$7 Gas

We need a comprehensive energy policy that advocates efficiency, alternative energy sources AND accessing our domestic energy supplies where they exist including ANWR and the continental shelf. Now. Obama is an elitist and arrogant when he's ok with oil/fuel prices as high as they and stating that it's "tough" when they've gone up so quickly. Many of his constituents are suffering from the high fuel prices we now have and I hope they realize that by election day. McCain, while formerly against off-shore drilling, has seen that we have an energy crisis and resulting economic crisis that will require our country to use what energy sources it has for the good of the American people.

It's amazing to me that everyone thinks we can't come up with long term and short term solutions. I still believe that I live in the greatest country with the greatest ingenuity and creative people on earth. WE put men on the moon in less than 10 years, successfully created atomic fusion in less than 5 years and those were the governement programs. In the private sector we developed the semi-conductor which fueled the computer revolution and during WWII built Liberty ships in two weeks or less. Open up the oil fields we have in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico and you'll see the price per barrell drop fast. Incentivise the development of clean energy alternatives and you'll see the private sector kill themselves to get it on the market first. Lastly, let's help a southern neighbor who has a whole lot of sugar cane but needs our manufactured goods by allowing Brazil to sell us their ethenol without a 50 cent per gallon tariff while they buy our brakes, our clothing, and other products. IF ONLY CONGRESS WOULD QUIT POINTING FINGERS AND BE REAL MEN AND WOMEN OF ACTION!

So what do those of us who live in rural areas and have to drive 12-50 miles each way to get groceries or go to work do? No buses, and we are a tourist industry which means banker's hours are unheard of, so no carpooling. We're the lucky few...my husband and I each head in opposite directions on Monday morning, park our cars (I drive 20 miles and he drives 50) live at work, then return home on Friday afternoons. More commuting marriages? AND we have to have 4x4s to get home in the winter since we live a mile off the highway on a dirt road that stays snow packed. I find it hard to believe that technology has failed to come up with a more fuel efficient engine....was it big oil or the car companies that suppressed the technology?

Every one seems to be blaming everything on the Oil Companies, Politicians and Speculators. True, Oil Companies are reaping the rewards for their production they took risk on when the price per barrel was $20. True, Politicians have limited our abilities at home as well as not weaning us off of Foriegn Oil dependancy for decades. True, speculators have been over zealous now that the realization of other global economies are becoming more energy dependant. BUT THE REAL PROBLEM IS GLOBAL SUPPLY AND DEMAND. The World consumes 88 billion barrels of oil per day and only produces 85 billion. True, $7.00 a gallon may be a harse reality we have to learn to deal with. Another point, If we had a billion barrels of oil sitting in the Gulf of Mexico it would not make much of a difference considering that all of our REFINERIES are running at capacity and we have not built any new ones in 28 years. The only one coming on line any time soon took 12 years just to clear the governmental red tape so they can break ground in Arizona. No one to blame but ourselves for being so slow to act, now that is something we have grown accustom to from our Politicians!

This is EXACTLY what Gore wanted to happen and we are all standing by and letting the politicians do it to us.

Doesn't matter what we do, or what George Bush does...we could have vehicles that get 100 mpg, instead of $4.00/gal. we would end up paying $12.00/gal. The Arabs can't beat us on the battle field, but they can bring us to our knees at the pump. Democrats, Republicans, they all know what needs to be done...but they do nothing. It's ironical that there is a new television program beginning entitled "Sons of Anarchy". And, coincidentally, those same politicians who won't do anything to make this great nation more energy independant, now want to take away our second amendment rights...or is it coincidental? Imagine the billboard: "Sons of Anarchy" starring: the people of the once great United States of America produced by: the U.S. Congress and U.S. Supreme Court directed by: OPEC

I hope gas prices go even higher so alternative fuels can be developed more price competitively. The sooner we get off foreign oil, the sooner we stop funding criminal Arab govenrments so they can kill us.

