want go get back?

Thats a lot to Chu on.

Enjoy it while it lasts. It will go back up again. Buy Exxon while you can.

we need to develop alternative sources first, and then when we aren't dependent on oil, then convince people through their pockets to not use it any more. if you have expensive alternatives, you will kill everyone. if the alternatives are easy to get they will be cheaper too, then you can raise gas/oil taxes to get people to make the move.

but w/o car manufacturers making a move too (i'm looking at you detroit) it's gonna be tough, and probably end the US auto manufacturers if they happen to make it through the current issues

Me no want go get back! $4 gas bad!!! BAAAAAD!!

On the one hand, I don't want all of our alternative energy advances of the past few years to dissolve because of cheap oil.

On the other hand, prices WILL rebound. Especially with the dollar being a piece of crap now that rates are about 0. I give it 4 weeks for prices to hit $60. It won't go much above that until the recession ends, obviously. But with the dollar in the shiatter, people are going to start running to oil and gold again enmasse.

SUBMITTING: So easy a caveman could do it.

Don't let this lull fool you. If and when the economy starts to improve, gas will be back to $4 a gallon.

Dancin_In_Anson: Thats a lot to Chu on.

Good one.

jake3988: On the one hand, I don't want all of our alternative energy advances of the past few years to dissolve because of cheap oil.

On the other hand, prices WILL rebound.

THIS. After we finally dig out of the recession, demand will go up, and so will prices. I don't think there's much in the way of tax policy required, it will happen eventually.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't actually say that.

Alternately, they could use it to try and get a new federal gas tax passed. Oooohhh.. it's only 20 cents, what with the price of gas so low, you won't even notice!

We are going back to $4 per gallon gas. We can either prepare for it with some alternative sources and delay the eventual skyrocketing price, or we can go back to buying Hummers and Abrams tanks to go to the corner store.

Dead for Tax Reasons: we need to develop alternative sources first, and then when we aren't dependent on oil, then convince people through their pockets to not use it any more.

the problem is that while people are not being convinced through their pockets to not use oil anymore, the political will to invest in developing alternative sources dries up faster than your girlfriend's coochie when you call her another girl's name.

gas prices have dropped for all of a month or two and demand for gas guzzlers is on the rise. consumers are retarded, mindless creatures. it's not fun, or convenient, but putting the screws to the consumers might be the best way to actually accomplish what we know we need to accomplish.

log_jammin: I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't actually say that.

Then you didn't RTFA:

""Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September."

log_jammin: I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't actually say that.

He didn't actaully say that, but he DID say:

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.

Is the 4 bucks going to some saudi jerkoff or chavez? Or is it going to improve our mass-transit and freight-transit infrastructure and fund alternative energy?

I hate social engineering done by government bodies. Let the market work. Develop reasonable and affordable alternatives to oil and the consumers will beat a path to the product.

The problem isn't the high price. It's the volatility. Taxing gas at the pump would reduce volatility.

One of the things that hammered Detroit was the sudden downswing in the resale price of leased SUVs. That kind of thing wouldn't happen if oil prices were stable.

This is the fourth economic mess in my lifetime that was triggered by a sudden swing in gas prices. It has cost us untold trillions.

fiscal liberals are the biggest pieces of shiat to ever exist in the history of the universe.

Unfortunately, we have a history of letting alternate energy and engine projects fall by the wayside until it's too late. Higher prices motivated us to change our habits. Better to do it now, and invest in alternate transportation, while we still have options. Of course, doing it in a recession may not be the best idea.

WRONG. OPEC will limit the supply to drive prices back up. that's what happens when your boy george and his OIL cabinet continue to keep the US on Saudi's Oil tit. that's why we need to develope green energy here in the states. that way, we can tell the saudi's to lick the snotty end of our Fark Sticks. have a nice day!

log_jammin: I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't actually say that.

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.

Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon

Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52

I disagree, but that's nothing new.

