Gas prices going even higher???

[ashjohnson80]

I got hit in the side in my little bitty 87 Honda Civic by a monsterous Buick and I'm still alive. My neck is still screwed up though. Seriously don't run red lights.

 

[Charade]

And you know what, I do have some disdain towards those who buy Hummers and other large SUV's as status symbols. I have yet to see anyone toting their family around in a Hummer. And they are buying these gas guzzlers when we have a shortage. I find that a bit selfish. They are creating more of a demand for gas than my car that gets 36mpg on avg. And what gets me is, they don't care. They can afford it, so why should it bother me? Right now I can afford it too, but not sure how I will feel when gas is $5 a gallon.

Do you realize that the extra gas used by SUVs is insignificant in the increased worldwide demand for oil? I'm not saying that conservation isn't important but the issue with SUVs and their drivers is really deeper than that. You said it yourself, "Status symbol" and they aren't using them for what you believe they should be used for.

As I asked before, what about those with huge houses and a family of two or three? Vacation homes? Motorhomes? Etc...

Do you give them a pass?

 

[LoraJ]

Do you give them a pass?

I don't know if they have their thermostat set at 65 or at 90. Are they leaving all the lights on and AC blaring whille not using the vacation home?

And you can't tell me that if right now half the country has an SUV, but they traded them in for more fuel effecient cars that it wouldn't make a difference. It most certainly would.

 

[BuckNaked]

I don't know if they have their thermostat set at 65 or at 90. Are they leaving all the lights on and AC blaring whille not using the vacation home?

And you can't tell me that if right now half the country has an SUV, but they traded them in for more fuel effecient cars that it wouldn't make a difference. It most certainly would.

First off, I highly doubt that half the country has SUVs, so the point is moot.

It's my understanding that gas prices are going up in Europe as well, and I was under the impression that they don't have very many SUVs there. Or are our SUVs raising their prices as well?

 

[Charade]

I don't know if they have their thermostat set at 65 or at 90. Are they leaving all the lights on and AC blaring while not using the vacation home?

That really wasn't my point. My point has to do with the "status symbol" argument. So as long as the owner (of say just 2 people living in a 4000 sq ft home) runs it efficiently, you're ok with it?

What about if they own a vacation home? Or a motorhome? Or both!!

And you can't tell me that if right now half the country has an SUV, but they traded them in for more fuel efficient cars that it wouldn't make a difference. It most certainly would.

It would make a difference but I don't think it would be all that significant in the grand scheme of things. For starters, someone who drives a car that gets 30 mpgs and drives it 30000 miles a year can use more gas than someone who drives a SUV that gets 15 mpgs and only drives 10000.

 

[MrsKreamer]

I don't know if they have their thermostat set at 65 or at 90. Are they leaving all the lights on and AC blaring whille not using the vacation home?

And you can't tell me that if right now half the country has an SUV, but they traded them in for more fuel effecient cars that it wouldn't make a difference. It most certainly would.

No because China and India would still be buying the oil at $60+ a barrel. It is simple ecomonics really. The higher demand with a fixed supply causes price to increase. If our demand decreases by lets say 1/3(I am being generous) China and India would still be willing to buy at a higher rate per barrel. Then you would see an raise in prices b/c our local demand would be less. Decreased demand of a fixed supply will not lower prices because they now have to make up for what we aren't buying. My theory is(from someone who studied economics in college) that if we try to harness or force gas prices to go down the opposite will happen, like the oil crisis of the late 70s. Economics just is, it has to run its coarse.

 

[toto2]

I don't ridicule the choice of others.

With my sometime deficience in the english language , I went to see the meaning of puny , and it can be seen as being deragatory. Sorry if it was not use to that effect !

 

[toto2]

First off, I highly doubt that half the country has SUVs, so the point is moot.

?

Not half the county drives SUV , but about half the sales of vehicule are SUVs

 

[Hopetobee]

I don't know how to link, but this site states some of my concerns----


www.suv.org/safety.html

 

[Viking]

First off, I highly doubt that half the country has SUVs, so the point is moot.

