burning the Autobahn during one vacation, and didn't miss it. (The only times the public transport didn't work was during a strike, or when I shouldn't have been driving anyway) That said, if I lived there permanently I would definitely keep a car because TGV's and ICE are horrendously expensive for what you get and make me personally nauseous.

Where I live in SC is a total fail of urban planning. Its 4 miles roundtrip to the walmart that seems to be next door, its 15 to get to the "downtown" and worse if you want to go sit in traffic where the big box stores are. If gas hits European prices here, it will collapse our economy. If gas hits 5/gallon I'll get a diesel, since my 325xi gets about 15 around town with the 0-55 go around in the southeast, I was licking the single digits when I was driving the X5.

No, I'm not moving to a city, because the metro-card costs a significant chunk of the expense to own a car, and leaves me up shits creek when I want to leave, or when it breaks. I walk instead of taking the NY subways, and I have no issues driving on Storrow drive to avoid the MBTA. Public Transportation in the United States is Geographically impractical.

I'd be interested in seeing where Obama was quoted to say that.

Weasel · #18 01-25-2011, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCL

I paid $1.32 per litre yesterday. That is $6 per Imperial gallon, $5 for the smaller US gallon. Our dollar is at par right now, so there is no conversion on CDN$/US$.

We expect $1.50 per litre shortly, which will be $5.68 per US gallon.

I think the issue in the US really comes down to whether people believe cheap US oil and gas can continue, and for how long. Certainly the population expect it. But as long as it is artificially low (on a world basis) then there is no broad incentive for improvements in efficiency, and for the population to begin to adapt. There seems to be a desire to continue with low prices as long as possible, and ignore the upheaval that will happen when it ends.

It isn't like you can produce all your own oil and gas and ignore the prices in the rest of the world. With a relatively fixed supply side, you are going to have to deal with the demand side at some point in the future. It is interesting to watch from the sidelines.

Unless you're Nicaragua...

TQ2K · #19 01-26-2011, 12:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AzNMpower32

I don't really care if prices rise in the US, because the US already has way too many cars and generally consumes too much fuel.

I recently did the math on my commute. Luckily, my parents live near a subway stop so I could take the subway and connect to the bus (a pretty straight shot). Alternatively, I could drive. Even at current fuel consumption and prices, public transit costs more, $7/day versus $3,60/day driving myself.

Driving just isn't expensive enough especially for urban areas. If petrol cost $1,50/litre or $6/US gallon, perhaps public transit would be the clear choice.

I'll probably do a mix of driving and public transit, even if the latter costs more because I can't stand driving in the DC area and it's better for the environment.

Would be nice if it was that simple.... Higher gas prices has a ripple effect in the economy and every aspect of how we live is affected.