Gas could fall to $2 if Congress acts

[Wade]

BigHoe, the Honda FCX is a joke. It's only about 20-25% efficient.

Vegetable oil is cool, one problem, everyone's asking for it. You can't even get the stuff anymore, unless you know someone.

Electric cars are cool, 75 - 80% efficient. But some down sides.

Alternative Energy is cool. But, I only want it so we stop buying oil from our enemies.

Gas won't go down to $2 a gallon, haven't you heard, our dollars worth a lot less than it used to be. $2.80 maybe. Now, if the dollar got strong again, then $2 maybe.

And, may I restate again, competition is one of the keys to lower prices.

Developing our own resources will help drive down speculation. Speculation is driven by uncertainty. If the US has a good confident long term plan with low risk, speculators won't have any reason to run up prices.

At least I feel better about the world than a few years ago. I really believe that things might get bad here in the US some day, but the end of oil will not bring about a Mad Max nation.

 

[mtncat800]

Bottom line, we thought we were going to go over sea's kick *** and take names, and we have done well, but we pissed off the oil gods in the process.

 

[xsummitx]

Drilling is not the only means to lower fuel costs. The positive side of rising fuel costs is that it makes research into alternative fuels much more worth while. If gas stayed at 99 cents a gallon we would all be happy and wouldn't look into other alterative fuel sources. Look at the Honda FCX (Google it if you don't know what I'm talking about) this is a very expensive undertaking for Honda, the fuel cell and the car are the easy part, its building infrastructure to support it that costs a ton. Building that infrastructure has already started in major metropolitan areas in California. We are also improving bio diesel and the company grease car that manufactures vegetable oil conversion kits is reporting exponential increases in profits as their product improves, in fact VW released their new engine design for the Jetta to them early so they could begin working on the new conversion kit and time its release with the new VW motor. Even electric cars are advancing and becoming more reliable and their range is improving. Once this technology is refined and mass produced so people can afford it, gas prices will drop. It may take years but it will happen. I know if I was looking for a new truck and their was one on the market that would deliver close to the same power as a gas or diesel but run vegetable oil that I could get from a fast food restaurant or the grocery story I would buy it in a heart beat. I would most likely pay a couple thousand dollars more for it. The above mentioned alternatives or not the only ones being explored but just the most promising and notable ones. Congress can help the current situation but if they don't, in the long run it may be the best thing to ever happen to us. If we can control our own energy sources and they can be manufactured on a free market with competition then we have won this battle over oil.

i agree 1000% with this....its there we just need to embrace it

 

[Ollie]

Gas will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever be $2.00 a gallon again.

We'll be lucky if we even see it STAY at $4.00 a gallon where it is right now.

you should call and congradulate the press, the politicians and the enviro's. They have prepped you well.
You are all happy to accept the new situation. Instead of getting mad and demanding change (drilling and refineries to start) you are willing to sit back and accept the situation they have forced on us.

According to the talking heads oil should be between 60 and 80 dollars a barrel. The speculators and the big 3 in stock market houses are the ones pushing everything. If people are willing to sit back and let them they will continue.

STOP ACCEPTING THEIR BS AND CALL YOUR POLITICIANS AND DEMAND THEY REMOVE OIL FROM THE STOCK MARKET AND PUT IT BACK ON SUPPLY AND DEMAND. DRILL FOR OIL HERE AND BUILD REFINERIES.

 

[Ollie]

Bottom line, we thought we were going to go over sea's kick *** and take names, and we have done well, but we pissed off the oil gods in the process.

ok, I am in a fighting mood tonight so here goes.

THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE STUPIDEST MOST MORONIC STATEMENT I HAVE EVER READ.

 

[xrated]

in the long run it may be the best thing to ever happen to us. If we can control our own energy sources and they can be manufactured on a free market with competition then we have won this battle over oil.- agreed. The best thing for new energy sources though is for the government to stay away.

Wade is right again, the Honda fuel cell is terribly inefficent, plus what is it's "emission"? Yep water, and what happens when water gets on the roads in the winter time?

Plus the current fuel cell design still dumps carbon back into the air, it's just done before it reaches the tail pipe.

 

[dmkhnr]

Whats going to need to happen is YOU and I are going to need to change our habbits.
Europe pays the equvilent of $12 per gallon. How do they cope with this?
They have vehicles that get good fuel mileage. Diesel cars that get 60 mpg, their homes are built to be energy effecient.
I drive a 7000# truck around as a daily driver, and my wife drives a 300+ hp sport sedan that gets 21 mpg.
Fuel prices are not coming down, these guys are making money hand over fist, and laughing all the way to the bank. Our Gov officials are involved in the private sector of this. They talk about it being a problem out of one side of their mouth, and profit out of the other side. Why would they lower the price when we continue to pay the inflating prices?