It's my understanding that gas prices are going up in Europe as well, and I was under the impression that they don't have very many SUVs there. Or are our SUVs raising their prices as well?

The prices are going up over here as strongly as in the USA, but on a higher level as gas prices in the European Union are about twice as high as in the States.
Yes, we have SUVs too, but a) not as many, b) ours are smaller (More like the Toyota Rav4, less Mercedes ML/BMW X5) and c) most of them are diesel-powered, which makes for far better fuel economy.
It is not you and your oversized cars alone that pushes the price up, it's the rising demand in China and India, it's that friggin' war in Iraq, which also ties up a lot of oil (Ever heard of hybrid-tanks?
But one fact is clear: The USA constitutes barely 5% of the world population, but consumes 25% of the world's energy. Fortunately the high price for energy makes you rethink your stance on this. You have two possibilities: Pay or conserve.
Don't get me wrong: The average German also uses more energy than is just when you compare the German population to the world population, but we have started conserving a long time ago, we have the highest use of alternative energy sources of all industry nations, and we're cutting down even more.
This is ONE world and we have a limited supply of oil only. Chinese people have the same right to drive a car as you and me - and they outnumber us heavily. So ALL of us humans have to save as much as possible and find new ways to propel our vehicles sooner or later.
Fortunately public transport over here is much better than in the USA, so we are not as dependent on our cars as you - But I also like to drive my convertible much more than rideing the bus

 

[BuckNaked]

Not half the county drives SUV , but about half the sales of vehicule are SUVs

I don't think so...

Sales of Full-Size SUVs in US Down 19% in First 4 Months of 2005
3 May 2005
Sales of full-size SUVs in the US for the first four months of 2005 dropped 19% compared to the sales during the same period in 2004.

According to company reports, combined sales of full-size SUVs (models longer than 193 inches) dropped to 480,674 units during Jan-Apr 2005 from 593,035 units during the same period the year before. At the same time, overall light-duty vehicle sales in the US increased 1.2% to 5,384,275 for the period in 2005, up from 5,319,133 in 2004. Thus, the marketshare of full-size SUVs have dropped to 8.9% from 11.1% for those periods

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/05/sales_of_fullsi.html

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

In case you forgot what you posted...

Well aware of what I said. I can think what I want about any vehicle. I think Hummers are obscene. They are too big, waste gas and you can't see around them. But that's MY opinion. You can purchase it, I can hate it and that is ok. I'm not going to personally attack you and tell you how obscene it is. I'm not going to be like the radicals around here and slash tires either. That's just stupid.

 

[BuckNaked]

The prices are going up over here as strongly as in the USA, but on a higher level as gas prices in the European Union are about twice as high as in the States.
Yes, we have SUVs too, but a) not as many, b) ours are smaller (More like the Toyota Rav4, less Mercedes ML/BMW X5) and c) most of them are diesel-powered, which makes for far better fuel economy.
It is not you and your oversized cars alone that pushes the price up, it's the rising demand in China and India, it's that friggin' war in Iraq, which also ties up a lot of oil (Ever heard of hybrid-tanks?
But one fact is clear: The USA constitutes barely 5% of the world population, but consumes 25% of the world's energy. Fortunately the high price for energy makes you rethink your stance on this. You have two possibilities: Pay or conserve.
Don't get me wrong: The average German also uses more energy than is just when you compare the German population to the world population, but we have started conserving a long time ago, we have the highest use of alternative energy sources of all industry nations, and we're cutting down even more.
This is ONE world and we have a limited supply of oil only. Chinese people have the same right to drive a car as you and me - and they outnumber us heavily. So ALL of us humans have to save as much as possible and find new ways to propel our vehicles sooner or later.
Fortunately public transport over here is much better than in the USA, so we are not as dependent on our cars as you - But I also like to drive my convertible much more than rideing the bus

I totally understand what you're saying - I was just trying to dispel the notion that if every SUV in the U.S. were taken off the road it would make a significant difference in the price of gasoline.

 

[LoraJ]

That really wasn't my point. My point has to do with the "status symbol" argument. So as long as the owner (of say just 2 people living in a 4000 sq ft home) runs it efficiently, you're ok with it?

