Im Tired Of Fuel Prices

[enigma]

The idea of a "no refuel day" is ok, but I'm not sure why so many have their shorts in a wad. Fuel costs, as a component of most of our budgets, account for a much smaller portion than they did twenty years ago. I was paying $1.29 a gallon in 1980, at that time I was only paying 35 cents for a soda that now costs $1.00. You could still buy a new auto for four grand, and spark plugs cost 75 cents. Now a decent small car costs over $15K, and plugs cost $3.00.

Everyone has been spoiled by real cheap fuel; and now it's just cheap. I don't like the price increase, but I can deal with it. I make a heck of a lot more than I did in 1980 (about ten times as much) and gas only costs 60% more. I can deal with that.

enigma

 

[jarhead]

Enigma

We in the U.S. have some of the lowest gas prices in the world.

I'll go back further than you did. In 1958, while working after school at better than minimum wage, I made $1.00 an hour.

Gas was 20 cents a gallon at the Pure Oil station where I worked.
So, an hours work got me 5 gallons of gas (I paid no tax as I did not earn enough)

Now, at today's minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, and gas at $2.00 a gallon, that one hour of labor at minimum wage will put about 2-1/2 gallons in the tank, so, as a direct comparison to 1958, we pay about twice what we did then for gas as a comparison to minimum wage. There are more taxes on it now, but none the less, as a teenager going in and asking for a bucks worth of gas, I had all I needed on a Friday night. And to top it off, They washed my window, checked my oil, checked and inflated my tires if needed, pumped it for me, an even gave away dishes or glass tumblers as an incentive to buy their brand.

Times, they have indeed changed. A bottle of coke or 7-up in that gas station vending machine cost a dime.

 

[sstearns2]

sit at home and split water with electrolysis into oxygen and hydrogen. put the hydrogen into your fuel cell car and never spend a drop on gasoline ever again....hondas FCX comes to mind......however it dosent have a turbo...i like turbos. i need a turbo

No fuel is being used except the fossil fuel being burning at the power station to make the electricity to perform electrolysis. It's actually much more efficient to just pull the hydrogen off the hydrocarbons in gasoline. Of course your still using fossil fuel either way which is why hydrogen power doesn't make any sense.

Scott

 

[jarhead]

sstearns2

Bingo. No free lunch. It takes energy to produce the hydrogen.
You simply have changed the source of that energy from gasoline, to that of coal, nuclear, or natural gas to turn the turbines to make the electricity, to make the hydrogen.

I still have not come to grips with what happens in car wrecks with that fuel source. Images of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, NJ come to mind.

"Oh the humanity, the humanity"

 

[LAXSaabdude]

Re: sstearns2

I still have not come to grips with what happens in car wrecks with that fuel source. Images of the Hindenburg at Lakehurst, NJ come to mind.

Actually, I seem to remember reading somewhere that hydrogen would be safer in some ways than gasoline. If a gasoline tank were to rupture and burn, liquid gasoline would spill all over the ground and the victims, whereas flaming hydrogen would rise upwards and away from the accident.

I also seem to remember reading that most of the fatalities in the Hindenburg were the result of falling to the ground or being crushed by the blimp, not burning.

LAXSaabdude.

 

[starchkr]

Gas prices right now are the result of greedy merchants, nothing else.

Gas can be sold as cheap as $.99 and the merchants would still pull a profit, however, they wish to charge more to pad their pocket books. A local merchant here opened up a store recently and announced that his gas could be sold for that price and he would do just fine with profits. OF course he did sell his gas for that price for 3 days his opening weekend, and then raised his prices to 1.40 something and is now making much more money and getting all of the local business. So you do the math...gas at .99 makes a profit, and the public is willing to pay $2, so why not make an extra buck per gallon and rake in the dough while the public nievely(SP) believes that gas really costs the merchants that much money.

I agree with the retards in the SUV comment above. If you are stupid enough to buy one then hey, you are stupid enough to pay that much for gas...and i am glad you cannot take your kids on vacation.

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

Gas Prices:
Currently, gasoline is very cheap in the US. If you look at gas prices since about 1920, in 2004 dollars, they are about the 2nd cheapest ever. I believe about 10 years ago, when gas was about $1/gal. it was the cheapest ever.

I've read a number of studies that suggest that no major change in consumption patterns (buying different cars, driving less, etc.) will occur until gas reaches about $4/gallon in today's dollars.

Oil is about $40/barrel. In the '71 gas crisis, it was about $100/barrel (2004 dollars).

