WHO DO YOU BLAME??????

[indianasmith]

I'm driving by the station today, watching them change the numbers YET AGAIN.  I like it no better than anyone, but who is to blame?  The bumbling President, the evil oil companies, the environmentalist wackos, government regs and taxes, or just the marketplace?  What do you think?

[Patient7]

I say it's big oil.  Every time someone comes out with a new way to improve fuel efficiency, they get a patent to sell more.  This isn't propaganda, it's actually happening.

[indianasmith]

Four votes, four opinions.  Keep em coming, guys!

[Mr. DS]

I voted for big oil although I'm sure they know certain politicians very well.  Meanwhile, the common folk are the ones who get screwed.  Remember, the less we use the more likely it will be that prices will come down.  Get on the bikes and ride em. 

[Ash]

It's a combination of several things that make gas prices so high.
Saying it's Bush's fault is just idiotic.  Whenever I hear someone say that, I have to seriously wonder about them.  

Want to really know the truth about how gas prices work?  Read the article below:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/gas-price.htm

And here's a great article on how to get better fuel economy:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/how-to-get-better-fuel-economy1.htm

[CheezeFlixz]

It's a combination of choices environmentalist fight exploration and the building of new refineries, it's also the emerging industrial nations of China and India needing more fuel than ever (supply and demand). The government has little to do with fuel prices it's a freely traded commodity just like orange juice or pork bellies (Trading Places anyone) So while it's easy to blame the oil companies they on average make 8 cents a gallon on refined gas, where as the government makes 16 cents and states make even more, in my state KY it's 39.9 cents a gallon. Fine your states rate here It's easy to blame Bush, blame big oil it's the market and the inability to drill for more. Many oil companies want to drill but aren't allowed to because of environmental regulations, now I'm not saying big oils hands are squeaky clean, just saying it's a publicly held and publicly traded commodity and stock so while the price goes up you are free to buy in and make so of those profits too. Currently 60% of all oil company stocks are held by mutual funds ... so you might be profiting yourself already.

[nshumate]

There definitely needs to be an "all of the above and more" option.

Here's my great idea: Instead of pouring subsidies into the Iowa straw poll -- excuse me, the biofuels sinkhole (since there is no way that even the most efficient production of biofuels can do more than shave off a fraction of our oil consumption, and the changeover of farmland from crops to biofuels is spurring the current food price hike), government should concentrate its energy subsidy money on two things:

1) The development of an efficient, powerful electric motor which can honestly hold its own in performance against gasoline engines for 95% of consumer needs (that would have to include a high-storage battery); and

2) The technology for clean, cheap, renewable electricity production.  I don't care if it's geothermal, wind, solar, clean nuclear, or even fusion, or a combination of them all.  But once we can have cheap renewable electricity and vehicles that can use it well, we'll be able to end our reliance on both fossil fuels, coal and oil, and avoid the pollution that goes with the one and the foreign policy necessities that go with the other.

Any candidate who stands up and makes that energy policy promise can have my vote, even if he/she eats babies on the campaign trail.

[LilCerberus]

I would think options 3 & 5 would be one in the same, or at least I would've voted for both, bit I could only pick one.
I blame the estate tax.

One thing that annoys me, a lot of these leftists like to point to programs over in Europe & taut their successes, while pretending to laugh at those who point out their shortcomings. So, why not legalize those two-stroke & twelve-cylinder engines that are so popular over there?

If everybody owned a motorcycle instead of a car, there'd be less congestion & more parking.

After being subjected to all sorts of PSAs & PBS shows & so on & so forth, on how I could be saving money by being more environmentally conscious, I've come to the conclusion that frugality is a luxury of the rich.

[Captain Tars Tarkas]

I wish it was $3.50 here...

[indianasmith]

Now that more people have weighed in, I'll give my  opinion.

