why don't our government step in and do something about our high price of fuel?

Question

It is now starting a negitive impact on most if not all Buss. in oregon

Answer 1

Well, we could start with Oregon itself. If you folks would get on your state congresscritters and get rid of the requirement that someone else pump your gas for you and start using self-service like most of the rest of us, you'd save a few bucks there!

On the Federal side:

Streamline the building of new refineries. We really haven't built one in 29 years. There's an outfit trying to build one in Yuma, AZ, and they're running into one obstacle after another. The major oil producers aren't interested, but 3rd party capital is being raised to TRY to build one. Our usage of gasoline has gone up tremendously in the last 30 years. Without additional refinery capacity, we're running into a crunch. There really IS a supply issue in some areas of the country. I've run across pumps several times in the last month that had only regular (no mid-grade or premium) as the refineries tried to at least supply one grade.

The feds *could* try to step in and reduce the absurd number of blends being used across the country. If all states were using the same blend of gasoline, supply could be diverted to whatever region of the country was running shortest on supply. As it is now, gasoline blended for one state can't be sold in some others. It's time to standardize this in a way that creates a decent compromise but allows supply to follow demand.

As much as I HATE to say it, the fact that many people are buying vehicles with LOUSY drag coefficients is causing a demand side problem. "Coefficient of Drag" (or just CD) defines how a vehicle cuts through the air as it goes down the road. I'm reasonably proud of my old Chrysler 300M in that it has a CD of only 0.313 (believe it or not, about the same as a Mazda RX7 -- those boys knew how to use a wind tunnel before the Germans got hold of the company and turned the 300 into a Mercedes wannabe) and once you get it rolling on the highway (which represents 95% of my driving), it just slips right on through the air nice as you please. Increasing speed doesn't help my gas mileage, but it doesn't kill it either. Someone driving a blunt nosed vehicle with a CD of 0.45 (I'd say "You know who you are", but you probably don't) get killed by the air resistance as you increase your speed. There'd be no reasonable way to manage it (can you see a State trooper looking through a list to sort out vehicle types?), but truth to tell, the speed limits for high CD vehicles should be lowered back to 55mph. If you can still cook at 75mph out on the open road in your state, your high CD vehicle could easily be costing 15% or more of your fuel consumption with the additional 20mph in speed. You folks with the Grand Cherokees and Ford Escapes -- understand what you bought, OK?

I won't get into the more politically charged issue of the price of oil. Gas wasn't this expensive last time oil was at $65 a barrel. That's not the only problem this time. Still, things governments do can make an impact on oil prices. Let's hope ours does things that help keep it down.

Answer 2

There is a basic principle in economics called supply and demand. This means that when ppl want more of anything than there is readily available (or being made available) those selling it can ask and get more money for it. When demand goes down so will the price. That means the consumers are in a much better postion than the government to do something about gas prices. When the government gets involved in helping us do what we ought to be able to do for ourselves it always seems to cost us more not less.

I read an article in the Gainesville Times today that said if half the drivers in America would cut back gas use by just 1 gallon a month it could bring a price reduction of 30-50 cents a gallon. I am determined to try to cut back at least 2 gallons and urge others to and see what happens; I know there are a lot of times that I could do without running to Wendy's and snack on whatever is in the house instead or think ahead do a couple of days worth of errands all in one trip. I don't really need to check the PO Box every day and much as I enjoy gouing out by the river where it is cool I could go 3 times a week not 5-6 times. I ought to be able to stay home totally one day in every month (not sure about that yet).I could get some of the stuff out of the trunk so there is less weight and better gas milage and remember to get the air filter adjusted and the timing checked for more fuel efficiency. What can you do to save gas??

Answer 3

What would be the point? That would just be postponing the inevitable.

Face it: Our government needs to make more efforts to help us switch to using renewable energy sources. Lowering the price of gas doesn't make oil any more plentiful. And turning food into fuel (ethanol--made from corn) isn't the answer, either. That'll just drive up the price of our Corn Flakes and whatnot. (Although it'll help save some farms at the beginning.)