I hate these types of arguments because everyone always equates low gas prices as a good thing. If we see $10 a barrel in the next year it will NOT be a good thing. $10 a barrel means the Chinese economy is also slowing to a halt, sending shocks all through out the global economy and effecting a major aspect of our lives.

those Farker headlines sure know how to shoot the shiat. like Obama is pushing for higher gas prices. you have to be brain dead to believe something like that. but it is funny, though.

Tyee: I hate social engineering done by government bodies. Let the market work. Develop reasonable and affordable alternatives to oil and the consumers will beat a path to the product.

In theory, you're right. But then you run into the issues we had this summer, where the technology to displace petroleum-based energy isn't there, because it's not economically viable when gas is under $2 a gallon. If, through government policy, you graduate the rise in prices (rather than the spike we saw), that gives the displacing technology time to catch up to demand. This is what's working in Europe, and what needs to be implemented in Asia (where 90% of the new demand is).

soakitincider: fiscal liberals are the biggest pieces of shiat to ever exist in the history of the universe.

yea, and Conservative Wall$treeters are swell!!! numbnuts. have a nice day.

Tyee: I hate social engineering done by government bodies. Let the market work.

Currency as legal tender is social engineering. Do you want to go back to 18th century fiscal policy?

Also, how is the largest employer in the country not a part of the market?

Tyee: I hate social engineering done by government bodies. Let the market work. Develop reasonable and affordable alternatives to oil and the consumers will beat a path to the product.

I love people who pretend that anything approaching a "free market" exists in the realm of energy. "If an alternative to oil is so great, the market will recognize and reward it" they say. But oil is so heavily subsidized it's ridiculous. For example, the government finances spectacularly expensive wars with the crazy farks who control the oil in order to make sure the price remains artificially low.

burndtdan: gas prices have dropped for all of a month or two and demand for gas guzzlers is on the rise.

You have any evidence of that? I'm simply curious.

That's what I get for not believing to usually 100% correct headlines.

But I do bet there is more context to it than that.

/A Blackberry and RTFA articles don't mix

Headso: Is the 4 bucks going to some saudi jerkoff or chavez? Or is it going to improve our mass-transit and freight-transit infrastructure and fund alternative energy?

Probably the former.

$4 a gallon gas is a fantastic idea, simply because the majority of American consumers are utter retards and will not revert from bad habits until it kills/almost kills them.

Speed up the process, and ultimately spare us some pain.

Dead for Tax Reasons: but w/o car manufacturers making a move too (i'm looking at you detroit) it's gonna be tough, and probably end the US auto manufacturers if they happen to make it through the current issues

There are half a dozen small automobile companies looking for the opportunity to take the place of one of the big three. All of them make next generation fuel efficient vehicles, and when the market becomes favorable to their vehicles they are going to leave the big three in the dust.

Aptera Motors
Fisker Autopmotive
Tesla Motors
ZAP Motor Company
Phoenix Motorcars
Miles Electric Vehicles

Any of these companies, with enough capital investment, could supplant any one of the Big Three.

sepuku2: Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon

Most of the European countries are small geographically and people rarely had to travel very far to fill their needs. By contrast the US is very large and people just have much farther to go.

Psylence: $4 a gallon gas is a fantastic idea, simply because the majority of American consumers are utter retards and will not revert from bad habits until it kills/almost kills them.

Speed up the process, and ultimately spare us some pain.

this

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September."

Yup. Democrats are always full of new ideas, even ones that are forty years old.

fosborb: Also, how is the largest employer in the country not a part of the market?

Government, whether fed, state or local when added together is the biggest employer in my state. That isn't a good thing.

Tyee: Most of the European countries are small geographically and people rarely had to travel very far to fill their needs. By contrast the US is very large and people just have much farther to go.

I agree that higher prices don't hurt them nearly as bad as us due to the distances.

LOL WTF? You're trying to blame $4/g on Obama already? Even though the prices aren't up there, despite how hard OPEC is trying to drive up the prices?

