Gas Prices.... Completely Outrageous!!! How Much Are They Where You Are??? - Page 28

KarmaContestant · #**406** 04-10-2012, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

It's time Americans started adapting to a world of higher gas prices. We're the last real holdout... our days of cheap gas are dwindling. And that's being exacerbated by Americans who think it's their God given right to drive horribly inefficient tanks which are guzzling up the world's finite supply of petroleum; yet decry increasing gas prices.

^^^ Quoted for truth!

**mylittledemon** · #**407** 04-11-2012, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I really don't pay attention to gas prices anymore since we've become a car-free household. All we have now are a motorcycle & a scooter... the motorcycle gets about 50 mpg & the scooter gets upwards of 70 mpg. Both are plenty fast to take on Interstate Highways, too. Because we also chose to live close to where we work (vs a sprawling suburban homestead), gasoline prices have very little effect on our budget.

Yep. I would've rather not bought a car, but it's nice to at least take weekend trips. I try to walk or take the bus during the week. We bought a Honda Civic that's rated 5-stars in terms of fuel efficiency... so we do get quite good mileage out of it. I still hate paying the petrol prices though. Costs us about $80 to fill it, and we go roughly 2 weeks days between fill-ups. :\

chriskisn · #**408** 04-11-2012, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Here in NZ it's roughly $2.20 per litre. I guess we're paying about $9-10 a gallon.

Ouch you are worse off that we are...although I guess our $ is stronger than the NZ one (our $ is stronger than pretty much anything right now

)

estranged4life · #**409** 04-11-2012, 02:35 PM

$3.77 a gallon here in Bible-belt central.

Thinking about buying a sail and turning my Trailblazer into a wind powered auto, lol!

skcin · #**410** 04-11-2012, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I really don't pay attention to gas prices anymore since we've become a car-free household. All we have now are a motorcycle & a scooter... the motorcycle gets about 50 mpg & the scooter gets upwards of 70 mpg. Both are plenty fast to take on Interstate Highways, too. Because we also chose to live close to where we work (vs a sprawling suburban homestead), gasoline prices have very little effect on our budget.

It's time Americans started adapting to a world of higher gas prices. We're the last real holdout... our days of cheap gas are dwindling. And that's being exacerbated by Americans who think it's their God given right to drive horribly inefficient tanks which are guzzling up the world's finite supply of petroleum; yet decry increasing gas prices.

While I agree with the "you made your bad, now lie in it" tone of your post in theory, there's only so much some people can do.

A family with a kid probably can't live with just a scooter. Public transportation is not readily available to many people - if I were to take a bus to my job, it would take 3 transfers & a total if 1.25 hrs one way; my commute by car takes 12 minutes. It's great that this works for you & your family, but you can't assume it will work for everyone else.

I grew up in the suburbs; should I move to the city where I'm not familiar? Living close to work is not an option for everyone (esp. if you work in a shady area.) I agree it's kind of ridiculous to buy a 8 or 10 cylinder truck these days unless you truly need it for a work purpose. But there are plenty of people who have older/smaller vehicles that don't get the best mileage & can't afford to buy something newer/better.

louielouie2000 · #**411** 04-12-2012, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

While I agree with the "you made your bad, now lie in it" tone of your post in theory, there's only so much some people can do.

A family with a kid probably can't live with just a scooter. Public transportation is not readily available to many people - if I were to take a bus to my job, it would take 3 transfers & a total if 1.25 hrs one way; my commute by car takes 12 minutes. It's great that this works for you & your family, but you can't assume it will work for everyone else.

I grew up in the suburbs; should I move to the city where I'm not familiar? Living close to work is not an option for everyone (esp. if you work in a shady area.) I agree it's kind of ridiculous to buy a 8 or 10 cylinder truck these days unless you truly need it for a work purpose. But there are plenty of people who have older/smaller vehicles that don't get the best mileage & can't afford to buy something newer/better.

Living in Texas, ALL I see are full size trucks & SUVs... all of which accelerate & speed absurdly aggressively over & around the big hills of Austin... carrying invariably only their driver. It's just absurd. I can't sit at an intersection without one of those mega trucks/SUV's catching rubber when a light turns, that's how aggressively people drive here. Folks lined up idling for a mile in their Tahoes & Expeditions to retrieve their kids from school, when the child could just ride a bus. I can't imagine how much fuel all these type people use in a week, rocketing through Austin's tall hills & canyons like that; backing up traffic through unnecessary driving, etc. I just don't see the need for such massive, inefficient vehicles, either. The rest of the world is making due with smaller vehicles; vehicles with smaller/more efficient engines; etc. I just don't get people who decry gas prices, while guzzling through gasoline at frightfully unsustainable rates. I totally respect and champion our citizens ability to chose whatever type of transportation they want... I just have no sympathy for those who contribute hugely to the problem, while blaming everyone but themselves for the gasoline addicted state we're in.

