Gas Prices Soar!

[Tom Earp]

Welcome to the real world of high Gas!

Kerry Suggests strongly that Bush should release Naval Oil Reserve! He also says that Busch is in Cahoots with the Saudie Family.

I suggest, that Riding Transit systems will help curtail gas consumption along with buying more efficient vehicles.

How many have ridden Transit systems? I have only been on those of NY, Chicago, Wash. DC, San Francisco, London, Budephest, and Austria. Met some great people there.

What kind of Vehicle do you drive? A gas Hog?

I cannot ride any transit vehicles as owning a small business. I do not fill up everytime I go to the pump. I drive a 4 cylinder vehicle, not a SUV.

I try very hard to make as many trips as possible and do what I have to do in a correct, planned route.

Do You.?


The American love for a Car is killing us.

Dont buy gas on May 19 th, buy it on May 20 th! WOW, that really helps!

Oh My God, Fossile fuel does run out!

[swissmiss04]

Yeah it's definitely getting ridiculous.
I myself drive a 94 Honda Accord that I keep impeccably maintained so that it has the highest fuel economy possible. I wouldn't drive an SUV for many reasons, gas guzzling being one of them.
When I first started driving gas was around .99 or so. I drove a tiny little car and could fill up my tank for around 10 bucks or so. Now that I have a slightly larger car and gas is more $$$$ it takes at least $25 or so to get the job done. I now spend around $100/ month for gas.
I'm not sure about which conspiracy theory I agree with (if any) but I think that this hike in gas prices couldn't have come at a worse time, financially and politically. Some of those not so in the know will blame Bush (I don't like him, but to blame him for gas prices is incorrect). Our economy is not what you'd call in tip-top shape right now, and many people are feeling a strain on their budget just to pay for gas. Not to mention prices of other things rise, because the transport of goods has to be paid for somehow.
I myself try to do my part and however little that helps, at least I'll feel good about it.

ETA: I would really hope more places would look into better public transport. If I lived in a larger city w/ a decent transport system, I'd definitely sell my car.

[Rudey]

Actually oil supply has been increased and prices went down - the problem is that demand increased extremely by one country (China).

-Rudey

[bcdphie]

I think Vancouver is the most expensive place in North America now - $.999/litre and it may have gone up since arriving at work this morning.

It usually costs me about $25 to fill up my car - it cost me $40 the other day .

that converts to roughly $2.75 USD/Gallon for regular gas - none of this fancy high octane stuff... that's well over $1CAD/ Litre now

[Lady Pi Phi]

The most expensive I've seen was 89.6 cents/L. I was like .
It's times like this I'm glad I don't drive.

[winnieb]

I do drive a gas hog-- an Expedition! I get about 13-14 mpg in city and 17 highway.
I do not take public transporation--KC really doesn't have a public transit system, just the Metro bus if you live in the city.
I filled up the gas take on Monday, it cost about $50--I have a 26gallon tank.

I am now paying attention to where I drive. Driving has always been a huge stress reliever for me--I have been curb my urge to just drive.

And yes, while a small economic car would make sense with the gas prices--it doesn't make sense for my family. With a 7' tall husband and two boys that will be just as tall--it doesn't make sense to havea little car.

-wendi

[AOII_LB93]

Gas prices soar?

They've been high here in CA forever...in San Diego I saw it as high as 2.50 a few weeks ago and it's gone up since! I'm seriously thinking about a hybrid...this is nukking futs!

[swissmiss04]

Originally posted by Rudey
Actually oil supply has been increased and prices went down - the problem is that demand increased extremely by one country (China).

-Rudey

That's really interesting. What exactly has happened in China to increase the demand?

[DZHBrown]

I drive a 95 Cavalier (but want a new car soooo bad) and last time I filled up, it cost me $25 for a 14 gallon tank. I use the lowest grade, which runs between 1.88-2.05 in Nashville.

I won't do the mass transit thing. That might be snobby, but I'm just not getting on the bus! Not only will it take me fifty years to get downtown, I just don't feel like it's the safest, most sanitary place to be. We don't have any other form of mass transit here. I live really close to the grocery store, Target, gas station, etc. I drive to my parents probably once a week and that's about 30-35 miles and it's about 20 miles to downtown Nashville for school and dr. appts.

[adduncan]

This is one reason Mr. A and I are looking forward to the move to Atlanta.

Houston has AWFUL mass transit for such a large city. The buses are confusing, the drivers are evil, and the latest "update" was a stupid-ass little toy train that doesn't go anywhere.

During our last trip, I could dump Mr. A off at the Kiss 'n Ride at Dunwoody station and the train plus one bus ride later (all about 35 minutes) he's at Coke's front gate. 35 mins at the end of the day, and I pick him up from the station and that's that.

BTW - he drives a Ford Explorer (before anyone turns up their nose at the "gas guzzler", remember the streets in the good neighborhoods here are so bad that you need a truck-like suspension to prevent broken axles) I drive a Buick Skylark, which gets pretty decent milage.

Times like this I miss the college days of Boston where the "T" was so efficient and easy to use it was easier to NOT have a car at all.

--add

[Rudey]

Originally posted by swissmiss04
That's really interesting. What exactly has happened in China to increase the demand?

What do you mean? China's economy expanded rapidly. All the factories, new cars, etc. require more energy and, thus, more oil.

-Rudey

[swissmiss04]

Ah ok. Didn't know. Thanks.

[DeltAlum]

I personally don't know the source, but NPR reported that consumption in both China and the United States skyrocketed.

Bought gas for Mrs. DeltAlum's car yesterday at $1.89.9/gal. Filled my car up today at $1.99.9.

Hefty increase in less than 24 hours.

[AGDee]

Our local news stations all have people searching for the cheapest gas and then they broadcast the lowest gas prices. They just announced that yesterday, one of the places they announced sold out of gas and had huge lines! The "cheapest" place they found was $1.959 (why don't they just make it $1.96 and drop the 9/1000 of a cent? never got that!). The gas station where I usually go is at $2.08, but I'm going to one of those cheap ones today.

Gov. Granholm (Mich) is a real stickler on these things.. she had the Attorney General press charges against gas stations that engaged in price gouging during the black out and was Attorney General during 9/11 and pressed charges for gouging then. She is openly questioning the need for the rapid increases when our national store is higher than it's ever been and the oil companies are reporting record profits.

Just wait, won't be long before this affects everything, because the cost of shipping affects all deliveries and will lead to inflation in every area.

While there is no good mass transit in Detroit, I have considered talking to a few coworkers who live near me about carpooling. It's hard when you all work different hours though. I drive 25 miles each way and have a Cavlalier (30 mpg).

Dee

[ZTAngel]

I drive a tiny Ford ZX2 and it cost me about $19 to fill up my tank yesterday. Gas prices are $1.96 here. I know $19 isn't a lot at all but I'm use to paying between $11-13 to fill up my tank. Orlando has some of the cheapest gas prices in the state so I only imagine what gas prices are up to in West Palm Beach and Miami. I feel bad for friends of mine who has SUVs or cars that require premium grade gasoline. I know some of them have spent almost $50 to fill up their tank.
My boyfriend and I are driving to Atlanta for Memorial Day weekend and I'm really considering just purchasing an airline ticket. I think it might end up the same amount to fly as it is to drive with gasoline prices being so high.