 

[ruffryder]

Whats going to need to happen is YOU and I are going to need to change our habbits.
Europe pays the equvilent of $12 per gallon. How do they cope with this?
They have vehicles that get good fuel mileage. Diesel cars that get 60 mpg, their homes are built to be energy effecient.
I drive a 7000# truck around as a daily driver, and my wife drives a 300+ hp sport sedan that gets 21 mpg.
Fuel prices are not coming down, these guys are making money hand over fist, and laughing all the way to the bank. Our Gov officials are involved in the private sector of this. They talk about it being a problem out of one side of their mouth, and profit out of the other side. Why would they lower the price when we continue to pay the inflating prices?

Excellent post, the time of poor fossil fuel usage is coming to an end for the US. Time to suck it up.

 

[Fosgate]

Whats going to need to happen is YOU and I are going to need to change our habbits.
Europe pays the equvilent of $12 per gallon. How do they cope with this?
They have vehicles that get good fuel mileage. Diesel cars that get 60 mpg, their homes are built to be energy effecient.

I hate when the "what Europeans are paying" as a justification for our fuel prices. I lived in Germany for 2 years and traveled extensivly while I was there. I did not have a car during this time. The public transportation there is extremely cheap. Each year I would buy a Euro Rail Pass for about $250 American. I could travel anywhere in Europe throughout the year on $250. Just hop on the bus to take me downtown to the trainstation for about a Deutsch Mark (about 70 cents). Or if the train left before the bus take a cab for 4 Marks. I could go to anyplace locally very cheaply on a bus or train. I could be in Frankfurt from Idar Oberstein in about an hour and from there I could goto anywhere in Europe. Licenses, Cars, and Gas for cars are pretty much a luxury in Europe and are not absolutly necessary in Europe. I cant exactly travel the same here in the states. If we had a public transportation system here that was similar the gas prices would not be much of an impact. I could take the rail to where I want to go. However would be decades before we could see an even remote attempt.

 

[xrated]

Europe pays the equvilent of $12 per gallon. How do they cope with this?-their countries are damn tiny, that's part of it. They just don't have the land and distance to cover that we do. The public transit also is huge, or so I've heard.

 

[ruffryder]

Europe pays the equvilent of $12 per gallon. How do they cope with this?-their countries are damn tiny, that's part of it. They just don't have the land and distance to cover that we do. The public transit also is huge, or so I've heard.

Fricken huge is correct. There is a reason that it is so large, they have been taxing fuel to build it for the last 40 years.... We could of done the same, but it tends to limit growth and sprawl (is that a bad thing?). All I know is it would be nice to take a high speed train back to Illinois instead of having to fly all the time.

 

[X-it]

Just think what is going to happen in 2012 when demand outstrips supply, thats just 4 short years away. Those 1000 dollar payments on the gas hogs you can't drive is going to hurt.

 

[winter brew]

I will make a prediction. The speculation "loopholes" that are being taken advantage of will be eliminated shortly after our new president is elected (my prediction is Obama....not my choice, but my prediction). This will allow for a drastic drop in prices, and at the same time the Dems will impose a huge Federal fas tax of at least .50/gallon to pay for all their handouts. No one will complain too much because the price will still be lower.

 

[catcollector]

x2 buddy, it will never go down again

 

[Dogmeat]

you should call and congradulate the press, the politicians and the enviro's. They have prepped you well.
You are all happy to accept the new situation. Instead of getting mad and demanding change (drilling and refineries to start) you are willing to sit back and accept the situation they have forced on us.

According to the talking heads oil should be between 60 and 80 dollars a barrel. The speculators and the big 3 in stock market houses are the ones pushing everything. If people are willing to sit back and let them they will continue.

STOP ACCEPTING THEIR BS AND CALL YOUR POLITICIANS AND DEMAND THEY REMOVE OIL FROM THE STOCK MARKET AND PUT IT BACK ON SUPPLY AND DEMAND. DRILL FOR OIL HERE AND BUILD REFINERIES.

Ollie, c'mon now ... when have you EVER seen me on here not supporting expanding domestic drilling and refining operations?

All I'm saying is ... I am dboutful any of that is ever going to happen because half of Washington wouldn't be elected into office were things of that nature to take place. Don't get me wrong ... I mean hell, I spent over $130 in gas alone going to the dunes today, I'm not happy about gas prices.

 

[spring snow hero]

this grinds my axe........electricity, natural gas, water and sewer.....all necessary for most folks, all regulated by the UTC. HHO, home heating oil is the direct replacement for natural gas in rural locations, is not regulated by the utc. the price can be driven as high as folks will pay (remember enron).

I would like to see the HHO protected by the UTC and see my $$ going to buy US oil refined in the US by US employees. I would not be opposed to the US govt setting up their own fuel stations and selling some of their own fuel. after spending time on the naval petroleum reserve, I will NEVER be convinced by anyone that we are low on reserves.....been there done that we have stupid oil that has been found and never even touched.

