So you think $2.50 a gallon is steep?

[It was not a pretzel]

try $6.50 like here in Germany. x(

[wli]

1. it'll be $10/gal before too long

[Newsjock]

2. As Ed Schultz said today on his show ...

... If gas were $9/gallon in the USA and we got universal health care in return, he wouldn't mind one bit.

[JDPriestly]

4. Right!

The problem is we get gas at $2.50 headed to $3.50 per gallon, and all we get is Halliburton with its hands out for more more more.

[Qanisqineq]

19. Ha! So true, so true

I'm sorry I missed his show yesterday

[seabeyond]

3. wow. any of you own hummers, lol. yep, that is a lot n/t

[sleipnir]

5. Germany is also half the size of Texas.

So, as the old saying goes:

"100 miles is long way in Europe, 100 years is a long time in America."

Scale has everything to do with gas.

Your truckers don't have to drive 1,500 to 2,000 miles to deliver goods from port.

It sure does suck to pay that much for gas on personal use, but the differences in scale are too drastic to compare pricing.

[hfojvt]

15. there are many other factors as well

Apparently in Deutschland, they do not live to shop nor shop to live. I visited my ancestral town of Burbach, about 12,000 people and was kinda amazed by the lack of shopping. An American town that size would have had a super Wal-mart, a strip mall, and a downtown. If Burbach had a shopping center like that, I could not find it.

Second, in Deutschland, they are driving very tiny cars - Fleas and such, which probably get 40-60 mpg.

Third, you can get most places that you want to go by train or by bus, although the bus was kinda pricey.

Fourth, my early morning train out of Burbach filled up with schoolkids. It made me realize that America has a huge mass transit system, but it is only used to get children to school and then it mostly sits idle until it takes them home.

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Yep but that money goes to the general fund to

I don't know fund medical care and education, here it is going to the cofffers or corporations, if you are gonna go there, tell the full story

[silverweb]

7. Exactly.

I sympathize with people who are forced to commute some distance to their jobs and face other hardships because of rising fuel prices. However, in the final analysis, it's really only that hardship experienced by a sufficient number of people which will force a shift away from fossil fuels.

Just wait until winter, when we'll hear howls about heating oil costs. Our government's policies have led to this situation and only enough public pressure will force change in those policies.

On edit: I've said it before and I'll say it over and over again -- We have the technology right now to eliminate oil from our lives as a necessary energy source. We.don't.need.oil. Our corporate-run government, however, does not have the will to make that change. Yet.

[Strelnikov_]

10. And This Miracle Energy Source Or Sources Is?

And it will take how long to implement?

And will it allow for continued exponential economic growth with no change in living standards?

[silverweb]

14. Who said anything about miracles?

With a combination of currently available technologies, as well as the will to pursue improvement, expansion, and implementation of those technologies, oil can be completely replaced as an energy source.

As for how long it would take to implement, I suspect that would be largely up to those who do the implementing. Projects of any scope generally start out with set goals and timetables, so I'm sure a consortium of scientists would be able to give you a better answer than I could. You might start by asking these fellows -- http://www.apolloalliance.org -- and I'm sure they'd be very happy to refer you to some of their friends for additional estimates.

Why is "continued exponential economic growth with no change in living standards" even part of your inquiry? I certainly didn't mention it and don't consider it relevant to the issue at hand.

[Strelnikov_]

26. Delete

Not worth the effort.

[silverweb]

27. Of course.

"Not worth the effort."

But it is worth the effort, blood, human misery, and expense to pursue perpetual war and conquest of foreign lands to secure what's left of the world's oil under "AmeriCorp" control, right?

That way there will be -- for America, at least -- "continued exponential economic growth with no change in living standards," right?

Do you really believe that?

That's exactly the attitude the oil corporatocracy wants to continue fostering about the development of sustainable, clean energy sources to replace oil -- it's "not worth the effort."

Thankfully, development has been occurring despite AmeriCorp's best efforts to suppress it. And thankfully, more and more people are beginning to see that transferring our attention and efforts from maintaining the status quo of the oil stranglehold to independent renewable energy sources makes infinitely more sense.

[unrepuke]

8. $3.15 a gal. Reg/Unl in L.A. today

:cry:

[burrowowl]

9. Yes, but Germany, France, etc.

have mass transit (how socialistic!) in ABQ, people are SOL!
To go to where I go to work by car is 15 minutes (10 miles); by ABQ so-called mass transit: 3/4 mile walk to bus stop (15 minutes, street crossings), 45 minutes between buses, 30 minutes to tranfer to one junction, then wait of 30 minutes or so, then 45 minutes to get to work. Or around 2 hours and 15 minutes to go to work if no connections are missed! If one has the unhappy luck of working overtime after 8:00 pm, no bus! Sleep at work.

[Burried News]

11. Pretty soon they'll price it by the quart so we feel better about it.

Sort of like Candy bars stayin less than a dollar.
Heck even Cool aid is 3 small packets for 99 cents at the grocery today.
I used to think a dollar was what a quarter used to be. Nope - it's really what a dime was. Best we start calling it a peso or a lira I think.

[Liberal In Texas]

12. If it even gets up to $3/ gal+.. the shrub will have near insurection

on his hands.

[Donailin]

21. no, more likely 3.50-4.50

they've done their research. Anything over that will create panic in the streets.

[Kindigger]

13. My Dad and I were discussing this....

after the Ed Schultz show after the $9.00 gallon remark. He said many European countries have many things included in that price...school tax, property tax, health insurance etc.

Does anyone know if this is true?

[greenbriar]

20. yes

it is

[melody]

16. yes, welllllll

We don't have health insurance, social nets (anything that counts anyway), or anything more than the most laughable forms of public transportation, along with extremely expensive medication which also impacts our pocketbooks. We have every right to complain about $2.50 a gallon gas, given everything else we have to deal with, imho.

[sbj405]

17. Since there doesn't seem to be any movement towards a change

in driving habits, obviously it's not steep enough. When the HOV lanes are full and I can't get a seat on the Metro, I believe it's too steep.

I work for the gov, we have 2 options - gov transit subsidy for any mass transit (rail, metro, bus, vanpool) or pay for parking. I am astounded at the number of people with transit options available that choose to drive and pay $75 to park rather than take the free ride (pun intended). :-)

I realize public transit doesn't work for all, but it works for a hack of a lot more than actually use.

[greenbriar]

18. 1

At least in Europe most of the cost of fuel is taxes, going into the
general fund, including public healthcare for all citizens.

Not so, here in the land of the corporate crooks where 45 million are without healthcare insurance.

We will be paying high prices for fuel and still NO healthcare plan in sight.

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

22. I paid $2.679 per gallon for 87 octane yesterday here in the southwest

'burbs' of Chicago. The price actually went up .02 as I was waiting for a red light to get across 95th Street to pull into the gas station.

I have no doubt that by Christmas, we'll be paying something in the range of $3.00 per gallon.

[greenbriar]

24. ummmm more like 4 bucks

we were on vacation in KC Kansas and it went up from 2:39 to 3:05 overnight

[Cobalt Violet]

23. Whats minimum wage in Germany?

And what does the average person earn?

[durablend]

25. And what kind of expenditures do they have?

Rent/housing, food, utilities, etc?