Folks, this article is not journalism. It is fear, presented as news. It is not reporting on what has happened, but what some analyst says WILL happen. So the media dutifully takes the speculation, throws it at you as if it absolutely, positively will happen, and reports it as news. Apparently many of those who have commented here have fallen for the bait. I don't have a crystal ball, and neither does this analyst. He is going on what the current situation is now. He does not (as does anyone else) know with any certainty how things will play out in the next two years. Any sort of speculation beyond the next few months is iffy at best, because anything can change at anytime. That's how volatile the market is. The dollar could strengthen, Saudi Arabia could dramatically increase output, The U.S. could convince its Congress to allow drilling for new oil, demand could fall because of the high prices. Or conversely, there could be a disruption of some sort, whether by a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, which could cut off supplies in the short term by damaging oil rigs, or an Israeli-Iran conflict could occur, and Iran makes good on its promise to stifle supply. The fact is - no one knows for sure. To report $7 a gallon gasoline is indeed-no-doubt-going-to-happen-with-certainty is poor journalism, and is designed to arouse fear. And shame on those of you who fall for it. Think for yourselves and do your own research, instead of falling for the bait the liberal media feeds you.

The U.S. House and Senate are ran by millionaires who are not able or willing to understand the financial pain of $4.00 gas. In an election year the stakes are too high to possibly lessen the anger of the voter by providing relief at the pump and in turn lose out on gaining the angry vote away from the other party. The party is more important that the people. Higher gas prices have turned into higher grocery, clothing, and utility bills. There is talk of $200.00 dollar a barrel oil and six to $10.00 a gallon gasoline and the U.S. Senate goes home for the holiday. Going home should have been out of the question. Staying late into the evening everyday until an answer to the cries of the american people was obtained is what our elected officials should have done. Speculative traders were deregulated by our elected officials and then boldly came on the national news programs and proclaimed that the days of cheap energy were over. Recently they were on CNN once again and now saying prices are poised to go as high as $230.00 a barrel for oil and $10.00 a gallon for gas. After years of stability in the energy market we now have prices climbing ever higher only after speculative trading was deregulated. We are getting fed information in the news that a hang nail on a south american native may cause a supply disruption. Its a money grab. Vote out the politicians that are letting us suffer.

Everyone wants to blame Bush for the price of oil...especially the socialist democrats and the media. What can he do? It's congress that controls the price of oil. Oil is taxed by congress such that they make far more off oil than the oil companies do. Congress also controls the price by not letting us drill for American oil and forcing us to beg other countries to sell oil to us at whatever price they demand. Only the ignorant and uninformed blame Bush.

High gas prices is what this country needs right now. Less cars on the road will help save the planet, get more drunks of the road, which will bring down drunk driving accidents and bring down the cost of Insurance, bring down the speed limit,bring down the cost of automobiles, put smaller cars on the road, take teenagers of the road, put in more transit systems, and create less profits for the greedy oil giants so maybe one day it will be them we see begging on the street. Ha Ha would that be a laugh of what? : ) By the way American Man, shut the hell up. Your probably one of the people who drives a gas eater. I hope your tires go flat.

$7.00 per gallon of gas. Let's not forget that this is only part of the issue. With the rising cost of oil comes the rising cost of everything. People will not be able to afford to live. Also, lets not forget that this will also result in increased crime rates as people will begin to steal that which they will not be able to afford. Look out U.S., we have only just begun to see the fringes of the bad times that lie ahead for our children.

Analysis by CIBC Worldwide equals garbage. I remember everyone rushing to buy over inflated priced homes several years back due to the fear that housing would continue to climb to even higher unaffordable prices based on “fear” analysis made through speculation. Well, we all have now seen what has happened there, and those unfortunate folks that listened to the “fear” analysis of the speculators are now in foreclosure, or taking losses in the hundreds of thousands in some cases. Trust lessons in history, not speculation from groups like CIBC Worldwide. $7.00 per gallon gasoline in 2 years? Pigs will grow wings and fly before that happens.