Think of it this way: What if a key ingredient in Coca-Cola was extinct and could not be made any longer, but people still like to drink Coca-Cola. Would you expect somebody to go and lower the price for Coke, even though it's such a limited resource? Hardly! People would start buying extra Coke and hanging onto it... maybe selling it on Ebay for ridiculous price.

Similar thing with oil.

Answer 4

it truly is an opinion, and because you so blatantly voiced yours, i'm going to do an identical. lots of human beings do no longer care approximately gas performance. individually, i think of this is not any enormous deal. autos could nicely be a pastime (and that they are to lots of human beings) and a brilliant area of that pastime, is going quickly. As of precise now its no longer precisely trouble-free, or affordable to bypass quickly with out applying a bunch of gas. My trans am gets 20mpg and thats no longer gonna end me from driving the hell out of it. So i've got confidence there are various rational reasons to have autos that are actually not precisely gas effective. yet to respond to your question, the government has already achieved some thing, they handed a bill asserting all autos could desire to get 35mpg or extra advantageous beginning as of 2020 on the 2d. And only through fact somebody buys or drives a motor vehicle that gets undesirable gas mileage, it would not advise they're irresponsible, it only skill they don't seem to be a tree hugging hippie.

Answer 5

Because the Department of Interior's Bereau of Mineral Management Services have not been collecting all of the royalties from oil companies since 2001, according to one article I read.
GW Bush signed an Executive Order to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at an increased fill rate, July 26, 2002, through the Royalties in Kind Program. This takes oil off the market.
Then about two years ago, Bush called for more MTBE's to be added to gasoline, by 2007. This adds more cost to a gallon of gas. Then about 6-7 months ago Bush called for a doubling in the size of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
According to the Department of Energy the SPR was estimated to be filled by Aug. 2005. Then Katrina and Rita hit, damaging about 25% of the oil production in the Gulf of Mexico. Not to mention that the pipeline heads to the SPR in in Shreveport LA and another pileline to another SPR site in Galveston TX. The estimated size of the SPR is 700-750 million barrels. This is what Bush wants to double in size and at an increased fill rate. After Katrina and Rita Bush released about 30 million barrels onto the market to help keep the price down. But now that that is over in his mind...It shouldn't be hard to out think him on the adverse effects he is creating.
By the way the Royalties that the Bereau of Mineral Managment Services should be collecting can help in keeping the price down at the pump.
To think in Aug. 1971 when Nixon put the dollar on the oil standard. One of his noblest explanations was to help bring stability and jobs to the Middle East. It worked for awhile. No Congress or Administration has addressed this issue since. One thing you will not find is where a change to the standard that the dollar is based on, in our government or on the net.

All of this information is searchable on the net. I have given all the clues in my response. It is up to others to find their opinions on the matter of gasoline prices.

Answer 6

Limited supply and growing demand means even higher prices over time. The government has little control over prices. They could cut about 40 cents per gallon in taxes,but that money's dedicated to roads and bridges. Some countries subsidize fuel,but that tends to cause even higher demand growth. Eventually,higher prices will make alternatives more affordable,and we can wean ourselves from imported oil.

Answer 7

There is plenty of crude oil right now, the reason gas prices are so high is because the refiners have figured out that they make more money if they refine less, so they took much of the refining capacity off-line.

The reason the government doesn't do anything is because it's controlled by the people who are making all the money.

Answer 8

It's a little difficult to reduce the price of fuel when there is a war going on in a major oil-producing country. It sucks, but that's what happens when the supply of raw materials is diminished.

Answer 9

I don't know what a government really can do. I know that for years now, the Japanese have been paying more than Americans pay today. Good public transportation, shorter commutes, and smaller cars.

I think the government has done all that it can, and that we're unfortunate enough to have built our country on underpriced gasoline.

Answer 10

I don't know but I wish they would do something about it. I work 40 hours a week. 1/3 of my paycheck goes to gas a week.