What about if they own a vacation home? Or a motorhome? Or both!!



It would make a difference but I don't think it would be all that significant in the grand scheme of things. For starters, someone who drives a car that gets 30 mpgs and drives it 30000 miles a year can use more gas than someone who drives a SUV that gets 15 mpgs and only drives 10000.

Are they really going to drive their motor home daily through a McD's drive-thru? Again, are they keeping all their lights on in the vacation home and running the AC while not using it?

Thank goodness for the person driving the 30mpg car instead of an SUV when commuting that much.

I don't think everyone should be sitting at home in the dark and not driving anywhere or going on vacation. I just wish people would have a little bit more thought about the world we live in and conserve what you can. Every little bit DOES count.

 

[Viking]

I totally understand what you're saying - I was just trying to dispel the notion that if every SUV in the U.S. were taken off the road it would make a significant difference in the price of gasoline.

I know.
The same goes over here: Even if we would cut down our consumption, i.e. by introducing a speed limit, the gas companies like Exxon would simply raise the prices even more

 

[C.Ann]

I don't think that eliminating SUV's and motorhomes would be of that much help overall because there's no way of determining each owners level of use.. They may use them a lot - or a little..

I'm just thrilled that I don't have their gas bills and can use the money I save on something else...

 

[Charade]

Are they really going to drive their motor home daily through a McD's drive-thru? Again, are they keeping all their lights on in the vacation home and running the AC while not using it?

why does that matter? Why do they need a motor home or a vaction home?

Thank goodness for the person driving the 30mpg car instead of an SUV when commuting that much.

Like I stated previously, it's highly possible that someone who drives a car that gets 30mpgs could actually use more gas in year than someone driving an SUV. What's the solution? Make the high mileage driver drive less? Make the SUV owner get a more efficient vehicle?

I don't think everyone should be sitting at home in the dark and not driving anywhere or going on vacation. I just wish people would have a little bit more thought about the world we live in and conserve what you can. Every little bit DOES count.

But I'd like to know why some people are upset that people own SUVs but they aren't upset that they have a vacation home or a motorhome that just might use more gas (even if used efficiently) than the SUV they drive.

As stated by C.Ann, there is no real way to tell if someone driving a motorhome or an SUV is going to consume more or less gas than someone who doesn't own either.

 

[RitaZ.]

What I want to know is, if supply and demand are really what's driving the prices, then why is gas cheaper in Orlando than where I live? Every time we go to WDW/Orlando, the gas prices are always lower there, the last time was about 3 weeks ago. I saw mid-grade for $2.19 (that was the average price), yet we paid $2.49 at home before we left. I think they purposely maintain lower prices in Orlando to lure the tourists, probably an uneducated guess on my part, but I honestly can't think of any other logical reason behind their lower gas prices.

 

[LoraJ]

But I'd like to know why some people are upset that people own SUVs but they aren't upset that they have a vacation home or a motorhome that just might use more gas (even if used efficiently) than the SUV they drive.

My issue with SUV's is more of a safety issue than the gas issue. I haven't yet exoperienced anyone driving their vacation home on the highway and running me off the road because they don't bother to check their blindspots. The fact that they are gas guzzlers is the tip off the iceberg.


My experience with motor homes is most people drive them cautiously and I have yet see one weave in and out of traffic as though they are invincible.

 

[brerrabbit]

Prices vary regionally and by state for several reasons. First is the amount of tax charged per gallon of gas. The high end is around 40 cents per gallon, the low end is around 25 cents a gallon. Secondly it depends on where you are in relation to the refinery's and the source of gas. A lot of gas in the Mid Continent is delivered via pipeline and that can add costs. Thirdly it depends on where a station is in relationship to terminals that store the gas and what the cost is of trucking the fuel to the individual stations. Another variable is who owns the station you are purchasing the gas from and what is theri pricing strategy. In other words are the prices set locally by each station or are they a part of a larger chain that sets prices based on an overall pricing strategy. Believe me I have worked in retail fuel and we had stations in Orlando and we never cared one bit about setting prices to encourage tourism. We priced what the market would bear and in Orland, it could usually bear a lot.