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Eight reasons to rejoice when gasoline hits $8 a gallon


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"Americans should be celebrating rather than shuddering over the arrival of $4-a-gallon gasoline. We lived on cheap gas too long, failed to innovate and now face the consequences of competing for a finite resource amid fast-expanding global demand."
lemonsun12

37 responses // Eight reasons to rejoice when gasoline hits $8 a gallon

  • I actually embrace the higher gas price.

    I have never owned an auto and have chosen to ride a bike as my form of transport.

    Yes, like the article says. "There will be pain before the gain". Unfortunately America seems to never embrace change until it has been forced upon them.

    I like everyone else am suffering from the rise in prices of food and goods due to increasing transportation costs as well as the continual devaluation of the dollar.

    But, I decided long ago to go through the pain of not using an auto. I adapted and overcame the obstacles.

    I see the higher gas prices as being the catalyst in changing peoples view of transport. Both personal and mass.

    Soon it will be time to ask yourself, How much is a mile worth?

    Now let the monetary restructuring begin!
    1percent
  • High gas prices have been around Europe for decades.
    That sense of ownership of we pay too much is what driving the country out of it. You want cheap shit that is not even made in the US, then wonder why the economy has gone to poop.

    We get cheap gas cuz we bomb everyone.
    -
    slang tang
    that's the that m.i.a. thang
    i got the bombs to make you blow
    i got th ebeats to make you bang bang bang
    meligrosa
  • http://current.com/items/88989988_cannabis_hemp_a_viabl...
    There's no need for high energy prices of any kind. You're being fleeced America wake up.
    Enjoy_Cannabis
  • I don't think using the EU as an example of high gas prices and stating that we were behind them and now we shouldn't be complaining is at all fair. There is nothing that anyone can state that would make it reasonable that gas is as high as it is.

    This idea that demand causes higher prices is, at best, pathetic. This is like telling me that men in the oil business are stupid and have no idea how demand works during the seasons. They know how it flows and they know how the government moves and they know what they can ask for and they know how much money they can rake in. Reporting billions of dollars in profits is not at all a woe is them and lack of oil for demand.

    They know what they are doing and it's foolish to think they didn't' have this planned.

    Billions and billions of years to create oil and we use it up in a matter of decades? No way.
    J_Jammer
    1 response to this
  • "there will be pain before gain" is a great statment, its so realistic and so right.
    jakes_green
  • The small government Coservative theory of "the free market will magically fix everything" is proving to be very wrong.

    First and most importantly -- so long as gas was cheap no business really had much incentive to change the status quo and they didn't. While the EU was planning for a post-oil future and working their asses of....we sat on ours.

    The only time market forces kicked into gear (in re: to alt energy) is when we were already in a crisis situation. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Waiting until it's too late is never as efficent as addressing problems BEFORE they occur. You'd think a Yale grad would have grasped that.

    Since we were toally unprepared for this crisis the only free-market solution cropping up now are three times as expensive and half as efficent.

    The good news is this crisis is only high prices.

    Try to imagine what would happen to the US if OPEC simply decided to turn off the tap? Now that's a crisis.

    Which isn't exactly a unlikely scenario in such an unstable part of the world.

    In hidsight Bush's absolute refusal to explore a serious alternative to foreign oil in the 8 years his been in office look less like "heroic Conservativism" and more like an ordinary cluster fuck from a very lazy man who just never bothered to do his homework and never gave a 2nd thought about the future.

    And this guy graduated from an Ivy League!

    Man, I wonder how much George Sr. had to bribe, er, I mean "donate" to that university in order for shithead to actually graudate?
    crob80227
    1 response to this
  • I don't think we are gonna really learn our lesson for another year or two because oil is dropping, sigh of relief by oil refiners everywhere.
    StuntBunny
  • This consumer driven materialistic society will be looked back on as antiquetity---I have asked to see our future, and have seen a part of it. We will live in high altitudes on earth like the birds used to. We glide or fly in suits like star trek show above the road grids quite high. While gluiding above the roads, seniors and teens, I noticed we went much faster than the one car I saw on the roads. The climate was controlled somehow and we still spent the day traveling from one destination to another. We owned nothing. We had no houses or furniture, and slept in cacoons that were capable of being placed anywhere you wanted. Gravity was denser,you hopped not walked. Earth was a garden again, but not habitable on the surface. This is all they let me see. We were still happy but : no stuff!
    kim52
    3 responses to this
  • all excellent points that i'm sure any thoughtful person can appreciate!
    blackdaylight
  • It is true. The only reason an antiquated invention such as the combustion engine still is around...
    Combustion engines run under the same principles of a 100 years ago (albeit a bit more powerful and "efficient") oil has made that possible.

    This will force state govts to really invest on mass public transportation, Cities will be redraw to make them sociable and walkable, small business will flourish and we will again buy bread fresh in the afternoon. On top of that, americans will loose the excess fat because they will walk more, making their cars automatically more efficient, planes will also be more efficient. Also trains will become the facto distributing lines for food and goods.

    Best of all, Malls and Wall Mart will disappear.

    Rejoice
    vladbox
  • Make NASCAR illegal.
    renbyrd
    1 response to this
  • I like that idea renbyrd.

    As for now I take the 2-10 everywhere and haven't had many problems.
    Sara_Airey
  • Indeed. I am completely prepared for 8 dollar gas. It's called a new, shiny road bike. My calves also thank me for this decision.
    benjaminV
  • "How are real hard working americans supposed to live by your asinine suggestions?"

