MSN: Why you should love $5 gas

[thebluefood]

Part 2

Benefits of having your leg amputated.

Sure it sounds bad, but look at the bright side:

1)You get to use a sweet wheel chair

Instead of having to "walk" and "stand", you can stroll every where that you go, and stay sitting down the whole time!

2)Better Parking spots

No more searching for parking spots, you can pull up right up front in the handicap parking spots without having to worry about a ticket or getting towed

3)Better for your heart

With less body mass, your heart will have a much easier time pumping blood throughout your body.

4)Buying a pair of socks is like buy one, get one free.

Since you only need to supply one foot with socks, every time you buy a pair of socks, you know that it will last you twice as long as those two footed suckers. You could be saving yours self tens of dollars each year!

5)Great attention getter

When people see you, you will easily stand out amongst the other boring two legged folks around you. When they ask you how you lost it, have fun "pulling their leg" as you make up stories about sharks and industrial accidents that will keep you entertained for hours.

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

[heyholetsgogrant]

Imagine that.. oil companies make sure you keep paying, despite the efforts being made to cut down on consumption.

I'm shocked, I tell ya! Prices rise with the popularity of hybrid vehicles that keep some folks away from the pumps. What an amazing coincidence.

This is why I say in the oil speculator thread.. it doesn't make a damn bit of difference what pie-in-the-sky reasoning they give us for the prices being this high.

They're this high because they can get this much, and they do not want to lose a dime of those record profits to any hybrid cars.

~Bang

I was reading that small car sales are exploding, and your right speculators see this and menuever to jack up the price (what a coincidence :mad:)...Either way we are screwed. Oil companies can cut refining, and oil producers can cut production. Thats one ****ed up economic system, not even Adam Smith can explain :mad:

[Stadium-Armory]

Nothing's going to change until there are economic incentives to do so. Expensive gas will force everyone to action.

[heyholetsgogrant]

Nothing's going to change until there are economic incentives to do so. Expensive gas will force everyone to action.

Like trains! I would love to dump a car and not have to worry about maintenance, gas, insurance, lability etc

[The Evil Genius]

Since I hardly ever drive, when gas prices go up my wealth relative to the rest of the country goes up.

That's what I tell myself anyway.

Except, the items that you buy at the grocery store, especially fresh produce, should be increasing as well.

Amongst other indirect increases because of the higher prices in diesel and airline fuels.

[Stadium-Armory]

Except, the items that you buy at the grocery store, especially fresh produce, should be increasing as well.

Amongst other indirect increases because of the higher prices in diesel and airline fuels.

Indeed. Which should force a shift to locally grown produce. The paradigm will have to change, and I hope we can get on with it.

[RVAbrendan]

I know this isn't an option for many (or at least they think it isn't), but a bicycle is a great option for a city. I'm sure I've saved a ton of dough. A good quality simple road bike brand new is about $500 tops.

[Stadium-Armory]

I know this isn't an option for many (or at least they think it isn't), but a bicycle is a great option for a city. I'm sure I've saved a ton of dough. A good quality simple road bike brand new is about $500 tops.

Another component of the shift we need to make. Exurbs might become a thing of the past, as we are forced to live in dense population centers that can leverage public transportation, walking, and biking.

[mcsluggo]

Why not raise revenues and employment/manufacturing by exploiting our own reserves?

What is it now,about $8oo Billion a yr we send to others for oil?

I fail to see how exploiting our own harder to access and more expensive reserves is going to bring down prices versus importing oil from countries that have a comparative (and absolute) advantage in producing it .... ?

[Die Hard]

Another component of the shift we need to make. Exurbs might become a thing of the past, as we are forced to live in dense population centers that can leverage public transportation, walking, and biking.

I've thought the same thing.. and it frightens the beejeebus out of me.

Yeah, let's just cram everybody in metropolitans and have overly dense populations. That'll cut down on commuting right and cost of living right?

I mean... what's property (or an apartment) in New York going for? Gotta be cheap no?

[Stadium-Armory]

I've thought the same thing.. and it frightens the beejeebus out of me.