It's funny how we all spend ourselves silly, during the best economic times, without so much as a single positive action or comment toward our gov't (Democrat or Republican) and when things get a little hard, not a board can be found without some blame for Bush. Do us all a favor. If you can't afford teh gas, stay home and read a few books so you can understand how we got here. Is Bush responsible for the price of gas in Europe? Taiwan? Anywhere else?

Speculators talking about oil spiking up has been one of the factors in oil actually going up at this ridiculous rate. But the bigger reason, in my opinion, is the fact that WE in the US are not drilling enough oil here. We have ANWAR, the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts, Oil Shale in Colorado and the Dakotas, yet we are not producing a whole lot from there because of inaction on this Democratic-lead Congress' part (Mainly appeasing to the tree-huggers and all). Though I agree that alternatives need to be developed (and not ethanol, I'll get into that in a minute), we need to drill our own oil and natural gas while we develop these alternatives. For us to be spending these high amounts on Foreign Oil is insane. We should drill and subsidize our own oil and tell the Saudis to take a hike. I'm willing to bet anything that if we were to drill our own, that oil prices would plummet because of it (because the US wouldn't have a need for foreign oil). It just makes sense, while developing clean energy alternatives, we should drill our own oil. Now, with ethanol, food prices have only skyrocketed, and while initially a good idea, now it is just not practical. The world food supply is getting lower and products that are used to produce ethanol such as sugarcane, soybeans, and corn are only contributing to that factor. The ethanol production should come from switchgrass or biowaste or not at all. Corn, soybeans, and other foods that are grown should be used for just food now.

Sigh... is it just me or do all of these reports come from investment companies? I wonder if they have any incentive to keep the prices high. It's like they are all trying to out-do each other. Every day, the future price of a gallon of gasoline goes up by $1-2.

I for one am sick of the wacko socialist environmentalists who use inuendo and dubious data (the fear of climate change) to drive their agenda. The problem with oil is not that there isn't enough or even that its destoying the planet, but that it is being used as a tool of war by some oil producing countries, used by unscrupulous people in our own country to further their neo-social/political agenda, and used by others who are piling on for sheer greed. This is what has brought us to $4.50/gallon (and probably higher) fuel. I just hope that smart Americans will wake up to the manipulation and put a stop to it before its too late.

Thank you democrats for obstructing drilling our own oil of the coast and Alaska. Don't BS me with environmental crap since the alternative is that they will be drilling in Siberia and hotbed Middle East or polluted Nigeria. If you really care for the global environment you allow drilling HERE which will be done much much more environmentally responsible. I will vote whoever is not that moronic. So guess it will be McCain.

I agree with bill 100 percent, mass transit is not availible in the area i live in, so what will happen when ppl cant afford to go to work??? such places like wal mart, mcdonalds, home depot, lowes, ..mainly retail, fast food, service station workers...these places do not pay well enough for most of their employees to afford 5,6,7,dollar a gallon gas....will the country come to a stand still???? will ppl finally say ENOUGH!? will truckers strike? i know most ppl say drive less....well for a lot of people that is not an option, oil is killing this country, something is gonna have to gove, i just hope the president or congress will step up, or the little man (who is the backbone of the country) will be in huge trouble

At $6 or $7 a gallon, this country is going to come to a schreeching halt. Europe can handle it, with their 1.0 liter engines, but we can't. You'll be seeing a lot of Yukons, Expeditions, Escalades on the side of the road, out of gas :). I think it may help highway congestion, though, because maybe then people will give up their castle that's 50 miles a way from their work, and move closer to their job. This country relies on transporting everything, and for great distances. Things are going to get ugly, especially if the increases are passed off to the consumer, which they are. Recession? I think it will be worse than that.

