Now, if you're one of the folks who supports cap-and-trade, you now have an opportunity to study just how a sudden rise in gas prices will affect us. I know gas has gone up at least 15 cents in the past week alone. We are inching closer and closer to $4 per gallon.
For me, it's beginning to reach the point where I will actually start losing money when I cover meetings for the Bethlehem Press. Grocery stores, which depends on deliveries from California and Florida, will have no choice but to raise food prices.
Will this throw us into a double dip recession? As Douglas McIntyre has just observed, "The soaring price of gasoline is death by a thousand cuts to the American economy."
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Monday, March 07, 2011
23 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxN6RqZ1mbg
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, we refuse to expand drilling and haven't seen a new refinery go on line since the 70s.
ReplyDeleteNo refinerys since the 70's. Isn't that when they also placed oil on the stock market? Coincidence uhm....Don't think so
ReplyDeleteDon't worry Bernie. Rising fuel prices are not part of core inflation - therefore, according to the Progressive Liberal Elites among us, it doesn't matter what happens to fuel prices, there is no inflation, so we're all fine.
ReplyDeleteThe Banker
Maybe my memory is failing me, but last time the price of gas rose the food prices followed for the same reasons in the Post. What I don't remember is the price of food decreasing when the price of gas went down.
ReplyDeleteSo now I get another food price increase when gas hits $4 per gallon?
I bet the part about where oil companies will make more money now is all George Bush's evil doing.
ReplyDeleteHe set it up so that oil prices wouldn't spike until after he left office. All part of a devious plan to give Big Oil a present.
Come to think of it, Charlie Dent has to be involved, after all it's March - this month he's owned by Big Oil.
Very astute observation on you part Mr. Banker.
ReplyDeleteThe ladies having been telling us about inflation for months because they but the groceries.
Anon 1:28. While folks were chanting Drill baby Drill, not one Oil Exec would vow to keep new strategic markets in US interest.
ReplyDeleteIf PA wanted to really create jobs, they would devise a plan whereby PA would have a preferred enegry rates for gas extracted in Commonwealth. I would hope we could entice high consumptive energy manufacturers to PA because of prefered energy costs. Instead we are the only State not to have a Severnece tax, and still pay the National market value.
fuel prices?
ReplyDeleteWe all take the bus, don't you?
The term, "big oil," was coined by members of "big tinfoil hat." Conspiracy theorizing is the ultimate expression of intellectual laziness.
ReplyDeleteToo bad Obama won't let us drill...
ReplyDelete...let's re-elect Obama in 2012!
The planet DOES have a fever.
ReplyDeleteAsk Al Gore.
Re-elect Obama 2012!
Back in 2008 candidate Obama said the US needed to have gas prices at the level in Europe. ($~10/gal).
ReplyDeleteHe is getting his wish. No drilling, EPA gone wild with rules, increased taxes, and kissy face dialog over Libya.
Oh Bernie, what shall we do sell the gas station ? Better ask Ron.
ReplyDeleteSorry to let the facts get in the way of a good argument, but "high oil prices" are a function of the market, and the market is based on supply/demand. And with commodities, the price you hear is the front month or spot price.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, we are priced around $105 for the April contract. What you do not hear is that priced for delivery in, say April 2012, you would only pay $103 as I write this. And if you go out further the price remains approximately the same. This tells you two things:
1. The market has fears about current supply. A lot of the supply comes from unstable countries so this will happen from time to time.
2. The market sees tight supplies in the future, but not so tight that they are worried about supplies in 2014 and beyond. With the world still having capabilities of producing approx. 4 million barrels/day more than current demand, I would expect oil prices lower at some point in the future, but not below $80-$85 without another global recession.
Thus, $2.80 or so is the lowest I would expect to see gas prices for the foreseeable future. $4.00 may seem high, but will eventually become the norm as demand grows in other parts of the world, thus tightening supply.
All the easy oil has either been extracted or is in diminishing supply. The Canadian Oil Sands, for example, has a huge potential supply, but at a very high extraction cost.
If you want to blame Obama, that's fine, but it is not correct. The correct President to blame is Ronald Reagan. After the energy crisis of the late 1970s President Carter started us on the path to energy independence. Unfortunately, Reagan stopped the progress. And before you say it could never be done, Brazil started the process in the late 170s and has very little need for oil. In fact, Brazil is a net exporter of black gold.