I truly understand some folks need larger vehicles, and not everyone wants to live in urban areas either. But there are plenty of 4 & 6 cylinder trucks, SUVs, vans, & crossovers which are plenty capable of doing exactly the same thing as their 8 & 10 cylinder counterparts. Diesel engines use something like 40% less fuel than their gasoline counterparts, while often making twice the torque... yet Americans have long eschewed diesels. I'm not even bringing up hybrids, because I think they're junk technology. And yes, mass transit is only available to a very small amount of working Americans, but almost anyone living anywhere can start or join a commuting carpool. There are so many ways to decrease one's gasoline consumption rather than getting rid of a car like I did. But it seems most Americans would rather throw a tantrum than shift their way of doing things in the slightest manner. If we don't start getting real about our oil addiction, we're going to see some pretty frightening things during our lifetimes.

vivfox · #**412** 04-12-2012, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

If we don't start getting real about our oil addiction, we're going to see some pretty frightening things during our lifetimes.

Ooooh, this sounds exciting. Care to elaborate on some of those frightening prospects?

HejiraNYC · #**413** 04-12-2012, 08:24 AM

I think it's one thing to have high gas price like they do in Europe and other developed areas of the world. But it's another thing entirely to have high gas prices in the U.S. For one thing, the high gas prices abroad are not directly linked to market forces as much as they are linked to taxes- taxes that are used to help fund infrastructure as well as social entitlements like healthcare, paid leave and pensions. Yes, the gas taxes in the U.S. are much lower than the rest of the developed world, but they does not contribute to any social entitlements. As such, high gas prices in the U.S. can only be attributed to "market forces," e.g., market speculation and greed. Although cartels are technically illegal in the U.S., the U.S. oil/gas industry is indeed a cartel and they manipulate the market in unison along with their counterparts on Wall Street.

Don't get me wrong; I personally am in favor of high gas prices in the U.S.- it forces people to adopt more responsible transportation habits. However, I am not in favor of high gas prices when it consists mostly of profits going to Wall Street and the U.S. oil cartel. High gas prices are only justifiable when they are due to high gas taxes that are used to fund public transportation initiatives, alternative green energy development and public healthcare and education. IMHO, the future is electric and we still have a LONG way to go before we have anything close to a viable/sustainable/practical electrical infrastructure. The sooner we support its development, the better.

KarmaContestant · #**414** 04-12-2012, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox

Ooooh, this sounds exciting. Care to elaborate on some of those frightening prospects?

One scenario that is frequently mentioned by experts in the energy sector is the near-complete breakdown of the world's food transportation system.

Think of it like this - the next time you go to a grocery store, see how many things in it you can find that come from less than 10 miles away. Also, look at the little stickers on produce and see how much of it is grown in your state - or even in this country. I'll tell you already - almost nothing. Without cheap fuel to transport food, prices will skyrocket OR the food won't be transported at all. For much of the rural United States that means no out-of-season fruit or vegetables (most people take for granted that they can get strawberries and avocados, for example, all year long), for almost all of the urban areas, that means no fruit or vegetables AT ALL unless they're grown locally - I live in an largely agricultural state and the nearest apples and peaches are grown 232 miles away in Palisade. For nearly all of the United States this means no frozen/canned/boxed/bagged goods. Even then, the factories that produce frozen/canned/boxed/bagged goods probably won't be getting their supplies delivered and could shut down production alltogether because they have no product to ship to stores. Animals will not be transported to slaughterhouses, which means no meat in the stores for our carniverous friends.

No cat food.
No dog food.
No grain for livestock, unlesss you grow it yourself (few meat producers do)
Not even food for the fish in your aquarium once existing supplies sell out.

Our entire global food distribution network is dependent upon cheap petroleum, and almost no one in America eats food produced locally.

Empty stores = pretty frightening.

When I was in Europe, particularly when flying over Germany to Italy, I noticed something very practical about their infrastructure - the cities and towns were mostly all surrounded by farms. Presumably to grow produce to sell to the people who live in those cities and towns. Conversely, America's farms have been sold off and developed into urban sprawl.