You've had 2 oilmen in the White House for the past 8 years, and look at the state of oil and the US; the US is becoming more dependent on it, while OPEC and the middle-east are gaining a stronger hold on the US balls.

Tyee: I hate social engineering done by government bodies. Let the market work. Develop reasonable and affordable alternatives to oil and the consumers will beat a path to the product.

Jeez pal, what kind of radical are you? Don't you believe in Hope and Change?

/Prefer Hope and Crosby myself.

Tyee: sepuku2: Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon

Most of the European countries are small geographically and people rarely had to travel very far to fill their needs. By contrast the US is very large and people just have much farther to go.

Which is hy fuel efficiency is even more important.

We're going to have to get off oil at some point. Might as well be now, when we're still painfully aware of how attached we are to the middle east. Seriously, I would like nothing more than to leave foreign oil behind and tell Saudi Arabia to go fark themselves.

log_jammin: I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't actually say that.

He did. He also said he wants to replace oil with the blood of Republican children.

Bottom line, as we saw with the "bailout" crap, any action designed to affect the economy results in a crazy market, and possibly increases panic about the economy. That would be the exact opposite of consumer confidence. So, if Obama just preaches "stay the course" "hang tight" we are fine. If he and his people preach ways they and their programs will solve it all, expect financial chaos.

Psylence: $4 a gallon gas is a fantastic idea, simply because the majority of American consumers are utter retards and will not revert from bad habits until it kills/almost kills them.

Speed up the process, and ultimately spare us some pain.

Alternately, increase gov't funding for R&D of alternative energy, which would also speed up the process of getting alternatives to cost equal/less than petroleum. Either was it's a conservative's worst nightmare, more taxes or more spending. But I don't see any other way to get this done without causing some major economic pain.

burndtdan: Dead for Tax Reasons: we need to develop alternative sources first, and then when we aren't dependent on oil, then convince people through their pockets to not use it any more.

the problem is that while people are not being convinced through their pockets to not use oil anymore, the political will to invest in developing alternative sources dries up faster than your girlfriend's coochie when you call her another girl's name.

gas prices have dropped for all of a month or two and demand for gas guzzlers is on the rise. consumers are retarded, mindless creatures. it's not fun, or convenient, but putting the screws to the consumers might be the best way to actually accomplish what we know we need to accomplish.




Not to be a jackass or anything, but I'd like to see proof of this. I'm pretty sure most people are not forgetting the financial pain of the last year or so.

Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

Everybody panic?

Tyee: fosborb: Also, how is the largest employer in the country not a part of the market?

Government, whether fed, state or local when added together is the biggest employer in my state. That isn't a good thing.

If I remember correctly, the government is largest employer in our nation. So step away from that panic button, mister.

Lundah: Either was

Either way

sepuku2: burndtdan: gas prices have dropped for all of a month or two and demand for gas guzzlers is on the rise.

You have any evidence of that? I'm simply curious.

Here.

Linux_Yes: WRONG. OPEC will limit the supply to drive prices back up. that's what happens when your boy george and his OIL cabinet continue to keep the US on Saudi's Oil tit. that's why we need to develope green energy here in the states. that way, we can tell the saudi's to lick the snotty end of our Fark Sticks. have a nice day!

OPEC already cut production once, with no effect to gas prices. Because demand is already on the decline, and because of the uncertain future of the auto industry, I think all cutting production is going to do is further beat down demand for oil.

My guess is, if the $4 price point is from higher taxes, $$ is going to mass transit/energy alternatives. If it's from market forces - you're buying Sheikh Yerbouti's new Gallardo.

I'd insist (like it's up to me) on rock solid accountability measures for alternative energy initiaties, tho. (Just like in the bailout =P )

Shostie: Headso: Is the 4 bucks going to some saudi jerkoff or chavez? Or is it going to improve our mass-transit and freight-transit infrastructure and fund alternative energy?

Probably the former.