Gas Price Repercussions

[Tarantism]

i was startled yesterday to hear from a neighbor that someone in my area (within a few blocks porobably), has been siphoning gas from people's tanks. the reason for this is quite obvious, gas prices are so high that they are taking measures to reduce personal expence. this is also obviously selfish because they are saving money at the great expence of others! what really bothers me is that this is a side-effect of the copious greed of the oil companies. i can only see this getting worse, with more, similar side effects.

i dont know what can be done to stop this.

[InfiniteNow]

This is a huge big ginormous crazy large issue tarantism... It's economic, it's social, it's evolutionary, it's ecological... If you were starving, wouldn't you consider stealing bread off of someone's plate?


Another small point that came up in a discussion recently with some people close to me...
Farmers have crops dying because they can't afford to plow the fields with fueling of their equipment (tractors and such) so high.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by Tarantism

i was startled yesterday to hear from a neighbor that someone in my area (within a few blocks porobably), has been siphoning gas from people's tanks.
i dont know what can be done to stop this.

Locking gas caps will hinder gas theft...if you can find one at the store.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...05-536764.html

Hooking a livestock electric fence machine to the frame of the car is good for stopping gas theft and a laugh too, but may result in explosion and or personal liability. As luck has it, gas prices are falling.

[pgrmdave]

Yay for falling gas prices - I now pay no more than $2.10 for my gas, filled up my tank yesterday and only paid $19.50, at $2.05 a gallon. Since I drive between 400 and 500 miles a week, gas prices can greatly affect my income.

[Tarantism]

wow, where do you live that gas prices are so low? here in san jose its almost three dollers a gallon! the saddest part is, before it was up over three, so this appears good...and wow i havent heard about the farmer thing. i bet the tractors are running on deisel too...wow. i dont think that the oil companies are run by humans! i bet they are run by machines.

i guess the oil company defence would be that they need to make their final profits before all of the fossil fuel gets dried up. but, they will still be multi-super gagillion-eires...even after the oil runs out. and you know they are going to try to manopolize the alternative fuels too, so that they can just keep it expensive.

there is a bill here in california that is supposed to raise taxes on oil, and the money that is taxed is supposed to go towards research for better alternative fuels. this is a very good bill, and though i dont even vote for president, i will probably vote for this bill.

another funny thing is that as soon as the bill was purposed, the oil companies started funding a "no on 87" campeign. i see a "vote no" commercial about three times a day on my television, and i only watch maybe an hour of TV a day, at the most...except on sundays and mondays...

[Zythryn]

Gas prices in Minnesota are around $2.10-$2.25.
However, I certainly understand the high prices as they were here not long ago.

While oil companies bear some of the blame, it goes well beyond just them. Speculators that oil is running out (which it is, we just don't know how soon), disruptions in the middle east and huge demand all help.

As alternative fuels gain ground, demand will either increase more slowly, level off, or decrease (depending upon how quickly they gain acceptance).

More war in the mideast, information that the global oil supply has already peaked, higher demand will all raise prices.

The governments protection of the auto industry is the biggest reason, IMHO, that demand is as high as it is now and the reason American auto companies are in such bad shape (but that is another thread).

[haloman]

Originally Posted by Turtle

Locking gas caps will hinder gas theft...if you can find one at the store.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/ne...05-536764.html

Hooking a livestock electric fence machine to the frame of the car is good for stopping gas theft and a laugh too, but may result in explosion and or personal liability. As luck has it, gas prices are falling.

not in Utah actully the goverment has to step to get it down we have to pay 2.70 still but it will go down soon.....I think.

[TheBigDog]

Gas company profits become investment in gas company supply chain and delivery to provide economic advantage over their competition in a very tight market. Thank goodnes they are running at a profit or you would see what real skyrocketing prices are. It would seem to me that the "green" statagies of reducing demand are helping the situation by giving us a bit of an oversupply which has been the main component in the current gas price drop.

One year after Katrina the price of gas is lower than it was prior to Katrina. NOBODY predicted this. Despite the devastation to the refining facilities, despite record profits for the oil companies, despite the oil pipeline in Alaska being shut down for repairs, despite all that, the price of gas is near historic lows in adjusted dollars. It appears to me that the oil companies should be held up as models, not critisized. What would the financial failure of a couple of large oil companies mean to the economy? You really want them to run at a loss? Their economics could not be more transparent or more thoroughly examined. If they are doing things illegally, they will certainly be exposed.

Want lower gas prices? Get the hell out of California.

Bill

[ck27]

Technically if you include inflation gas prices are no where near the record high in history and will unlikely get there for a while.