    There are ways to do everything. Just because the solution isn't obvious doesn't mean there is no solution.
    Like it or not, we are headed towards 8$ a gallon eventually, and everyone will need to change their life/ lifestyles because of it.


    This list indeed makes me much more ready to embrace the idea of 8$ per gallon.
    I've started biking to work (still getting used to it), and I'm already enjoying life more.
    Everything else the article mentioned was extremely pertinent and plausible - and much of it should make "conservatives" very happy, unless they just want to disagree for the sake of disagreement (in which case they should not breed).

    Great post!
    Humdrum
    1 response to this
  • 8$ a gallon is way to much for a lot of people in the US. People talk about taking public transportation but that doesn't work when the town you live in doesn't have public transportation and riding a bike to work when you lived 20 miles away from your work is to hard on people. Yes a lot of the suggestions are good for people who live in places there that is possible but what about everyone else. I know how those people feel because I live in a place that doesn't have any kind of public transportation.

    So those comments saying like it or not your going to have to change your ways sucks for people out there who are in the same boat I am. Personally I think that something needs to be done about the cost of gas.
    Amber_84
  • "Yes a lot of the suggestions are good for people who live in places there that is possible but what about everyone else. I know how those people feel because I live in a place that doesn't have any kind of public transportation.

    So those comments saying like it or not your going to have to change your ways sucks for people out there who are in the same boat I am. Personally I think that something needs to be done about the cost of gas."

    Ok the whole reason is for the GOVT to get off their fat asses and start implementing policies that will help mass transportation in order to help those very people that live so far out of the city centers. Also the hike helps companies to develop technologies that WILL replace the combustion engine, once and for all. IT IS OUTDATED and IT POLLUTES our environment.

    There is a myriad of alternative solutions that will not only improve our lives, will help the planet too and for those who are too worried WILL MAKE MONEY. So the hike is good for the human race, especially the portion living in the US. Vote locally for politicians with progressive visions, vote nationally for a congress that spends for everyone not the few oil companies and the outdated car companies. Use you car in a smart way, shop in your local (as in within your neighborhood) area, it helps your local economy and maybe you'll make couple of friends.

    No one, not even the guy who wrote the article is proposing a hard living, a doomed world, its only stating the obvious, gasoline is going nowhere but up, as long as we consume it to drive our big and tasteless SUV's
    vladbox
  • I agree. If we keep complaining about our problems, we never fix them. Once gas shoots up to $4 a gallon, we will HAVE to find a way to produce a cheaper and more efficient energy source.
    Logos51891
    1 response to this
  • When dont you have Kids and responsibilitys to someone other than yourself you can ride bikes. But when you have a family and job trying to live the American dream it is hard to support your family when you are paying 15 dollars to make around trip to work 5 to 6 days a week. Common sense tells me that if gas prices are up but yet the major oil companys are making record breaking profits every quarter their is a something wrong! Now if the oil companys were losing profits I could understand the rising costs!
    Jtonio4823
  • We are more than likely running out of oil! If thats the case the oil companys are gonna milk us for all the cash they can get. Instead of being responsible human beings and invest the money in finding another source of fuel.The major auto makers,energy companys need to find another way to fuel energy and transportation needs.
    Jtonio4823
  • Gas prices will continue to grow so people don't keep in contact. Separation of people is dividing opinions. Do drugs and stay home.
    dontipo
  • I think that we need to be more proactive about getting our local governments to lobby for more public transportation and bike paths/lanes. Look at the Europeans who have bike access in their cities and small towns!
    cauthoncrazy
  • Even though the higher gas price can be annoying, I really think the change in price could help us if we *choose* to be more aware about other ways of transportation that would be safer for not only ourselves, but for our enviroment.
    Razzie
  • Major gas companies made more profit in the last couple years than ever before in history. It's a shame you would put out a piece of anti-American rhetoric aimed at the citizens who are eating the cost, while our energy corporations are growing richer and richer...get a clue.
    TyMarshal
  • It doesn't matter how much the gas prices go up to. You think that will stop big oil companies from producing and distributing gas? HA! Yeah right. There is money to be made and they are making more money than ever! So they will continue to rise the prices of gas. America has billions of gallons of oil in reserve for emergencys but they are not using it. The government says "because we are not in an emergency". Well there wrong and if they use those reserves teh prices of gas will go down.
    Zachary53088
  • This is just ridiculous. There's a reason we're still powering our cars with primitive fossil fuels. Electric cars were designed and distributed (edit: AND RECALLED) in the late 80's (see: Who Killed the Electric Car?). Sure, Tesla Motors released an electric car this year but it's the price of a Ferrari and virtually impossible to get your hands on even if you do have the money to pay for it.

    These fossil fuels we're using are the only way the greedy oil companies can make their money. They are BLINDING the entire world by saying they have all these new forms of energy in the works (Hydrogen etc). These fossil fuels are also conveniently and efficiently destrying our planet as we know it.

    Electricity IS (and always will be) the answer to this so called 'Energy Crisis' and there's a reason why most people are too blind to even realize that.

    No matter what we do, or how hard we try. We will never see an affordable electric car because the people behind the curtain would never allow it. How would they make their money? Don't they have enough anyway?
    heatX
    1 response to this

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