Publius
Regarding the drilling efforts (or lack there of):
ReplyDelete1. Apparently no one remembers the tragedy of last Summer down in the Gulf.
2. Last month President Obama signed the first drilling permit in the Gulf for Nobel Energy.
3. Royal Dutch Shell did not start a new project in Alaska a few weeks back. This had nothing to do with regulations, but internal corporate issues.
And, hey, it is easy to blame the "Progressive Liberal Elites" or whomever. But face the facts, it is overconsumption by the American citizenry that is to blame for our current predicament. I mean, seriously, do you need that SUV that gets 15 mpg? And how many of you keep your house at 75 degrees in the winter?
Briefly, here is what needs to be done in order to keep energy costs from remaining a problem over the coming decades:
1. We need a national energy policy. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar as well as nuclear electricity. It also means getting away from coal and oil as much as possible. Natural gas should be prominent as well.
2. We need to conserve. There is no need to waste energy like we do as a country. We all need to take personal responsibility for how much energy we consume and always strive to use less. There is no reason to dive something that gets 15mpg or keep your house at 75 in the winter. I know some of you won't like what you read. Sorry. Maybe if Chris Christie said it you would feel better about hearing it.
Publius
"We need a national energy policy. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar as well as nuclear electricity. It also means getting away from coal and oil as much as possible. Natural gas should be prominent as well"
ReplyDeleteamen. wouldn't it be nice if we subsidized alternate energy at the same rate as we subsidize oil? (and please don't tell me our massive, imperial military budget doesn't in large part exist to serve our oil addiction)
Wow....after this news another 6 Chevy Volt's will be sold....we have the oil here, in the gulf, in the dakotas, alaska, offshore, inshore....the chinese are drilling in the gulf while we twiddle our thumbs......boy that bush was an idiot, its a good thing Obama is in control...after all he knows the insurance business, the banking business, the food business, the car business, the energy business...is there anything Obama has touched that hasnt turned gone to hell?
ReplyDeleteYour damn right it will throw us into a recession. Lets see... 9% unemployment with $4/g gas!! The perfect storm of economic trouble. Look what happened in 08 when unemployment was relatively much, much lower and what $4 gas did. That is why we are in this mess. The stock market tumbled because people stopped investing, companies closed because people stopped buying. This is going to be huge this summer if our Pres. does not fix this mess. And, btw, hybrids and Prius cars won't suffice either.
ReplyDeleteANON 4:45 - You obviously are letting your politics get in the way of reality. If we did all the drilling we could do it would only meet 1/2 our current consumption. And, BTW, it takes 8-10 years to get start new drilling in Alaska. This is not just Bush, but he is a part of the problem. This goes back to Reagan and the 1980s.
ReplyDeleteANON 4:56pm - Again, we all have been a part of this problem and you appear to still be a part of the reason we are in this mess. This is what happens in free markets on limited resources. Blame the President when you clearly take no responsibility for your wasted energy. Don't want to drive a hybrid. Fine. Your choice. You pay for it at the pump.
Here's a little math for you: If your over-sized POS gets 20mpg, you need 5 gal. of gas to drive 100 miles. At $4.00/gal your cost is $20 for 100 miles of driving. If you drove a Prius at 50mpg, the same 100 miles, @ $4.00/gal, costs you $8, a savings of $12/100 miles of driving. If you drive 15,000 miles the fuel cost of your POS is $3,000. The Prius owner would spend $1,200.
You choice ANON 4:56.
Publius
Clinton spent eight long years boffing the help, but failed to author a single sentence of energy policy - not a single sentence.
ReplyDeleteBut it's still Bush's, Bush's, and Reagan's fault.
Meanwhile, we are asked to wipe with one square and read under dangerous, dim lighbulbs in order to offset Al Gore's carbon footprint from his profligate mansions and private jet setting. And idiots flock to his zany religion.
P.T. Barnum was right.
Let's see, a few years ago, this bumper sticker passed for insightful political analysis, so the current version must be good too:
ReplyDelete"When Obama took office, gas was $1.85 a gallon".
Where's Jon Geeting with his "we have to raise taxes to 99%" rant?
ReplyDelete