OT: Gas prices keep going up.

[Zcarver]

Here in NY gas prices is averaging $2.08 for a gallon of regular unleaded and $2.38 for premium. These prices are expected to rise another 4 percent in the next month.

Gasoline is up 8.9% in the past 3 months, up 17% since 2001. I am sure the SUV market will slip in sales if this continued.

This is insane! I was wondering what is gas prices in other states?


I don't know if this is true, but a group of Long Islanders are sending out emails to tell people for one day not to buy gas.

This is the email:


DON'T BUY GAS ON MAY 19TH

IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES DID NOT
PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE
OIL
COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF
OVER
4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL
COMPANIES.

THEREFORE MAY 19TH HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR
behind " DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THIS NATION SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP
OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY
PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WAITING ON THIS ADMINISTRATION TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT
GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES
THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT
THE
SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING
COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON
EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING
MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END? WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY,
WE
WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU
KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE MAY 19TH A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF
THE UNITED STATES SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

[Derf]

I have an even better solution:

Use you car less often, take the bus or your bike instead. This goes for all you motorcycle guys too! The motorcycles you ride use as much gas a small car.

Derf

[Randy S.]

Last night in Menlo Park I passed a Shell station that had the price for Regular, but listed Plus and Premium as "Arm" and "Leg". I stopped at an off-brand station and paid $2.49/gal for premium. Ouch. At least my bike only holds 5.8 gallons.

Prius anyone?

[kiwanoron]

THe prices down here in sunny Florida have gone up to $2.12 for a gallon of regular unleaded and $2.49 for premium...I am sure Ca. prices are even higher...Soon it will be $2.50 for reg. gas!!!

[Phil]

That internet forward has been going around for many months (I believe I first received it last fall) Of course, the date tends to change, but the body of the email stays the same. Some people just have too much time on their hands. Oh wait... so do I!

[Fleaman]

Well up here in Canada, we have it expensive too. In southern BC, we are paying between 90 and 98 cents a litre. I dont know the conversion but its still ass expensive especially when we run the snow machines year round when the dogs from the dogsled usually tire out by June!

[knoch]

in lower michigan it has gone up to around $2.10 for regular in the past few weeks, and yes i've seen the email, and the date i saw matched yours, may 19, but whatever, if i need gas i'm buying gas, nothings going to change.

[knoch]

stupid oil

[AlpentalRider]

the funny part is that we do not need gasoline for transportation fuel. Methanol and Ethenol powered cars have been proven in tests and you can even buy your own conversion kits.

They have not made it to market for alot of reasons why other cool, fuel saving inventions haven't... the oil companies are ensuring they squeeze every penny out of their monopoly while they still can.

[D-Sub]

Diesels can run off cooking oil, too.

I dunno

my one question is this:

in the months after sept 11th...when everyone was in shock and wasnt spending money, how is it that gas prices dropped to below $1?

I was paying less than .90 a gallon for a few weeks there.

that right there says to me that the price of gas is controlled by someone/something other than what we are told

[slam]

Originally posted by Fleaman
Well up here in Canada, we have it expensive too. In southern BC, we are paying between 90 and 98 cents a litre. I dont know the conversion but its still ass expensive especially when we run the snow machines year round when the dogs from the dogsled usually tire out by June!

Well since a liter is roughtly a quart and there are 4 quarts to a gallon, you were paying at lest $3.50 a gallon, which even in canadian dollars is a lot.

Gas in the burg is 1.81.

[D-Sub]

thats another thing that gets me:

why the fck should gas cost more in one location than another?

Im not a socialist, but there are certain things I think otta be made public sector, and fuel is one of em

non-profit, govt run fuel stations. I know that would put a lot of people out of business/jobs, but man this thing can only get worse

[Comrade]

That would make a whole lot more sense. I ride my bike to school everyday and it is great. My AP Chemistry teacher, who also rides his bike to school, lets me park it in the back lab rooms where students normally have no access. I guess I am lucky that I am the best chemist in the school so he naturally is more inclined to give me special privilege. One day I was wheeling my bike out and a girl in a remedial chem class asked, "Why didn't you drive?" I replied, "I thought I would go green." She stared back with a dumb look on her face. "He means he wants to protect the environment," my teacher clarified in his British accent. I guess I just don't get it. I go to arguably the most affluent school in the state. Every day nearly every student drives to school. The word carpool is considered taboo, the bus is simply unheard of, and to ride a bike is considered to be "weird." That is why gas is going up. They hose us on prices because they can. When the prices shoot up, do people start driving less? No, they just complain.

->Eric

[D-Sub]

"do people drive less? nope"

tis true, tis true

I cant help but find some irony in the concept of a "green" chemist.

once you get out of school odds are your job will be to design/manufacture harmful man-made substances, no?

[mikko]

we have had the oil/gas prices a little more higher than you guys there. Latest price for a gallon of gasoline was 5,44 USD. In euros per litre it's like 1,17. Nice... :rolleyes:

[D-Sub]

yeah...I always think about that. Gas is lowest in the US...we complain about $2 when its $5+ many other places

theres a connection there, too

[oldvolvosrule]

California will always have higher priceson gas than any other state in the union. The reason for this is if you look on the pump there is a sticker that says you are paying 0.40 + cents tax per gallon of gas, this tax is always assessed no matter what the wholesale/retail price of gas is.

We also have a spike in prices when the fall season approaches because we have to use the reformulated gasoline for emission controls, during the cooler temps. One funny reason that i heard that we need to tuse the reformulated gas is in the fall/winter is that the leaves have fallen off the trees and therefore, the trees cannot convert the carbon dioxide into oxygen as efficiently as the trees can during the summer months. The reformulated crap is supplemented with MTBE, which dilutes the gas and you don't get as many BTU's per combustion in the engine. Use more gas, buy more gas, produce more CO2, is this thing cyclical or what????

