Gas Shortages??

[DisBeamer]

Let's hope that when/if the economy picks up, gas prices stay down.

That'd be great, but I suspect when people start spending more and, more importantly, driving more, the demand will rise and the price will go with it. But we can hope.

It's hard to believe that when this thread started, there was no gas in Atlanta and what you could get was nearly $5/gallon. The station down the street from my house yesterday was 1.96. We did the quick gallon/litre conversion and determined that's about the same as it was for me in 1997-ish. And I thought it was expensive then.

[bamato]

No shortages in AZ, and gas is down to 2.19 a gallon!!

[boilerbabe]

Yahoo we're down to $1.97 in NW In!!!!

[Captain Schnemo]

Personally, I hope gas goes to 20 bucks a gallon. It seems to be the only way Americans will take fuel economy and conservation seriously.

(I say this wearing my tomato-proof flak jacket.)

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

Personally, I hope gas goes to 20 bucks a gallon. It seems to be the only way Americans will take fuel economy and conservation seriously.

(I say this wearing my tomato-proof flak jacket.)

I agree. Granted this is coming from someone who takes the train to work everyday and drives a grand total of 3000 miles or less in a year (1300 of those miles are driven on a yearly road trip to Michigan). My personal feelings about fuel and fuel economy are well known amongst my friends and family but I try to hold them back when it comes to others, just because I know how annoying someone can be. I will give you the short version of my views on it, to kind of stay on topic.

My general feeling about fuel economy is that the auto industry has become more and more short sided over the years. Innovation has been stifled, Engineering has gone the way of the Do-Do, and the all mighty dollar has ruled in their stead. Now I now their have been "major" innovations in the industry lately from the Japanese car industry but that was only after they thought they were going to get hit with major environmental restrictions. So I blame the entire Auto industry for what has happened over the years. The trucking industry is also at fault, they haven't done much in the way of innovating either. Now I'm not blaming the drivers because it isn't really their fault the R&D departments haven't come up with anything with high efficency.

All this and now the auto industries of India and China are running at full speed in the brick wall of Global Decay. No regulation, low cost, High Polluting cars that destroy the environment twice as fast as American, European, and Japanese cars. Ugh, I don't think we are going to have a great few decades ahead of us. I SO wish I could just go back in time and talk to Henry Ford and tell him about how inefficient his invention became. I'd also like to find the guy that discovered that oil worked in the cars and kick him in the nuts.


And on that note [/rant]

[broncoflyer8912]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

[Len90]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

I am definitely in favor of rescuing Detroit, but can the CEO's who caused this mess try and fly down in coach on a commercial airliner? Am I the only one who is extremely annoyed by this?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallS ... 739&page=1


And the update on NJ gas prices: Regular is now in the mid $1.80's Cheapest I have seen is $1.79 (cash price).

[Jacca5660]

Personally, I hope gas goes to 20 bucks a gallon. It seems to be the only way Americans will take fuel economy and conservation seriously.

(I say this wearing my tomato-proof flak jacket.)

Tomato proof!! It better be bullet proof. I can see the reasoning behind someone wanting higher gas prices. My problem with them are the oil companies rake in huge profits and do nothing to help with moving towards green energy solutions.

Yes we would drive less. A lot of people are driving less today anyway, you know without a job to go to. To give the oil companies more money, no that's no solution. If we could somehow raise gas prices and target the profits towards green energy R&D, I would be all for that. If all you want to see is higher gas prices, just for higher gas prices....Get some body armor!!

One other thing, how come the government can give AIG 50 billion plus with out them changing a thing and balk on give the American auto industry 25 billion to help them. Will someone please explain this to me. It's beyond my comprehension.

[agingerbugg]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

I am definitely in favor of rescuing Detroit, but can the CEO's who caused this mess try and fly down in coach on a commercial airliner? Am I the only one who is extremely annoyed by this?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallS ... 739&page=1


And the update on NJ gas prices: Regular is now in the mid $1.80's Cheapest I have seen is $1.79 (cash price).

From what I saw yesterday, Congress was slightly annoyed at this as well.

