Are Americans at all justified in complaining about gas prices?
November 8, 2009 in Conservation
Did you know that you can save fuel and run your car on water
Dana1981, Master of Knowledge questioned:
As gas prices continue their rise headed for $4 per gallon in the USA, a lot of public are complaining.
But, the USA has the most terrible fuel efficiency requirements of any first planet public. We have half the fuel efficiency requirements of Europe. Our gas also remains cheaper than most additional countries, and expenditure less than half as much as in the UK. Many Americans handbook pointlessly generous and inefficient cars, trucks and SUVs. Hybrids subdue make up less than 2% of car sales in the US.
If we’re unwilling to take steps to boost our fuel efficiency, yet our gas prices are subdue far below most additional countries, are Americans at all defensible in complaining about gas prices?
Did you know that you can save fuel and run your car on water
hell yeah we are defensible in complaining… I am a inhabitant of the excellent ‘ole USA and I do my part to store up energy and recycle… But not anything I do will upshot in lower gas prices… Not anything!
equipment keep being paid more pricey, and our pay stays the same… what gives?? when is it inane to get simpler?
Nope! Reflect this sez it all
Don’t forget Japan. Their fuel state ordinary is nearly double America’s. Where is LittleRobberGirl? I reflect she said they pay something like 5.50 in the UK.
Yes we are, the prices are privileged than what we are used to paying it is privileged than what we normally pay. Public have the right to handbook what ever car they want. I would not want to be spellbound dead in a Hybrid for obvious reasons.
Yes, we are defensible. It is not the peoples fault if those who are in DC turn down to take note apart from to the impregnable gas lords as to what a vehicle can obtain.
Here are vehicles which can run on fill up, but the companies are hording the civil Civil rights to the patents and no one can start the cars.
If you want to handbook a 75hp car the size of golf cart go for it. I’d very handbook something comfy, with some potential, and room for more than just 2 public. Many public that handbook trucks have trailers. Try pulling a boat with your golf cart or even a hybrid.
Give and demand. Less give, more demand = privileged prices.
When you take out the subsidies that hybrid manufacturers get from governments they are really reasonably pricey.
And it just doesn’t make environmental or fiscal implication to try to place an pricey dual-powertrain logic into less pricey cars which already get excellent mileage.
If you’re compelling the send that America deserves to pay for privileged prices in view of the fact that ‘all else’ already does then it’s reasonably a hold responsible America first attitude that you’re portraying.
I do reflect we have the right to complain about the prices just as much as you feel it’s your right to post a question. (and it is your right, this is America)
By and large I reflect gas is taxed too high thankfulness to environmental laws, I reflect we need to drop our Independence on unknown oil but we can’t thankfulness to the incapability to drill for our own oil, I reflect we need to build more refineries internally but we can’t thankfulness to environmentalists.
I also reflect it’d be wise for more wind farms, but don’t get me ongoing…
Perfectly defensible in complaining about petroleum harvest. And if you aren’t complaining then not anything will ever get done about it.
even my 4 litre 3.5 tonne car that i used to tow my income waggon with did 24 mpg! that’s better than the average car in the u.s.a!!!!!
we are paying over a pound a litre here, and average car mpg is 40-50mpg.
give me a muscle car, i`ll burn up some gas
A friend of ours just stirred to Norway, where gas prices are upward of $7 a gallon. Startling ample the vehicles of extent are monster SUVs. Startling ample, Norway is doing well with its offshore oil and gas sector, and in contemporary being high oil prices have made for regime fiscal proclamation and current tab surpluses, and rising disposable income. The irony is that more of their public will be impacted by global climate chat than ours, and their regime is more caught up in climate chat solutions than ours.
But I agree absolutely. Humanizing fuel efficiency is a must, and we do take pleasure in moderately “excellent” prices for gas, moderately speaking. My car gets excellent mileage but takes premium gas. My husbands car gets akin mileage and takes fixed. Guess which one we’re driving when we’re collectively?
Well I would have to say yes as we are life extorted and gouged all in the name of unbridled greed.
Excellent life the virtue it is can take something evil and make something of it, this something life an incentive to finally get off our obsession to fossil fuels and find sterile renewable and in the long term cheaper energy technologies. Technologies that start a more real release fiscal growth for society as a total and not just an elite few.
Below is some excerpts concerning to the current profits and attitudes of the top 5 oil producers.
“Now, some in congress took top oil executives to task, slamming them for compelling $18 billion in tax breaks, not investing ample in renewable assets and for pulling in a collective $123 billion in profits in 2007 – all while customers endure at the pump.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) place the cash question to top oil execs at one of Congress’ periodic hearings on gas prices. Politicians often fire off populist one-liners and CEOs cite the law of give and demand.
Walden questioned: “With your confirmation high profits, have you thought about lowering the price of gasoline?”
Bombard President John Hofmeister answered with what appeared to be a “No,” adding, “Profits are what enable hub investors to boost give.”
And yes in malevolence of all this I am in favor of privileged gas taxes that hopefully would go to fund investigate and subsidies for uncommon energies. The oil companies ordinarily respond to longer gas taxes with raising their prices in its stead to take benefit of that would be lowered price.
I don’t know, you bring up many valid points.The USA wants to bring to somebody's attention it’s fuel efficiency requirements to meet the on the rise need to lower carbon emissions into our poor wide open planet. I feel that the USA discussion alot about how to fix the problem, but that’s all we do it talk. We’re not really making any strides or real efforts at all to boost the circumstances. And look at it this way, if we took a million dollars from each dang millionaire show star out here, we’d have bounty of cash to come up with a key that all said show stars are always deadly about. Or if we cut out a fiscal proclamation for lobbyists in the Colorless Household, that would indeed cut off some dollars to explore productive ways to boost our background. What can I say, I like the USA I like where I’m from, but I do NOT like how it’s life run. It isn’t honest to the American public who want to make a difference and a chat that public with the potential to do so, do not anything, but talk. You bring up a very appealing conversation.