obviously no one posting so far on this column works with there hands. welcome to the real world of labor, it now costs twice as much to get to the job site, have lunch, buy tools, buy product and maintain vehicles. while on the other end fewer jobs are available because of the cost of materials, labor, planning and just plain backup due to costs. i've been in the trades in wisconsin since 1983. at this time the work load is as low as i have seen it due to those factors and getting worse and i am actually lucky as my company is busier than others. 5, 6, 7, dollars a gallon brings this countries production lower with each step, meaning less hours and less pay for these higher costs. also anyone who says americans haven't changed yet, has not been out on the open road, traffic has already decreased and speed has fallen at the $4 mark even in the trucking department, it hits $5/6/7 a gallon and we will see shutdowns, stoppages and strikes. now our choices seem to be drill more and continue to rely on oil or find a new direction in energy and transportation that helps not only the urban but also the rural areas of this country.

well here we go with the ole I tol ya so. See many years ago someone once said nothing lasts forever or what goes up must come down. This is inevitable in everything from the price of something to the political and governments thats run on peoples lazy and sorry butts wanting a free ride. We should always have been thinkin ahead instead of for the day like Aesop and the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. We in the United States are all grasshoppers in the world. Not an ant to be found unles it fills our backpocket. We do not care if or what our world will be like, or if it even lasts. I can't wait to be gone from this selfish world and it s indignant greed of self fulfillment and pleasure, not just here but in every country.

If the oil producing countries say it is supply & demand, and speculators say it isn't them, then who the hell is it? Why has the price of oil gone up over 50% in one year? I think this is the root cause of the economy going south. IF this isn't a reason to release 50% of the feds oil reserve, then when is it? I don't think you can put much blame on Bush. I think 90% of the blame should be on Congres. What are they doing in Washington? Sure not working for the American people!

To Rod & John: You must be one of the lucky ones that lives high, mighty, and beyond. Gas prices have been killing my family's food budget, clothing budget (for the kids for school) and has completely cut out all extra activites....that includes even taking the kids to see the free movies put on by local theaters for the summer. It costs too dang much in gas to get there and back. Rod, yes, the prices have changed a lot in our lives. No sports for the kids, no garage sales to find bargain clothes for the kids, no swimming at the lake, no visits to the grandparents every weekend, no television b/c the satellite money has gone to gas, no new sandals for summer, no birthday parties, etc - it all stinks this year! We live in a town of 500 people - the kids' doctor is 35 miles one way, my school is 55 miles one way, church is 11 miles, my husband's work is 15 miles, my parents are 20, his parents are 30, a grocery store (other than the higher-than-I-can-afford-grocer here in town) is 35-40 miles. Heck, our gas station in this one horse town is even 15 cents higher than surrounding towns. And, John, you thinking rising costs are a good thing? Will you please fork over the money to those of us who can't take public transportation, carpool, or otherwise get to work, the store, or the doctor just so we can fill our tanks up with what you believe is a good deal?

there is no reason for that high of Gas. this is enron all over again. Keep driving to a minimum and make the greedy leeches eat thier overpriced oil contracts.

Already the price of gas is more than I can afford. As a disabled American, on extremely limited income, I have to decide weekly to either pay for necessary heart medications, or put gas n the tank. Living out in a rural area with no public transportation, it is a no win situation for the poor like me.

My solution was to convert a gas powered car to 100% battery-electric power. I live in the DC suburbs and it gets me everywhere around that region- Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore. I use the train for longer distances. I haven't purchased gasoline in months.

Yes 55 mph will definitely help. I am amazed at how fast people cruse the streets never considering that they're burning up gasoline far faster than they have too. In general, people are silly, irresponsible and impatient. They get up at the last minute, leave at the last minute and try to make their commute in record time on busy highways and streets risking their safety as well as others. It's this "nothing better change and I ain't gonna change cause I'm an American and I ain't gotta change for nothing and nobody" attitude that got us in this mess in the first place. And the primary idiots harboring that Neanderthal mentality are Bush and Chaney. Lord I'll be glad when they get the hell out of the Whitehouse. Nothing is ever urgent or even important to us "Americans" until it's a freaking crisis and then everybody cries "do something, drill here - drill now and save our inattentive butts". CONSERVE and invest in alternative energy and save yourselves. Santa's not on the way so suck it up. PS: I drive 70 miles roundtrip to & from work, stop along the way to get what I need and pretty much walk or ride my bike to the stores and shops close to home.

