What can we do to bring the gas price down?

I'm very concerned when I see oil hit record today at $117 a barrel. I don't know about you guys but for me we have a very tough time with the budget. High price of gasoline drives everything else to the roof. I hate this petroleum-based economy. As a country every one of us what can we do? Everyone talks about alternative energy but it's still light year away. In my opinion we have cut back on driving. How about you what do you do?

 

I'm NOT going to drive my car. :?

 

I fly to work

 

Fix the refineries we have and build more. Then again, we have no control over that.

I just bought an older Honda to help my budget.

 

DS now takes the bus to school (yeah! no more carpool line). Also I'm doing one trip a week for shopping (not 3-4 for Food Lion/Wal-Mart, etc). I JUST bought a mini-van, and it's costing up to $70 to fill it up! aauuggh

 

I haven't filled my minivan up in two weeks. The last time I filled up it cost about $60 and it wasn't on empty. NOT looking forward to filling it up again but I have about 1/4 of a tank left so.... :x

 

Just so you're all aware, in case you didn't know. Relative to household income, we're paying the same for gas today as we were back in the 60's.

Here's another point to think about...

The "record profits" the oil companies have been making aren't as much as the taxes the government has been making.
LINK

 

I just don't do any extra driving, no special trips. I put gas in my car once a week and it's 38 bucks Not bad when you see others paying twice that much or more.
Sheri

 

Well, I've got you all beat...I have a Suburban with a 44 gallon tank and it was $139 the last time I filled up. I only fill up every 3 weeks but still, it hurts!

 

My son will also be taking the bus and I cut down on where I go. I am also trying to talk my DH into trading in the Sonata for something smaller, he just is never home. Also I try to car pool with my family and friends. Use one car and we all go to the stores.

 

That is why I don't understand why people are still buying the bigger cars and trucks..they eat up so much gas. I know I don't pay as much, but it hurts me as well, there is no way I could afford that kind of gas bill.
I know my mom's neighbor was paying 600 or more a month on their two cars..one mini van and the other smaller car. If I was paying more in gas then my house payment or rent then something is going to have to give here.
Sheri

 

Sherri, sometimes you do have a need for a bigger vehicle. We bought our travel trailer and truck before gas prices spiked. I can tell you, we will only be camping within a couple hours driving distance this year, probably only go to Jordan Lake. If I'd had a crystal ball, I don't know if I would have bought them, although you can't put a price on our family time. And I'd play heck trying to get a decent price for a travel trailer right now, so I'm kinda stuck. Can't afford to give it away, that is for sure.

 

Well yeah that is different, I'm talking about like people buying them now that don't need them. I'm so with you on the family time, wish I had more of it. I would love to go camping with my daughter..she wanted to get a RV to go down to Disney with In June lol. I have a Dodge Caliber and it can hold 5 people in it, 2 adult's and 3 kids if needed. I'm a truck girl, but I know I can't afford one.
Sheri

 

How do you like your Caliber?? It's on my list of possible replacements for my van. I think they are really cute. How is your gas mileage day to day?? I've had better luck with my Dodge vehicles than any other American cars. Not sure I want to pay the $$ for a Honda or a Toyota. I don't like their interiors, at all. Personal preference, nothing wrong with them, of course.

 

I like it, it is what replaced the neon, and when I wrecked mine I got the caliber, it took getting used to. It has a cooler in it and that is standard for them lol.
The only thing about them is loud tire noise, you know what I mean. I had them checked out and they are fine, but just loud..I have a hearing problem and wear a hearing aid and I can't only think how loud they are with someone with normal hearing. I don't think there is that much storage in the back as what you would have with a regular trunk. I would buy another one though if I had to. Well, I fill up every week 38 bucks, and I drive to S. Saunders street from 210 for work (26 miles one way). 1 other day I drive to Cary to work at my parents business on my day off (33 miles one way). Then you would have to add in the driving to my parents to pick up my daughter. So maybe about 60 extra miles a week.
I do no extra driving, if I have stuff to do, I try to do it right after work or before work so I'm already in the area. I can't remember the mileage when I bought the car. OPPS.
Sheri

 

One thing that I see around here is that there are many trucks and SUV on the road. As for my company we have about 120 employees, there're about 65-70 trucks and SUV combined on the parking lot. People drive such a big vehicle and carry only one person. It's absolutely wasteful. If you really need a big truck for your job then it ok. But you bought a truck just in case you need it is crazy. When I need to haul something or buy something big from home depot or lowes I rent the truck there.