Hydrogen:
Hydrogen can be obtained by using wind or solar power-sourced electricity. It takes energy, but there are lots of forms of energy available.

Alternative Energies:
In the last version (voted down) of the Energy Bill, oil & gas organizations were to receive about $27 Billion in tax benefits, while alternative fuels organizations were to receive about $2 Billion. Why not turn it around, and give $27Bill to alternatives, and $2 Bill to oil and gas?

The sooner we kick the oil and gas habit, the sooner our trade deficit will go down, and the less taxes we'll have to pay to send our military over to South-west Asia to protect our access to oil.

America has the #1 wind and solar energy potential of any country in the world. Let's provide Americans jobs and develop our own energy, unstead of depending on the Saudi royal family for a cheap energy source.

Hybrids:
The Toyota Prius is going gangbusters. The waiting list is over 8 months long, it is selling for $4K over sticker, and Toyota just added a 3rd shift to keep the Prius factory running 24 hrs/day.

Why is the Prius a GM/Ford/Chrsyler product? I would much rather buy this car from them instead of Toyota. Tucker was right, the Japs are kicking our butts.

Cliff
LRD

 

[414Flyer]

Gas prices right now are the result of greedy merchants, nothing else.

Gas can be sold as cheap as $.99 and the merchants would still pull a profit, however, they wish to charge more to pad their pocket books. A local merchant here opened up a store recently and announced that his gas could be sold for that price and he would do just fine with profits. OF course he did sell his gas for that price for 3 days his opening weekend, and then raised his prices to 1.40 something and is now making much more money and getting all of the local business. So you do the math...gas at .99 makes a profit, and the public is willing to pay $2, so why not make an extra buck per gallon and rake in the dough while the public nievely(SP) believes that gas really costs the merchants that much money.

I agree with the retards in the SUV comment above. If you are stupid enough to buy one then hey, you are stupid enough to pay that much for gas...and i am glad you cannot take your kids on vacation.

I would like to know where you took math.

If the wholesale price of gas is well over a dollar which is it right now, and then you include transportation costs, state and federal taxes, costs to run the station and make a profit..

And they can somehow sell it for under a dollar and make a profit?

You think it is all one big collusion among gas stations? Did you not notice the price of oil is rather high right now?

 

[weekendwarrior]

Greedy merchants? Ok, so I guess every stinking gas station is in on it. Every FBO is on it, so they all collectively raise their prices? Negative. It is a direct relationship to supply and demand. We use alot of gas, and the price of oil is high. We cut back on our gas, it goes down. Conversely, the supply is high, the price comes down. If the supply is limited (either by production, or the willful withholding of the supply) then the price goes up.

I swear, If I hear one more lame excuse to the gas price, or some INSANE idea that not buying gas for a day will effect the price of gas, I'm gonna loose it.

To these morons who suggest this will work, take a freaking economics class. You might learn something. Supply and demand is a very basic principle. It is a long run effect. One day will do nothing but hurt the economy, and perhaps raise the price because everyone would need to buy gas the next day! This insane idea would have to be done over, and over, and over again, to have an effect on the price.

This country is so spoiled on our gas prices it makes me laugh. No, I don't like paying $3.46 for Avgas as much as anyone else, but it is CHEAP compared to other places, or compared to where it should be based on inflation.

Let it go. It will fix itself eventually. Consumers will dictate the price ulitmately. Hybrids, cutting back on driving/flying, etc, will all have an effect on the price. A national "Official" Stick It To Them day will have NO effect on this. Not to mention, you will never get hundreds of millions of drivers to not buy gas that day!

Ok..off the soapbox!

 

[starchkr]

Math...who needs it...the merchant states he can sell it for .99 and profit. If this is so, then hey, there is your math right there.

Supply and demand...you are right...but...that only has only a little to do with it. Supply is low right now, yes, but then why does one station sell gas at 1.65 while across the street it sells for 1.85...hmmmm....lets see...can you say padding profits. It's all BS, and an economics class is not needed to see that (yes i have taken multiple economics classes). Ok, so maybe i live where 80% of the US gas is produced, and transportation costs are lower, so maybe we can sell it cheaper here...still does not forgive charging the same as they do 1,000 miles away for the same gallon of gas. You should have learned in that same economics class that profits make a business. The strong survive, so to be strong you must make more than your competition (he!! just look at our industry right now)...hence, charge a premium on the fuel we all MUST have and rake it in while you can. OH, and yes they are all GREEDY. As is every other business owner in this land. If they were not greedy they would give their services away for cost only and not worry about profits and such.