Hat tip, Michelle Malkin.
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I’m glad one person around here has his head screwed on straight.
Tax the oil companies, sue OPEC and we get more oil ??
How about firing Congress?
My poor, math-addled head has been swimming for DAYS about this. There was a big thing on NPR today about the economics behind the price of gas at the pump, and I swear to God/dess, I nearly drove off the road because I was thinking too hard…
I have so many thoughts on this subject. Many from my years of working for big oil. Back then, oil was $18 a barrel and gas was around $1.00. Now oil is 7.5 times that price, but gas is not 7.50 per gallon. And, if we are going to consume every drop of something and cannot refine any more, well the price cannot go down.
Also, way back when oil was $18.00 a barrel the oil co’s were suffering great numbers of layoffs, and shutting wells because oil was too cheap to pay the people to run them. They warned us then, that if the wells were capped, they could not get them going again. Something about the pressure build up that sustained the flow. Congress is eager to tax them now, but weren’t so eager to give them a break back then.
Also, the news never reports the difference between gross profits and profit margins. Seriously, even if they only made 1 penny per gallon, if we buy more and more, they will make more even if the profit margin never changes.
It’s late. My mind is addled from dance recital dress rehearsal. I shouldn’t even TRY to think.
People bitch about the price of gas, but they don’t mean it.
I don’t think gas is too expensive.
Pearl, Mrs. Chili: The only thing the federal government can do to help is to remove most of the ridiculous restrictions on new domestic exploration. Couple it with incentives for alternate source research, too–we need that badly, and anyone who says we don’t isn’t paying attention–but for better or for worse, we’ve got to improve the domestic petroleum outlook. We still need oil for decades to come. The semiannual dressing down of the “Big Oil” CEOs is a ridiculous, useless spectacle. But, hey, it is Congress.
‘seester: You got it. The aspect of the profit angle you bring up is wholly ignored in the media.
Gerry: I’m with you–to a point. My success thus far in life has enabled me to watch the price of filling up my truck go from $30 to $85, with only negligible-to-very-slight impacts on my/our lifestyle. Thing is, just about anything you buy has a petroleum factor in its cost, because it has to be moved, yes? I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the 40-lb. bag of dog food I get at Costco that has been $15 forever is now $21. That’s where it’s ultimately going to hurt sustainedly if we don’t get some relief soon. The pain at the pump will be the least of it.
At what point does it make it not financially worth it for people making minimum wage to pay for the gas to go to work?
Don’t blame the Gub’ment for the high gas prices. Well, at least not because of taxes. Roads don’t build or repair themselves. Gas taxes are the fairest tax we pay. The more gas you use the more tax you pay. It stands to reason that if you are using more gas, it is because you are either using the roads more or driving bigger heavier vehicles. If we actually taxed gas based on what we spend to build and maintain roads (and other costs not easily seen like cost to the environment), gas would be a LOT more expensive.
Don’t blame the oil companies either. They are out to make a profit just like everybody else. We do not have a RIGHT to cheap gas. Gas is a commodity just like anything else. When demand goes down, so will prices. As long as I see so many people driving big giant 12 mpg vehicles, I don’t expect that to happen.
BB_FAN: “At least not because of the taxes.” Conceded, in principle; I bring it up to underscore the absurdity of hauling big oil CEOs before Congress to answer for “gouging” us.
What can government do? What about ANWR? What about the Bakken formation? What about the fact that the newest refineries in the country are 30 years old? The lunatics have run the asylum on petroleum policy for far too long.
I understand that we need to get off oil, but I also understand that there’s no way it’s happening in the next 20 years. Let’s ameliorate the potentially devastating effects of those 20 years with some sensible policy. Let’s research alternate energy sources aggressively at the same time–incentivize them, even (and my libertarian self does so hate to type that). But a Prius in every pot ain’t turnin’ off the oil demand in the foreseeable future.
Incidentally, I largely sympathize with your “12 mpg” comment, but it won’t be long before SUVs in the West aren’t the biggest problem. See my post of a few days ago.
We could use magic and learn to fly.
BO, you missed just one thing, NUCLEAR POWER. Europe and Japan are getting a high percentage of their electric power from nuclear plants. Unlike the US, they have built smaller, standardized design units. They are also reprocessing the waste. I strongly support good environmental stewardship, but the extreme environmental groups are slowing the building of new nuclear plants, drilling off our coasts and in Alaska, and the building of new refineries.
All this talk about suing OPEC and increasing taxing on the oil companies is just taking the focus away from the productive things we need to do to become more energy efficient and increase supplies from sources within our country.
Turing this situation around must begin with public awareness and more pressure on our elective officials to do the right things. We have started down this road before only to return to our old ways as gas prices returned to lower levels.
It’s not just gas…it’s commodities across the board. Find a way to strengthen the dollar and you’ll see gas prices go down.
As for who is to blame…certainly the government isn’t without fault. Shame on Congress for blocking new exploration, shame on the WH for allowing the Cabinet to over-regulate and bind everything in red tape, and shame on you and I for continuing to elect folks who aren’t commmited to protecting the Highway Trust Fund–Heavens knows it gets raped every time there’s a feel good project to be funded. And we wonder why the gas tax is so high…
In my opinion: God bless the oil companies for living the American dream.