Just a few facts to chew on:
1) Fuel prices in Europe are really about the same as in the US, if you take taxes out of the depiction. The only wits the pump price is privileged over here is that the governments have piled huge taxes on fuel. This of course is what the global warming alarmists in this public wish to do as well.
2) Here are really no mandated fuel efficiency principles on automobiles in most European countries. The privileged efficiency of their cars is completely due to the high fuel prices which are the upshot of 1) privileged than.
3) Many of their cars will not pass any the protection principles or the emanation principles in the U.S. This is especially right of the diesels.
Anyway, who are you to say that I or anyone else is driving an pointlessly generous and inefficient car. One would have to be very arrogant to judge he knows better than me what best fits my wants.
In view of the fact that when did we need explanation to complain? Like the Nike slogan – Just do it.
YES with all we call this chunk of land United States of America, not f***ing UK Japan or any additional name.
I reflect we have the right to complain. But, what we must be complaining about is not the top of hold cost of fuel, but what the procedes from the gas taxes go to. We pay a tax on our fuel, which is used to build more roads, which enable sprawl, which earnings equipment are additional and additional apart, which earnings we need to waste more cash on gas to get to them.
What we need is a gas tax that is used to fund alternatives to using gas in the first place. Equipment like pedistrian friendly Inner-city re-densification, set alight rail, busses, bike lanes and pathways, etc.
The gas tax must be used to help us go away from using so much fuel, very than cheering and reinforcing our obsession.
I had to reflect about this question for a few days, before I stanch on my pledge.
Yes, I reflect Americans are defensible about complaining about the price of gas.
America is a childish public. America is a HUGE public, compaired to most European nations. Even our individual states are larger than many of the European countries.
America has not has two thousand being to work out an efficient transportation logic of A load of public. Here are a few generous cities, here and here, New York, Chicago, for model, which have ways of tender A load of public in suitable and efficient ways.
I now live in rural Idaho, home to about 1.5 million public in the entire state. Here is no mass trasit. We do have a bus logic that runs to the foremost employer here. But it just goes here, and to park and rides (also celebrated as inane lots, not lined, not lit, sometimes have cows grazing in them…no kidding).
I live 9 miles from the nearest store. The road in adjoin of my household is a 65mph highway. Too busy, and too far, and too quick to safely ride a bike to the store.
Odd business was, when I lived in town, in Washington state (Everett) I was subdue 8 miles from the nearest grocery store. For a while when I lived in Everett, I rode the bus, when I worked in North Seattle. It was a 2 1/2 hour trip, ONE WAY. Five hours a day on the bus, plus 9 hours at work. It was a total of 21 miles from my job, to my doorstep. I had to walk two miles (no kidding) in order to catch that bus.
How can they maybe guess anyone to ride mass transit that isn’t even accurate to efficient? 2 1/2 HOURS to go 19 miles? (Dredge up I walked the additional two).
Here was no way I may maybe meet the expense of an Apartment building building quicker to work….far too pricey. I worked on a hospital campus, as an office administrator/surgical tech to a confidential M.D.
When public cannot meet the expense of to live accurate to their employer, when groceries are subdue miles away (even in the city), and when here is no evenhanded mass transit logic, I judge public are completely and completely defensible about life mad about gas prices.
I would also like to know what has happened to fuel efficiency….why have the strain new “fuel efficient” vehicles gone down in millage compaired to our ancient vehicles?
1996 Merc Sable……………..36 MPG
1986 GMC 1/2 ton pickup…29MPG
1968 Ford 3/4 ton pickup….17MPG
Compair them to new, similar vehicles, and they get the same, or better millage.
~Crimson
Homesteading/Undeveloped over 20 being
I would have no problem with the price of gasoline in the United States inane up in price if the wits was for privileged gasoline taxes that are more by the book earmarked for transportation/infrastructure improvements (very than place into a general fund). If the superfluous privileged prices fated better join/tunnel preservation, road repair, and even better funded uncommon transportation methods (rail, traveler set alight rail/bus/subway service, carsharing, carpool matchup air force, etc.) or uncommon fuel investigate, I wouldn’t mind the upward price changes.
But, most of the upward pricing in the US is just market obsessed. Privileged demand = privileged prices. Oil companies are touting confirmation profits over the last few being, with privileged have a give of prices and nice bonus payouts. More Americans are owning more cars and driving more miles on those cars than they did in the past. (Add to that pressures from additional developing nations, like China, where citizens are acquiring more cars and therefore using more gasoline too, and demand planet-wide for gasoline is inane up.)
I do reflect that it is honest to complain that the price of gasoline is inane up to just line the wallets of the oil companies (and their shareholders, which includes many of the complaining Americans thankfulness to mutual assets in their retirement diplomacy) with no additional excellent appearance out of it. But, some of the complaining must go out of to top at the real source – the privileged demand for the fuel. If Americans demanded more fuel-efficient cars (such as export the most fuel-efficient vehicle in no matter what rank that met their wants), and horde with better fuel efficiency in mind (slow down to the speed limit, no jackrabbit start/stops, no idling, combining trips, better maintenance of their car (such as genteel tire inflation and fixed filter changes), then here’d be less demand for the fuel and therefore here would be less upward price pressure.
no….we are not entitled to low-cost gas….if you want the price of gas to go down then support drilling in ANWAR and off the coast of Florida….also the building of new refineries in this public and the appreciative that it is the preservationist movement standing in the way of those equipment that would bring the price Waaaaaay down