Yeah, let's just cram everybody in metropolitans and have overly dense populations. That'll cut down on commuting right and cost of living right?

I mean... what's property (or an apartment) in New York going for? Gotta be cheap no?

Yea, its not going to be easy for sure, and who knows how it would actually look. Maybe the population centers of the future aren't what we might think when viewed through today's lens. Maybe we have dispersed pockets of populations that are connected by rail or whatever. Who knows. I doubt though that it means we all move back to the traditional cities as we know them today.

[The Evil Genius]

Yea, its not going to be easy for sure, and who knows how it would actually look. Maybe the population centers of the future aren't what we might think when viewed through today's lens. Maybe we have dispersed pockets of populations that are connected by rail or whatever. Who knows. I doubt though that it means we all move back to the traditional cities as we know them today.

The near future is complete streets and sustainable community strategies.

[twa]

I fail to see how exploiting our own harder to access and more expensive reserves is going to bring down prices versus importing oil from countries that have a comparative (and absolute) advantage in producing it .... ?

You will continue to fail to see until you try it....it costs you nothing to try,and benefits you if lease sales and production happen.

Can imported oil undercut domestic producers prices?....certainly,if they sell it cheaper

[Bang]

You will continue to fail to see until you try it....it costs you nothing to try,and benefits you if lease sales and production happen.

Can imported oil undercut domestic producers prices?....certainly,if they sell it cheaper

I think it's cute that you think the oil companies will lower any prices even if they produce it here for a penny a gallon, or manage to buy it for less.

I've never seen a single reason to ever trust that the oil companies will ever do anything like that. (or any huge mega corp for that matter.)

There is no competition. None. If there was, than all the gas stations would not have relatively equal prices. If any one of them wanted practically 100% of the market share, $3.00 a gallon would get it. (Hell, 3.50 might get it.) But they all stay within a penny or two. (I love these apps that find you the cheapest gas. It varies about 5 cents at the most, and usualy to get that "bargain" you have to use four gallons driving to Bum**** .)

Since Katrina they've posted record profits practically every quarter. They love that, and will not give it up.

We've shown them that we can survive on 4.00 gas.. and if they really want to be decent, they might drop it back to 3.75.

But I won't hold my breath.

~Bang

[mcsluggo]

You will continue to fail to see until you try it....it costs you nothing to try,and benefits you if lease sales and production happen.

Can imported oil undercut domestic producers prices?....certainly,if they sell it cheaper

what exactly is the government doing to stamp out domestic production again?

Some of it is heavy regulation because of environmental concerns... but i also see very little upside from allowing private firms to capture a large internal profit from exploiting public resources while ignoring broader negative externalities. ESPECIALLY since even in the most opium laden wet dreams domestic production would remain a relatively miniscule proportion of global markets (unless you are advocating for trade protection for this local production?)

---------- Post added May-26th-2011 at 09:38 PM ----------

I think it's cute that you think the oil companies will lower any prices even if they produce it here for a penny a gallon, or manage to buy it for less.

I've never seen a single reason to ever trust that the oil companies will ever do anything like that. (or any huge mega corp for that matter.)

There is no competition. None. If there was, than all the gas stations would not have relatively equal prices. If any one of them wanted practically 100% of the market share, $3.00 a gallon would get it. (Hell, 3.50 might get it.) But they all stay within a penny or two. (I love these apps that find you the cheapest gas. It varies about 5 cents at the most, and usualy to get that "bargain" you have to use four gallons driving to Bum**** .)

Since Katrina they've posted record profits practically every quarter. They love that, and will not give it up.

We've shown them that we can survive on 4.00 gas.. and if they really want to be decent, they might drop it back to 3.75.

But I won't hold my breath.

~Bang

i think there is a fair amount of competition in international oil markets, and local refiners competion is mostly constrained by NIMBY concerns, ther are no new entrants into the market. EVER.

edit: there is obviously one big overtly collusive player in oil... but OPEC's effectiveness at maintaining discipline has been sketchy at best.

but aren't prices mostly going up because about a gazillion extra people in asia a year are discovering the pleasure of driving their own car... while global oil PRODUCTION remains fairly stable...?