Ready for $4.50 Gasoline?

[A HERETIC I AM]

Rita looks as if she will hit the spot where 25% of the nations refineries are located.

Katrina hit roughly 10% of that capacity not to mention disabling or outright destroying so many of the offshore drilling rigs in the gulf.


Here it comes.

[BiggJawn]

1. No.

But I'm SURE some fuck who lives 200 yards from everything he needs will be by shortly to tell us all how this is a GOOD thing, since it will "encourage" all us poor people who nobody gives a shit about anyway to "DO something" about renewable energy....

[Maru Kitteh]

4. with no kids and easy access to public transportation too

The nearest metro public transport is over 200 miles from here. We drive very little, and even less now but it still hurts.

[Cassandra]

5. Although I'm in NYC and have no car...

I'm well aware that my food doesn't just magically appear but has to be driven in.

[NNN0LHI]

15. You sound a bit on the edgy side there tonight BiggJawn

Don't worry about it I have been too. A lot of people are I think?

Don

[BiggJawn]

28. Oh, I'm just tired of hearing this DLC bullshit...

About how high gas prices are good for us. I can send a fuckin' bo-kay of flowers to Steve Boo-Yah with a note: "Please vote for wind power and higher fuel economy in cars" and do you think it'll make a difference?

I don't.

And then someone will tell us to quit our snivelling, because Tommy Atkins is paying $7 a gallon in Leeds, and to THAT I reply: I bought a bottle of Insulin, a box of needles, and a month's worth of ONE of my blood pressure pills last night. $46. How much do the Limeys pay for THEIR pills and needles? Huh? Not a fucking New Pence, that's how much. And they can WALK to their neighbourhood Chemist to get them, too!

Maybe I should start watching "Survivor" and "Fear factor". Seems to numb out most of the Sheeple and they don't care.

[QC]

25. Very true.

I am surprised, however, that it took until post #9 for someone to do it. They're slowing down.

[Bozita]

2. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it.

[Maple]

3. If that's ALL you pay

you'll be very very lucky.

[kedrys]

6. I expect it to hit $7 a gallon in the next couple of weeks

Some of the refineries on the east side of Houston have already shut down. There is no gasoline at any of the stations within 3 miles of my house, and one gas line was a flashback to the old pictures from the 70s during the OPEC embargo. :scared:

[ProfessorGAC]

31. Based Upon What?

The chickenlittle-ism is getting ridiculous.
The Professor

[progressivebydesign]

32. You're fear-mongering. n/t

[SheilaT]

7. Which is why

my husband traded his Nissan Xterra for a Honda Accord yesterday. Oddly enough, his Xterra (2000, with 134,000 miles) was quite desirable and the dealer gave him just $200 below the Blue Book trade-in value for it.

Apparently owners of the really huge SUVs are traded down to smaller ones like his.

[AwakeAtLast]

8. So that's why I got $700 above blue book for my XL-7!

I had had enough when gas hit $2.50 a gallon and traded for a Toyota Camry. Best decision I have ever made! They gave me an incredible deal w/ trade in and a rebate. I got a brand new one for only $1,000 dollars more than their year old models w/ 25K miles!

I love my car - hope your husband likes Honda just as much! :hi:

[SheilaT]

22. Yep, he does.

He's not crazy about going to a smaller more "vulnerable" car -- his word. For twenty years he's driven some kind of SUV and as recently as two years ago would not even consider a normal sized car. His reason for buying the Xterra (the previous vehicle was a Toyota 4Runner) was that he needed the cargo space, because he's an IT guy at his company and sometimes needs to haul computers around.

What he's finding is that the maneuverability of the Honda far outweighs the bulkiness of the Xterra. And within a week he'll like the saving at the gas pump. He calculated a few days ago that he'd save about $160 per month in gas, which means the car will pay for itself in gas in about 5 years, sooner if the price of gas goes up significantly.

I helped our 18 year old son buy a 94 Honda Accord back in the spring and that's a great car. It's lively and fun to drive. I haven't yet had a chance to drive hubby's, but I know how much he liked it on the test drive.

[newportdadde]

29. Above Blue Book from a dealer? Its all relative.

As an example we bought a newer used car a year ago. I was only willing to pay 9750 + a beat up neon, blue book trade in value of 1000. So my final out of pocket was 9750 cash and the neon.

However the dealer 'gave me more for my trade' 1750. So on the final sales sheet which his commission comes off of said 9750 + 1750 = 11,500. No way in hell that car was worth 1750 or the car we were buying worth 11,500. He dressed it up make his sales look better and make me feel like I got this 'great deal' but in reality we both know I got the car for about 10,750.

Brand new one for 'only 1k more'? Are you comparing your trade in and rebate finalized deal to the asking starting price for the car with 25k miles on it, you do realize you would have probably dropped quite a bit from its start too right?

[HEyHEY]

9. Ohh, poor americans with a possible $4.40 gallon gas

I paid $01.23 last week.

[Maple]

11. It's $1.49 a liter

as of tonight, where I live in Canada.

And there's 4 liters to 1 gallon.

Almost 6 bucks already, and Rita hasn't even hit yet.

[HEyHEY]

12. Holy shnickies!

That's up, imagine Newfoundland now?!

[Maple]

14. Yeah it was $1.02 this morning

I hate to think what it's going to be by the weekend.

And then next week, when they're toting up the damage....sheesh!

[BiggJawn]

30. Yeah, but that's $1.23 CANADIAN....

Makes it what, $2.50 a gallon US?