[Future Guy]

It's certainly a shame that SUV sales have started to creep back up now that the price of gas has dropped. Don't folks realize that the oil cartels are just manipulating them?

As for the imminent failure(s) of the Big 3 automakers, my heart goes out to the regular working folks who are being hurt by this. The plain truth is that the executives who got GM, Ford, and Chrysler into this mess aren't the ones who will pay the price.

[js3901]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

I am definitely in favor of rescuing Detroit, but can the CEO's who caused this mess try and fly down in coach on a commercial airliner? Am I the only one who is extremely annoyed by this?

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/WallS ... 739&page=1


And the update on NJ gas prices: Regular is now in the mid $1.80's Cheapest I have seen is $1.79 (cash price).

here's a CNN story about this same thing. it mentions that the CEOs pay upwards of $20,000 per flight on their private jets instead of $500 for round trip on commercial flights. yet they still want taxpayer money. I'm definately thinking of moving to a private island now...

as for prices, I actially saw 1 local station at $2.49 today. I also heard a rumor from someone at work who said they saw $2.45. so, it's been going down, just not as fast as other areas of the country seem to be...

[disneydreamer58]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

I have a lot of friends in Michigan as well, and I truly feel for those that live in that state. But I am not in favor of our government saving the Big 3. Let their unions rescue them since they are the cause of a lot (not all) of their Big 3's problems! Do you think the unions are suffering in these economic times, NO! Free money from the government is not the answer. Restructuring and changing your operating practices is a start to correct a horrible problem! And yes I am NOT fan of unions!

Our company struggles every month to meet payroll and expenses why are we any different? If the government wants to get the economy going BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE not corporations!!

*steps off soap box*

[Len90]

Now that gas prices are super low, we just need to hope that someone will rescue Detroit. Because otherwise the state's economy will be on the verge of collapse. Which is a sad thing to think of since I have a lot of family and friends in Michigan!

I have a lot of friends in Michigan as well, and I truly feel for those that live in that state. But I am not in favor of our government saving the Big 3. Let their unions rescue them since they are the cause of a lot (not all) of their Big 3's problems! Do you think the unions are suffering in these economic times, NO! Free money from the government is not the answer. Restructuring and changing your operating practices is a start to correct a horrible problem! And yes I am NOT fan of unions!

Our company struggles every month to meet payroll and expenses why are we any different? If the government wants to get the economy going BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE not corporations!!

*steps off soap box*

I have to agree with you on this, but unfortunately the government is stuck between a rock and a hard place. If the government takes no action and let's GM fail. It will put 2.1 million people out of work... the equivalence of .5-1% increase in the unemployment rate. This is something that would probably have catastrophic effects on the nation's economy.... like it isn't already in shambles.

[Captain Schnemo]

I can see the reasoning behind someone wanting higher gas prices. My problem with them are the oil companies rake in huge profits and do nothing to help with moving towards green energy solutions.

High prices would cut them out of the equation. The only way to get Americans to care about conserving is to make them feel the pain.

There's no reason every car can't get a minimum of 50 mpg. If everyone used less gas (and we started heading down a path to eliminate gas entirely), the oil companies would be irrelevant.

You'd think there'd be some outrage when oil companies continue to make record profits, and some people are little upset about this, but it doesn't translate into action. People keep right on buying gas guzzlers. Can you blame the oil companies for doing their capitalistic duty of screwing the customer as much as they will take it? They're only doing what any sensible corporation would do.

If you made shoes and the price of shoe leather went through the roof, you might be forced to raise prices, but the net result wouldn't be record profits for you. You'd probably actually lose money.

But we accept this insane reality of record oil company profits, and people are completely willing to funnel all their cash upwards. And the only way to make them unwilling is...

[Dr. Ravenscroft]

It's certainly a shame that SUV sales have started to creep back up now that the price of gas has dropped. Don't folks realize that the oil cartels are just manipulating them?

That isn't entirely true. The reason oil prices have dropped so dramatically recently has to do with the economic disaster more than manipulation. Many of the speculators have sold off their "shares" of oil and that dropped the oil prices like a rock. I believe it is currently under $50.00 per barrel.