America... Watch Out!
Where I live, gas is $2.59. Tomorrow morning, gas prices are to raise 40-50 cents. Don't know about all of you, but this is really going to affect my CP trip this weekend... And possibly everyone elses...
Unfortunately, our society has designed itself around cheap and unlimted energy which makes it really difficult to switch to an alternative.
Fortunately for me, I live 1/2 mile from work and ride my bike :)
Think about this.... We've been paying what, one dollar, one fifty, for a while now. Shoot, I remember when it was 96 cents down the road from me. It's been so long since America has ever had to deal with high gas prices, meanwhile, every other country has had them like we have them now for years and years. We've had it made, people.
Surely, it affects trips to parks, and people's vacations, but hey, you have to have gas to get anywhere now, so you might as well pay it.
- Josh
Who finds it surprising that no one complains about $3 or $3.50 for a gallon of milk...;)
*** Edited 8/30/2005 1:53:02 AM UTC by Colin Fisher***
The gas prices raising to me are a cost of living, and our raises should relect that... in a perfect world...
You raise the cost of gas, it affects EVERYTHING in our society... from plane tickets to cabs to pizza delievery, to basically ALL goods & services since there's all the middle-men inbetween which use the gas to get from Point-A to Point-B...
We aren't going to see any raises in our paychecks... but there's going to be a huge jump in inflation for just about EVERYTHING that has any reliance on gas.
...thus, if we keep at the current trend of 2005 for the next few years, we're going to go into The Great Depression II, because nobody is going to be able to afford anything anymore.
...Amusement parks will become a luxery item, and local FEC's will be the "big day out" for people.
thepinkdoomofmonkeys said:
I'm so sick of that "We were due for it" thing. Yes, we paid less than the rest of the world, but that's what we were used too, not to mention we're infinately more dependent on cars than any country in Europe. We need the lower gas prices than other countries because other countries have MUCH better public transportation.
Very true that, that Americans are much more dependent that Europeans.
But even though gas prices are still rather cheap here compared to the rest of the world, Americans often pay just as much. Why? For one, MUCH more driving (Americans rather drive 100ft than walk I've noticed), and cars that waste insane amounts of gas. The cars are still made like the gas is cheap as it used to be. That's gotta change.
Anyone noticed that the ones complaining most are truck drivers? What an oxymoron.
Then remember, They also have transit systems to get you to almost any city you want. From London to Amsterdam, Hell all the way to Moscow.
We got the Northeast corridor and some west coast action and jack &*(& in between. AKA AMTRAK.
Oh, BTW, there is plenty of oil. We just can't refine it fast enough and 1/4 of the gasoline refining in the US is done in the gulf.
Chuck, who drills his congressmen all the time over, WHY ISN"T THERE A Monorail down every major US highway? Toledo to FL? Cleveland to Cincy to Louisvile and beyond?
At these prices or higher Id sure as hell hop a train and catch a buss or cab.
Oh, I seen there was a amtrak stop in Wisconson dells, I looked it up to get from Cincy to the dells via amtrak. $400 and two days. It's still only 70 bucks and eight hours by car.
1) At one time our country had a pretty good system of mass transit called the railroads. They pretty much got put out of business when our government decided to subsidize the interstate highway system.
2) Yes Europe has better public transit systems. That's because most European cities were large and densely populated long before the automobile was invented. They also have little room to expand into the suburbs, exurbs, and whatever Americans have come to desire.
3) While hybrids are nice, one thing to remember about them is that in most places the electricity used to charge them comes from a fossil fuel plant-- of course, that isn't their fault.
4) We complain about $2.50/gallon for gasoline, and $3.00- 3.50 for a gallon of milk. Yet most people willingly go into a store and pay $1.49 for 20 ounces of "spring" water (that actually comes from public water systems).
5) If prices had gone up 3-4 percent a year every year since the 70's, we'd probably be paying the same price we are now, with a lot less complaining. A nickel increase a year, most people probably wouldn't notice. A 60-80 cent increase within a few months throws people for a loop and takes a sudden big bite out of your budget.
I'm glad I averaged almost 27 miles per gallon on my recent park trip-- not bad for a '98 Pontiac. Regular maintenance does help.
RatherGoodBear said:
3) While hybrids are nice, one thing to remember about them is that in most places the electricity used to charge them comes from a fossil fuel plant-- of course, that isn't their fault.
You don't charge Hybrids, They come with a battery pack that only needs to be replaced every 7 years. When you use the brakes, it uses the engery created to charge the battery. No need for the plug. Or I call it, pretty straight forward, "Plug-Less"
*** Edited 8/30/2005 2:53:01 AM UTC by Colin Fisher***
P.S. Hybrids are better for in town driving, not highway driving. How often do you use your brakes driving down the highway? Plus, let me see your savings when you have to buy a new $4000 main battery pack. *** Edited 8/30/2005 2:59:32 AM UTC by bsr241***
Damn Cornfields
Even if our oil intake did increase, we have no where near enough refineries to produce gas.
A refinery hasn't been built in the U.S. since the 70's, I believe.
- Josh
2.90, is that for regular? DAMN! Here in maryland its 2.69. Its been going down and up. But when I go on-base, we can get under 2.50 at times.
*** Edited 8/30/2005 3:03:29 AM UTC by Colin Fisher***
We need our govt to get the oil and car industry to keep developing the fuel alternatives. Unforunatly our president has too many ties to the oil...ah forget it.
The cool thing about the euros is that they have adjusted their driving habits by either biking, taking public transportation or driving smaller cars. these are sweet. Can you picture an american who currently drives an SUV trading it in for one? I don't either. Stupid americans... *** Edited 8/30/2005 3:26:19 AM UTC by eightdotthree***
Either that or I'll try and accelerate onto said 65 MPH road and since my hybrid takes 5 minutes to get to that kind of speed, I'll get rear-ended by a gas tanker going 65 and still laugh, right?!!?
There's three main reasons that there's no huge mass transportation system in this country:
#1 - we're too spread out, you can't make a cost effective system that gets people to every point they need to get to
#2 - no one wants to be on someone else's schedule when they can be on their own
#3 (and the most important) - NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard. Everyone wants it, but ask them to put a 5' diameter, 40' tall support column in their back yard, or lose their precious Wal Mart for a right of way, and all of a sudden, a mass transporation system becomes such a SMALL priority! Funny how that happens!
If the oil companies (read: Republicans) would just take a hit to their massive profits, perhaps it wouldn't matter, but god forbid that! And course, this is capitalism in action, right? Right?
Hypothetical situation.
Weekend day trip to relatively nearby theme park planned. Gas goes up 40 cents a gallon in the meantime. Car holds 18 gallons of gas (mpg is irrelevant in this scenario). I figure I can easily do it on one full tank. My car is almost empty.
Price I expected to pay for gas when I planned the trip today = X number of dollars.
Price I'll end up paying if gas jumps 40 cents a gallon overnight = X + $7.20
Seven bucks isn't breaking my trip. What am I missing?
The reason most of the US doesnt have a good mass transit system is because in 1977 GM and other american car companies lobbied congress to cut public transportation funding.
Maybe Ill go load up tonight.
You must be logged in to post