American Man: What makes you think that the president of the United States has the ability to affect everything. Also, if the idiots in Congress had used the millions of dollars in earmarks to do politically expedient projects in New Orleans instead of doing what the Army Corps of Engineers told them to do (fix the levees), the hurricane might not have been as disastrous as it was. In short, there is enough blame to be passed around. You ought to read Dick Morris' book "Outrage". It pretty much demonstrates that we have a lot of criminals in government on both sides of the aisle.

$4 gas is hurting my family now $7 would kill us I live in a small town in Arkansas and there is no mass transit system at all at $7 our town would shut down most families here are at or below the poverty line I work for the local car dealership and let me tell you car sales are dead to years past I worry that my job will be gone if gas gets any higher it will become a question of pay the credit card bills or buy food, well food has to get bought

It doesn't really matter what the price of gas would go to. The average person is most likely using their credit card to pay for gas, so there minimum monthly payment does not change much if any. This just creates another credit problem to deal with.

[Q]$4 gasoline has not caused much change in the driving of Americans. The threshold of pain from high fuel costs is very high..although Americans love to complain, they love and need the mobility. In addition, the US is no longer the “demand driver” for oil. We will be the first to start cutting back, but so long as other countries subsidize their energy costs for citizens demand will be slow to wain. We may well see $175 oil and $6 gasoline this year.[q] God help our children!

If Israel strikes Iran within the one-year window that a former spy says it has before Iran has "the bomb", $7 gas or even $17 gas will seem like a bargain! Ya think President Obama could handle that????

We will see $200 a barrel and $7 a gallon before the year is out. I recently filled two 2000 gallon fuel tanks that I have not filled since the early 90's. I am going to sit on this fuel, and when I need it, it should last me a few years. It is going to get bad and feel for the familys that this is going to hit hard, but what can we do? We can not drill ourselves out of this mess, I guess it is time for the SUV's quad cabs and big 4x4's in the city to be done away with. I will tell you one thing, we better brace, because the collapse of America is soon and we will be living like the Soviet Union after there fall before to long.

Forecasting is not news. Please keep to news and facts.

Where I live in Marshall Islands in between Guam and Hawaii, gas prices are $6.50 per gallon in the capitol and the other rural area it is $7.10 a gallaon. Well Looks like our friend U.S. is catching up.

We can blame high gasoline prices on our politicians. The resource is here for a reason-use it. Common sense is in short abundance at all levels of government. Cut out all subsidies and let the market do it's thing. It's smarter and it even has common sense.

When the Israeli & Iranian war starts; it's going to get a lot uglier than $7 a gallon gas. Save your money, the market is about to go into the toilet. The only thing Congress cares about is cashing those big checks from big oil. It's pretty sad that our society cares more about animals than human beings. SAVE THE HUMANS !!

Obviously you folks talking about people taking public transport don't live in rural america (fly over country to Obama and the Dems). In the medium-term the Dem Congress will have to cap the price of gas and susidize the cost... otherwise the economy will plummet. I hope this rookie Obama has more in his head and mouth than "Yes We Can' and 'Change'.

I always notice that the Bush bashers never seem to notice that all this occurred after the Democrats took control of Congress, which was supposed to save us from Bush. I thought the Dems were so GREEN. Environmentalists WANT $8 a gallon gas. It's supposed to make us car pool, take mass transit, buy scooters, WALK, etc.

Oil prices will stay high until and only until alternative fuels start to take hold. Then prices will fall until and only until the alternative fuel choices become uneconomic, thus preventing their widespread adoption. And both people and government are sufficiently shortsighted that the oil cartels and oil industry will get away with it...again. Hey! It worked in the '75 oil embargo, it'll work now.