Another funny thing is that the MTBE that they use in the fuel, is once it passes through the exhaust pipe, it falls into our resevoirs and pollutes the drinking water. Some resevoirs won't let you launch your boat if you have MTBE fuel in your boat's fuel tank.

I better stop before I get on the rant about diesel fuel costs

[Baka Dasai]

If I was running the country I'd quadruple gas taxes, and spend all that extra revenue on<ul><li><p>building comprehensive public transport systems in each city<li><p>reducing road capacity by removing freeways, narrowing roads, and reducing speed limits<li><p>research into alternative energy</ul><p>This plan has the lovely effect of making the people who pollute the most, pay the most for the solutions to the problems they have been causing.

There's only one problem with this otherwise excellent plan - I doubt many people would vote for me. I guess I'd need to rely on armed invasion for the purpose of regime change.

[Zcarver]

This is a killer for a family who owns 2 cars.

With gasoline prices around $2 a gallon (average), operating 2 vehicles that get 20mpg(average) and Travel 15,000 miles, each would cost about $3,000 just for gas. (Plus or minus) Ouch! And if you have at least 1 SUV, forget!

Star doing your tune-ups. They help a lot!

Poor tuning can mean as much as 4% more fuel wasted.

Underinflated tires can drink up as much as 3% lost.

Using the right oil help improve performance.

Every 5 mph above 60mph is like paying 10 cents more per gallon. Also aggressive driving can cut highway mileage by 33%!

De-junk the trunk. For each 100lbs you remove from your car, the mileage rises about 2% Large items on the roof can cost you about 5%.

Not all the time, but cruise control can help improve fuel economy.

Turn off the engine if you know you will be sitting for while. Like a drive-thru at your local bank.

Several short trips from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as one trip covering the same distane with a warm engine.

And this is obvious. If you have 2 vehicles, (like me) use the one that gets better mileage.

I heard that CA might reach around $2.89 by the summer? Yikes!

[Comrade]

D-sub, you must look at the "green" comment in context. Firstly, I am Utahn. When I said that I was being "green" perhaps "relatively green" would have been better. This is especially true when you compare somebody like me to my friend (who is 17) who drives daddy's $45k MDX around town.

Also, I am not planning on pursuing a chemistry degree/occupation. I was thinking more along the lines of mechanical engineering. Hopefully I can get a PhD so I can teach at the college level.

->Eric

[knoch]

D-sub, gas is priced different by loacation because people are taxed different by location, for example, if we here in michigan were to buy a new car, we would pay a tax on that purchase but one thats not so bad, and our gas is around $2.10 right now. But if you were to go to Georgia, you'd pay a ginormous tax when you bought a new car something, but they usually run about $.30 cheaper there than us. Its too bad I'm a douche bag and don't know any of the exacts on the taxes and whatnot, but i know that plays a large part in the differences because we pay more tax on gas then them and less on the original purchase of the vehicles...

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by Comrade
D-sub, you must look at the "green" comment in context. Firstly, I am Utahn. When I said that I was being "green" perhaps "relatively green" would have been better. This is especially true when you compare somebody like me to my friend (who is 17) who drives daddy's $45k MDX around town.

Also, I am not planning on pursuing a chemistry degree/occupation. I was thinking more along the lines of mechanical engineering. Hopefully I can get a PhD so I can teach at the college level.

->Eric

hey bro, no need to justify or clarify. I dont know you from adam, and I really only meant my comment in jest

now..if I knew you were a chemist working for DOW..well...bugger off!:)

[nils]

that got kind of flammy :) regarding the use of SUV's !
Don't know if its still reachable in the archives, but was worth its weight of flames !

Just to remind that 50% of euro cars take an average 45-50 mpg!
why get a SUV when u can get a 7 seater with 4WD and such a economical mpg! You got two ways of getting people use less gas: put price up, or build cars that need less!

Take the bike, ride a small car, and we'll all feel better!

N.

[D-Sub]

7 seater, AWD, economical?

where?

[nils]

Economical to use, not to buy :)

Volkswagen Sharan TDi 115 hp 4motion
here (german website) (http://showrooms.volkswagen.de/sharan/)

I just got one and its really astonishing! Not a sport car ( 115hp and almost 2 tons ) but it's a killer on snow with the proper tires!

N.
just found the specs of the engine

Engine cubic capacity 1896
Fuel Consumption
Urban 32.8mpg - 8.6l/100km
Extra-urban 51.4mpg - 5.5l/100km
Combined 42.8mpg - 6.6l/100km
Engine maximum Speed 112mph - 181km/h
Engine acceleration 0-62mph 13.7secs
Maximum output PS 115
at RPM 4000
Maximum torque 229 lbs.ft / 310 Nm
at RPM 1900

the 4WD version takes a bit more gas but maybe 5% more from what I can notice!

[Jon Dahl]

the real worry may come this fall when heating you dwelling may be a real and expensive proposition. I know you can cut back, but only so far. And my teenage stepmonsters may finally have to wear some real clothing! Wait, that may be a GOOD thing!!! Oh, yeah, a diesel non-turbo car I commute with gets 37 mpg, and I am going to look into supplementing my fuel source with recycled cooking oil, once I figure out all the details like preheating the stuff and mix percentages, etc. etc.

[Speed Demon]

In and around Seattle its almost up to 2.50-Unleaded (Regular) and like 2.80-Premium soo yah and I dont drive and I think that high. Well yah ok im done...
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