 

personally, i am not really concerned with the gas prices. there is nothing i can do about it so why worry? i have changed my driving habits a little, but nothing to brag about. i didnt really go anywhere before the gas prices went up. i have 2 medium sized cars and am looking to buy a minivan in the next 6 months. ( hoping to get a good deal from a private seller who is tired of the high gas bill ) it costs me right at 10$ just to fill my riding lawnmower. and that will cut the grass about twice. just wait until we get closer to election time, the gas prices always goes down a little around election time.

 

short term answer would be to ease both the state and federal gas tax. Long term answer if you can get it past the stupid tree huggers is to build a few new refineries.


Craig

 

Craig,
It seems to me that as long as the demand is so high, as evidenced by the lack of change of driving habits by the majority, there is no economic reason to reduce the price.
Paraphrasing Mark Twain, the price of motor fuel is similar to the weather. In Twain's words, "everybody talks about it, nobody DOES anything about it."

Blaming tree huggers for the lack of new refineries seems short sighted. Assuming no challenges to the increased refining capacity, and an unlimited supply (which we don't know to be factual) the direct price of fuel may decrease, with an attendant increase in demand, thus propelling a price increase.

Fuel costs are not really market controlled. In the free market, fuel producers would be free to charge whatever they want, and the demand for it would either support that price, or else adjust to meet demand.

Price, however, does not equal cost. There are several costs to the use of carbon fuels. Among them..detriment to the air quality, excessive carbon monoxide production, potential water pollution from fuel transit accidents (highway fuel spills, fulling station spillover, Exxon Valdes type of accidents.), bypass from refineries...many societal costs that are not directly paid for by fuel consumption., Too numerous to discuss here are other opportunity costs.

With a 55 gallon tank on a Winnebago, and the other vehicles we use, I may "fuss" about filling the tanks, yet it hasn't completely removed any use of the RV. Nor has the cost reduced the amount of travel I choose to do for work.

One could argue that motor sports could be curtailed. I imagine that stopping all car races might somewhat diminish the demand for fuel, however the outcry of fans would far outweigh the political decision to kill off motor sports. One could just as easily legislate a complete curtailment of cruising on ships, and many other events. The political reality is that the legislator who sponsors such legislation will probably be voted out.

If, in fact, consumers would act together , with restraint, and target one provider of fuel, there might be a short term reduction in fuel costs. Not so much like the idea of not filling up on a particular day, which doesn't adversely affect a station or provider long enough to force a change. One idea that may make a change is for consumers to band together and not purchase from a particular brand of fuel provider.

Presuming a large enough fuel provider is selected, and an absolute reduction of consumers of that particular brand of fuel for a long enough period to negatively impact the provider, the provider would either be faced with a decision to reduce his price, or retain unsold fuel in the tanks.

The larger point, though, is that until consumers modify their behavior, nothing will change.

 

I know I've posted this in another thread, but it seems very relevant here.

There is a Charlie Rose interview with John Hofmeister of Shell USA that has some very interesting info in it.

It's a bit long, so either watch it on your employer's dime or when you have some true spare time.

I think we DO need more refineries and we DO need more oil and cheaper oil.

While it may be true that we're paying the same for oil as we did in the 60s (WAY before my time, I might add) it doesn't negate the fact that many of us are making less, spending more and financing our morning cup of joe. Even if gas does cost relatively the same, it needs to be put into context since that's not all that we spend out money on. Can the same be said for food? Real estate? Healthcare? Education? Taxes?

While each of us is responsible for our fiscal habits and fiscal health, in the grand scheme of things, I do think that there is plenty that our government could do, but won't, to ease the pain that many American (and various immigrant groups) are feeling right now at the gas pumps. Remember, you and I pay the ENTIRE cost for every gallon of fuel. While some countries subsidize some of the cost at the pump, you and I pay every cent - from the cost of extraction to the cost of refinement to the costs of delivery.