There is some blame to go around to all of the above; but I blame the oil companies the least.  They get the stuff out of the ground, refine it, and deliver it to your neighborhood for a whopping profit of 8 cents per gallon.  And those profits are shared by many Americans whose 401K's and stock portfolios include shares of the oil companies.  I do think it is ridiculous that we are trying to process five times the amount of oil per year that we did over 20 years ago with the same refineries that we had in 1979!  Not drilling in ANWAR was just stupid; I still am furious with the Republican Congress for not getting that bill through . . .

but more than anything, a white-hot demand coupled with a steadily diminishing supply is driving this buggy, and there is no end in sight.

  I did hear that there was a pretty huge oil strike in Brazil recently.  Maybe that will drive prices down.  At least it's in our own hemisphere, and if we are going to have to kowtow to the cultures of some foreigner, I prefer Carnivale to Sharia Law any day!

[CheezeFlixz]

Let's not forget the recent info on the North Dakota oil field being much, much larger than they originally thought.

http://www.kfyrtv.com/News_Stories.asp?news=17448

and that is AMERICAN OIL ... there is more untapped oil in America than anywhere else in earth, WHY you may ask ... turn to those that are afraid that a oil rig with less than a 2 acer footprint is going to disrupt the migration patterns of the Porcupine Caribou or the Gwich’in tribe people.

So more on those here

[Captain Tars Tarkas]

ANWR will take ten years to produce a drop of oil.  It will do nothing to help gas prices now nor probably until 2020 if anything even happens.  And when it does, the $0.02 a gallon we save will be totally worth it.  Maybe we should work on better electric cars and fuel efficiency instead.  The North Dakota field has been known about forever, it is only now profitable because the extraction technique is pricey and oil prices are now large enough to make it in the black.  A drop in oil prices means they will stop extracting in ND and there goes all our oil reserves.  BTW Exxon is the most profitable company for the fifth straight year with $40 billion.

[LilCerberus]

Let's not forget the refineries destroyed by Katrina.

Let's not forget this stupid situation we've gotten ourselves in with corn squeezin's, especially when everybody knows that pine pitch & manure are better.

I used to have a Sunbeam HotShot. I was looking at this thing about ten years ago, & I found myself wondering just why hasn't anybody tried going back to the steam engine?

Why is it that environmentalists are always planting oak trees in lieu of fruit baring trees, only to end up complaining about how they have to rake up the leaves & the acorns? And all oak trees do is choke out other plants, trees etc, & in the end, they fall over, trashing your house, wrecking your car, killing your dog...

I have a bicycle. I can't ride it, because it needs new tires.

And don't forget the estate tax.
Buy a motorcycle!

[AnubisVonMojo]

I'm joining others in the "I ain't touching these religion and politics threads with a 10ft pole" philosophy, but I just wanted to chime in about buying a motorcycle: motorcycle insurance is expensive (a crotch rocket can cost you twice that of a car and it never goes down), the safety provided by a motorcycle is nill (my brain damaged uncle can attest to that), and if you live in a state that's prone to a lot of moist or frigid weather you're screwed six ways from Sunday. I've watched my dad do this my entire life, I've watched a few of my friends attempt to do this in recent years, motorcycles are a good idea but I wouldn't give up your car to do so.

[Ash]

I agree with Anubis about motorcycles.
They are extremely dangerous and if you regularly drive one, your life expectancy WILL go down.

Trust me, I know. 
My only younger brother was killed in a motorcycle accident.
He died a pointless death and for what?
A quick spin on a motorcycle and he was gone from this world forever.

I don't hate motorcycles...it wasn't the motorcycle's fault that he died.  It was his fault.
But they are dangerous.  Even if you're wearing a helmet. (as my brother was)

You're better off riding a bicycle or walking.

I think this boils down to laziness.
Americans in general are VERY lazy people.
We may work hard and strive to do our best in our jobs and personal lives.  But when it comes to physical fitness, we suck.

I used to live with a roommate and we lived 2 blocks from a gas station.
My roommate would actually get into his car and drive 2 blocks to go to that station rather than walk.
(I always walked over to it)

Gasoline is like crack to America and we all need to go into rehab.