I hope to see these oil speculators in a 'soup line' and without jobs for the recession and eventual depression that they'll be causing.

"Comment by Norman Anderson 2008-06-27 09:16:56 With all the talk about off shore drilling etc. Why don’t the feds bring back the 55 MPH speed limit, and enact it immediately?" Maybe because the politicians in Washington D.C. remember how unpopular that Federal mandate was the last go round? I know that if one of my local politicians proposed such a thing I would vote against them the next time they are up for re-election. I lived during those times and can tell you for a fact that nobody drove any slower with the limit at 55 mph than they do now with my States speed limit at 70 mph. All it did was get people to buy CB radio's so that they could go as fast as they had before but would (hopefully) know where the police where at. Later people bought radar detectors when they came along to do the same thing.

All this talk about cars & transit is good but here's where the truth lays. Everything you buy at the grocery store is trucked in and little comes by rail. Every farm and processing plant uses fuel, mainly diesel. The milk is trucked from dairy to processing, then again trucked to the store. The cattle feed is farmed with diesel powered equipment. Hang on to your undies for $10.00 gallon milk and $12.00 six pack beer. Beer processing uses grain. We better be worrying about groceries pretty darn quick. 1st. thing we ALL need to do. Check labels before buying anything! If it aint made in the USA-DON'T buy it if you can help it. Good luck folks and hang on for the ride of our lives! God Bless the USA!

I'm tired of people blaming Bush saying he is doing nothing to lower gas prices. Just what in the hell can he do?!? He's already trying to convince the tree hugging brain damaged democrats that we need to drill in Alaska and off the coast, but they won't let it happen! I say it is the democratically ocntrolled legislators that are responsible for the situation we are in regarding gas prices. Aren't they the ones the write the LAWS!! Wake up and open your eyes America. It are the democrats that are causing our gas prices to soar!

Bush is NOT the problem. The Democrats in Congress is the problem. They are blocking everything.

This is why gas is going up so fast. Get ready $7 is only the beginning. It will be $7 in less than a year I bet. http://www.theoildrum.com/

We do not need to change our way of life. Congress needs to change theirs.

Truth is, I hope gas hits $7 a gallon. Not because I want to see the poor put in a worse position than they are, but because it's clear that it is the ONLY thing that's going to save us from destroying ourselves. We (myself included) drive SUV's and at drive them at 80 miles per hour. We don't car pool, public transporation is out of the question, and we don't want to spend the money on alternatives. I used to feel sorry for the American auto industry. I've only ever bought American made cars. But they dealt with this in the 1970's. Hindsite is 20/20 and they didn't look back and see this coming. The auto industry should have been prepared for this by having invested heavily in new non-fossil fuel alternatives, but they didn't, they made token efforts to prove they cared about the environment with intention of a practical large scale marketing strategy. It's their fault not mine fault and we sleep in the beds we make. I'll bet we have hydrogen fuel cell cars, practical electric cars, and Ethenol at every corner within months of $7 a gallon gas The beauty of being a capitolist society is that when the price is right, we'll work anything out. I pray for those that will struggle this next couple of years, but it really will solve itself and when it does, the oil barrons (U.S. and international) will be bankrupt, shocked that their industry had dried up, unaware that it was their own greed that destroyed them but their fall will reduce terrorism & help save our planet.

The mayor of NYC did nothing during 9/11 except put his face n front of the camera. This is a man who put the anti-terrorism HQ IN THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AFTER IT WAS PREVIOUSLY ATTACKED AND SWORN TO BE ATTACKED AGAIN. As the HQ sat under rubble and he searched for a camera to put his face in front of the NY Fire department risked their lives, it amazes me how Giuliani was able to fool people into thinking he was some sort of a 9/11 hero, his approval ratings were at an all time low as he squandered money on endless police officers salaries that were supposed to be part of a 1 time grant for police gear. The next mayor inherited his financial mess.