[Bluebear]

10. No way. $5.00-7.00 is what I am fearing. nt

[all.of.me]

27. that means it would cost me $10-14 a day to get to my $10/hr job

which only offers me 10 hours a week right now. it won't be worth it after a while.....

[ProfessorGAC]

37. I'll Ask Again!

Based upon what?
The Professor

[ladylibertee]

13. I always thought that my idea of no matter where I lived, I HAD to be near

my job,grocery store,bank and of course,the mall.This is probably why I'm such a city gal.Anyways,given the recent events in our nation,I think people are going to start taking this same approach when making decisions about where they live more seriously. I am so glad I am near everything essential to me given the outrageous gas prices.I have to say though,despite the convenience, I am still feeling the "pain at the pump."20.00 for a 1/2 gallon of gas is totally ridiculous and I have had to cut back on my "road trips' as a result.I can only imagine what everyone else is going through having to gas up 45.00 to 50.00 a DAY !!! I feel your frustration indeed.

[expatriate]

16. It's become a huge consideration for me

being near work, stores, doctors, etc.

I live in a country where public transportation is much more accessible than it was when I lived in America. Now that I live a short walk from shops, medical care, entertainment, restaurants and my husband's workplace, I am so thankful - because here, we're already paying $1.46 per LITRE for gas.

That works out to roughly $5.85 per gallon. It's a mercy we don't have to use the car much and in a pinch, we don't have to use it at all.

[ladylibertee]

18. Yeah, On the one hand ,I'm glad I don't have to pay so much....

only because I don't need as much.On the other hand,I still feel the frustration of what everyone else has to pay.It's just wrong.

[obxhead]

17. The spin cycle is up and running

to get the Oil co's tons of money. Europe already took a huge hit helping us with Katrina. I doubt they will be able to relieve us this time.

[Maple]

19. Everybody would help

but after you burned tons of UK food, sent a fully loaded German plane back home, left Sweden on the runway, and told the Canucks to leave with 4 ships worth of stuff...there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for doing it all again.

[obxhead]

20. Isn't it amazing

In 5 SHORT years we have managed to piss off the ENTIRE world.
Just amazing.

[Maple]

21. Well I must admit

Bush has an absolute knack for it. A gift you might say. :7

[natrat]

41. freedom is on the march

[Mizmoon]

23. DU is often full of gloom and doom

as I recall after Katrina the conventional wisdom here was that oil was going to go so high that it was the end of life as we knew it.

[Armstead]

34. How long ago was Katrina? When have gas prices gotten back to sane levels?

[ohio_liberal]

24. God, no

I'm stuck with a Chevy Blazer for the next three months until my son comes home for winter break. :( The only good thing is that I've only spent $10 in gas in the last three weeks and have either carpooled or walked when I needed to go somewhere.

[CascadeTide]

26. I am ready, we need a fire lit under a lot of asses

We must make alternative energy sources viable immediately. We can argue over when peak oil is going to hit until we're blue in the face but the fact is we won't know when oil production peaked until it's too late. Develop alternative energy sources now and we don't have to worry about it, very simple concept.

[Armstead]

33. Oh shut up

The only asses this will light a fire underneath are the people who can least afford it. Any maybe firee is all they'll be able to afford to heat with this winter.

Wanna let the poor freeze to death, and many people be stranded to prove a point?

This won't change the minds of the people in charge. They'll just get more lobbying money from the energy industry to avoid doing anything about it.

Let's stop the environmental elitism, and deal with the inmmnediate impact of this. Then we can look at way to really address the issue for the long term.

[CascadeTide]

39. i'ts not a point i'm trying to prove, it's a fact

our society is built on unsustainable fuel sources. I am one of those who is going to be hit hardest by higher oil prices so don't give me anything about elitism, something has to be done now or more and more people are going to have cold winters.

Deal with the immediate impact of this and everyone forgets about it and goes back to suburbia.

[natrat]

42. it's late for development of new technologies without mass starvation

at this point it would take a bigger comittment than nearly all of you recognize-obviously it depends on the rate of depletion. At some point,maybe already past,it really will be too late. It takes years,if not decades, to develop and implement new energy systems. Alot of fuckers are gonna starve. And yes first things first-alot of fuckers gonna freeze this winter

[QC]

36. Exhibit A, Why People Hate Environmentalists

People are going to be freezing to death in their apartments this winter--some would consider that a rather high price to pay for getting people to think about the disadvantages of fossil fuels.

[CascadeTide]

40. yeah i'm one of those people who is going to be freezing this winter

and I would rather something be done about it than have the real problem ignored. We don't need to use anywhere near the amount of fossil fuels we are using now. You can scream that we need lower oil prices but it's not going happen as demand increases and supply decrease.

What's your solution? The only two choices are to find magical oil reserves that don't exist or lower demand.

Hate me all you want, it's people who "hate environmentalists" that are responsible for me, and many others, freezing this winter.

[BiggJawn]

38. Read post # 1

It will never sink in that the people most in a position to DO something about energy policy are LEAST effected by gasoline prices and that the exact inverse is true, will it?

I'm ready for cheap solar, Hell, ANY solar that doesn't cost a year's salary to meet 10% of my needs, but whodafuck am *I*?

[gasperc]

35. the pres could come out and ask people to use less gas

for the rest of the week, to stock up supplies with impending destruction in the gulf to help ease the supply crunch that will occur next week

oh that would be leadership that this president doesn't have

[natrat]

43. the president could look beyond his greedy scumbag cronies

and begin adapting to new conditions re public transit and massive massive research/development on how to sustain a 300 million person poppulation with no fossil fuels. From what i gather these guys are just hording as much money as possible so they can live.