 

[Ollie]

Ollie, c'mon now ... when have you EVER seen me on here not supporting expanding domestic drilling and refining operations?

All I'm saying is ... I am dboutful any of that is ever going to happen because half of Washington wouldn't be elected into office were things of that nature to take place. Don't get me wrong ... I mean hell, I spent over $130 in gas alone going to the dunes today, I'm not happy about gas prices.

lol, I was having a chitty day at work and spoiling for a fight.

Things have GOT to change. the inviros are the reason we don't already have nuclear power. They are the reason we don't have oil independance. They are the reason we have to import lumber. The list goes on and on. The enviros have got to be controlled or eliminated as a sueing force before ANYTHING meaningful can happen.

Al Gore made a statement a couple years ago (I will try and find it later) where he stated the Government needed to drive the price of fuel up to 5 dollars an gallon to force americans to change our habbits. Succeeding isn't he.

If enough people would simply stand up and DEMAND the government get out of the way and let hydrogen research move forward. The republicans are heavily invested in oil and thus want more drilling, more refining and arn't interested in a new type of fuel.

The Dems (Obama in particular) are heavily invested in E-85, electric and solar power and arn't interested in a new type of fuel.

It is up to us to demand they do what needs to be done.
In the short term we need to drill and refine or switch to E-85. Either one of those could be done NOW. In 10 years hydrogen will be readily available and cheap enough for all to own. Some companies already have vehicles that will run on hydrogen and they have proven conversion kits that work for existing cars. We don't have the infastructure to use it "yet".

 

[ruffryder]

lol, I was having a chitty day at work and spoiling for a fight.

Things have GOT to change. the inviros are the reason we don't already have nuclear power. They are the reason we don't have oil independance. They are the reason we have to import lumber. The list goes on and on. The enviros have got to be controlled or eliminated as a sueing force before ANYTHING meaningful can happen.

No, the American public is the reason. We don't want oil independence because we don't want to have to pay the cost for it. We don't want nuclear energy because a large majority still believe that it is unsafe. The suing enviro movement has been the last 10 years or so, there was lots that could have been done to alleviate these issues, but we didn't want to spend the money then, and we don't want to spend it now.

In a capitalistic society, the dollar drives most choices. The dollar is speaking louder than our voices, IMO.

Al Gore made a statement a couple years ago (I will try and find it later) where he stated the Government needed to drive the price of fuel up to 5 dollars an gallon to force americans to change our habbits. Succeeding isn't he.

I completely agree with this statement and with Al Gores logic... though I wish the government would be getting the most money instead of oil companies. If this would have been a tax increase there would have been a lot of money generated that could be used for alternative forms of transportation and mass transportation infrastructure improvements.

The Dems (Obama in particular) are heavily invested in E-85, electric and solar power and arn't interested in a new type of fuel.

Hydrogen is not a fuel per say, it is an energy carrying medium. Energy will be converted to hydrogen then converted again and do work with it. Similar to electricity. You need to put energy in to get energy out.

 

[Ollie]

No, the American public is the reason. We don't want oil independence because we don't want to have to pay the cost for it. We don't want nuclear energy because a large majority still believe that it is unsafe.

And the reason the vast majority believe it is unsafe is because the enviros back in the 70's demonized it. They put up pics of people with radiation poisoning and claimed that would be everyones childeren.


The suing enviro movement has been the last 10 years or so, there was lots that could have been done to alleviate these issues, but we didn't want to spend the money then, and we don't want to spend it now.

Actually, sueing has been the enviro's greatest weapon for the last 40 years. There is NO downside to them suing. They lose nothing. Win, lose or draw.

In a capitalistic society, the dollar drives most choices. The dollar is speaking louder than our voices, IMO.

That is true to a degree. However, the government gave the oil companies the right to force gas stations to only sell their products. Originally gas stations were built by oil companies and then sold to operators. As a result, no other form of fuel could be used because there was no infastructure to support it. That is also the major draw back to E-85


I completely agree with this statement and with Al Gores logic... though I wish the government would be getting the most money instead of oil companies. If this would have been a tax increase there would have been a lot of money generated that could be used for alternative forms of transportation and mass transportation infrastructure improvements.

Again, it is NOT THE GOVERNMENTS place to bring the little childeren in line. If the government wanted to create a new type of fuel they could have put research money into it and created it long ago. This is a capitalistic society. If you want people to use it, convince them it is a good idea and make it cheap enough to be used by the masses.

Hydrogen is not a fuel per say, it is an energy carrying medium. Energy will be converted to hydrogen then converted again and do work with it. Similar to electricity. You need to put energy in to get energy out.

Correct, that is the major road block to having it now. They have to figure out how to convert it in such a way as to make it economical as well as safe.

 

[xrated]

Correct, that is the major road block to having it now. They have to figure out how to convert it in such a way as to make it economical as well as safe.-that's along ways off...

Hybrid and electrical make more sense. We have the tech and the infastructure to make it a serious endeavor.