The Ugly Truth About High Gas Prices

[Dale King]

The Ugly Truth About High Gas Prices


I'm about to reveal to you the ugly truth about high gas prices.

Many of you reading this aren't going to like it. But here it is:

High gas prices are the fault of the American public. That's right. It's our fault. Yours and mine.

It's not the fault of the government. It's not the fault of the oil industry. It's not the fault of the war in Iraq.

We're pointing fingers at all the wrong suspects, when we should be pointing the finger directly at ourselves.

So, how are high gas prices our fault?

Because of our love affair with our automobiles. I don't know if it's selfishness, stubbornness, stupidity or what. But we simply will not stop driving our cars.

Our gas consumption has risen by 45 percent over the last half-century. We consume 20 million barrels of oil a day.

And it's a really a shame, because we have so many viable options available to us including carpooling, mass transit, hybrid vehicles, bicyles, scooters, and walking.

Now if you believe the news reports, mass transit ridership has increased nationwide. That's a bunch of hogwash!

How do I know? Because, there's nothing Washington enjoys doing more than tooting its own horn.

Besides, have you heard any real, concrete numbers coming out of Washington, that would suggest ridership on mass transit has increased to a point that's making a difference?

I certainly haven't. I'm not saying mass transit ridership hasn't increased a little. I'm not saying that at all. What I'm saying is, the numbers are so small, they're negligible.

To be fair, it's not just the fact Americans won't park their cars that's driving up the cost of oil. It goes much deeper than that.

Gasoline prices are climbing largely because oil prices have reached record levels, not adjusted for inflation. Oil, which recently closed at $68.00 a barrel, accounts for about half the cost of gasoline.

Also boosting the cost of gasoline has been the conversion from additive MTBE to ethanol in many gasoline blends. Although ethanol production has been ramping up, there are concerns that there won't be enough ethanol at the right place and the right time.

In closing, you'd better fasten your seatbelt (no pun intended), because things are going to get a lot worse, before they get better!

[Sandra]

Dale,

I agree the demand and habbits of the public are a big factor.

But not the only one. Rent the movie for another perspective.

[Home_Based_Mom]

I know this isn't the place for articles, but this one is on topic and relevant, so I'm going to post a copy of it here.

I wrote it almost 3 years ago, so the prices are a bit out of date, but you'll get the idea.

Sandi

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A WAY TO REALLY LOWER THE PRICE OF GASOLINE

By: Sandi Moses

Every once in a while, someone starts a campaign to lower gasoline prices by urging everyone not to purchase any gas on a certain date. The chosen date is far enough in the future to allow for a massive e-mail and newscast campaign to spread the news far and wide throughout the land and get everyone geared up for the big day. The idea is that the resulting surplus of unsold gas would force distributors to lower the prices in order to be able to unload the stuff. There are two problems with that idea: 1) almost no one participates and 2) those who do participate buy their gas either the day before or the day after the target date, so the net result is the same amount of gas is sold and the price stays too high.

I have noticed that most drivers completely ignore the speed limit on the freeway. Where I live, the freeway speed limit in the city is 65 mph. It is quite possible to drive that fast in the right hand (“slow”) lane and have people come up on your bumper and give you an annoyed look as they go around you because they think you are driving too slowly! 80 mph in the left hand (“fast” or “passing”) lane is normal, as are people in hurry braiding in and out of lanes because they think their time is more important than yours and you are in their way. You might not want to hear this, but such driving wastes gas! The same gas you complain and moan about every time you fill out at the pump gets wasted out on the freeway by such drivers. Maybe even YOU??? (Nah………..)

According to the website , the best mileage can be achieved by driving between 40-60 mph. Now I’m here to tell you that driving 40 mph on the freeway will get you one of three things: 1) a ticket for impeding the flow of traffic 2) into - or becoming the cause of - and accident 3) killed. However, driving at 60 mph won’t cause any more dirty looks than driving at 65, as long as you stay in the right hand lane. You won’t cause any accidents, and you won’t get a ticket for impeding traffic. Again, according to , gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. So you are wasting gas and wasting money by driving faster than 60 mph.

Now I can hear you already: “But, I’m late!” Plan ahead, and leave a couple of minutes earlier. Think about it for a minute. If you drive 65 mph for one whole hour, you will only be 5 miles farther down the road that if you drove 60 mph for that same hour. Those of you who spend a whole hour commuting are usually not driving 65 miles. You are driving more like 10 miles, crawling along at jogging speeds. This won’t work for that sort of commute. However, if your drive is such that you have the option of driving faster than 60 mph, DON’T! Set your cruise control at 60 mph, slow down and save.

The beauty of this system is that you benefit from it even if no one else participates! There is a very real possibility that you could fill up your tank one less time per month. That would save you $20-$50 per month, which is $240-$600 per year. Spend it on Christmas presents. Splurge a little on your vacation. There are lots of ways you could enjoy the extra money. And if other people participate, because more and more people would be buying one less tank of gas per month, the supply really would go up because the demand really would be down, and that would mean lower prices which would benefit everybody (except maybe OPEC, and they don‘t need the money.) Try it!


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[Maggie]

Great article, Sandi - and, as I get older, I'm less inclined to speed! I think I've adopted the "well, they can just wait for me!" attitude to staying alive.

The other thing that we did was to downsize our car. We used to have an 1800cc car and now the wee puddle-jumper we use as a run around is approximately 1000cc - more than enough for shopping, taking rubbish to the recycling centre, etc. The best bit is that it's very much more economical than the old car.

Margaret

[jessikalilly]

wow that is a good article written by sandi,
If you are a concerned consumer , vehicle/car, suv, truck, scooter, biker owner/operator, driver, for personal or business use of any of the abovementioned two, three or more wheelers on our roads today, you will assuredly not go through any given week, without considering how to get the most possible gas mileage from every gallon and tank!

i got some useful tips at http://www.gaspumptips.com/

[nar321]

I second that it is a great article. Our security is just as threat end by the amount of oil that we import as by "terorism". Prehaps this time the prices will stay high enough long enough to create some real alternatives to the present day situation. Let's hope so at the very least

[karynsolo]

[karynsolo]

[dbh]

Here's a very interesting article along these lines........



- Darrell