What could GW Bush do about the high cost of Auto Fuel?

Question

He could order high test be removed from the market. Diverting that refining capacity to Regular.
This would increase the stocks of Regular and lower it's price.
He could order a 20 percent reduction in Jet fuel use domestically. Diverting that refining capacity to regular Auto fuel.
He could order a 20 percent reduction in Jet fuel use by domestic airlines. Diverting that refining capacity to regular Auto fuel.
He could subsidize Ethanol plant buildings for Auto Fuel, that would lower the price of new plants.
What will he do? Nothing. GW Bush only takes action on the problems that effect the wealthy, he never takes action on any problem that effects working class Americans. GW Bush would never do anything to stop big oil profits from rolling in and his own party's Contributions from big oil. Congress is also useless. Democrats are spineless.
Gasoline production= 9 million barrels per day.
Refinery's running at 90.2 percent of capacity.
Gasoline demand= 9.14 million barrels per day.

BTW, drilling is not the problem. Only idiots think that. Refining capacity is the problem. GW Bush is the problem. Bush could also release the Federal Oil reserve and all of above could be done by executive order, don't need the do nothing Congress..

Answer 1

Reduction is not the problem, we need more supply. The short term solution is cutting gas tax at state and federal level. Then make 1 national blend.

Long term

Build new refineries
Drill domestically.

Answer 2

Try looking at the cost of a gallon of milk. How much do people pay for flavored water per gallon? It is all relative. Yes gas is high and will likely go higher. When people get off their collective behinds and start making Congress etc. take action toward better fuel efficiency, alternative energy such as hydrogen and other totally renewable sources we will see the price of petrolium products drop. Not one thing we make from petrolium cannot be duplicated with something else.

Incentives are necessary to make research and development happen. America used to lead the way on this kind of thing now it is Europe and Brazil. All those manufacturing jobs that were sent off to China could be replaced with jobs in the US making fuel cells, working in factories that make the machines, tools, chemicals and designing processes to bring us truly into the 21st Century with new and innovative sources of energy. In the last 5 years solar collectors to make electricity have made a major leap forward in efficiency. A small company in Menlo Park, California has a solar collector that is finally practical and cheap. They are small, however, and so their product is still expensive. But they have the potential to make very affordable solar energy.

America can either step up and lead the pack as we usually do or be left in the dust of others. It is up to us.

Write Congress now and demand this.

Answer 3

True, refining capacity is the biggest problem. But the supply of oil also dictates the price of a barrel of oil. What the President could do is put a halt on this mandatory 18 grades of summer blends. If they only did one, that would help increase capacity.

Certainly pushing to authorize construction of new refineries would help in the future, but not make an impact for this summer.

Answer 4

Why do you think you have a right to low gas prices?
Taking into account the rate of inflation, gasoline is just now catching up with everything else. The last time gas was this high was in 1981 when it was around a $1.40 a gallon. You may say, thats cheap, but back then it was very high as compared to what we were used to. Keep in mind that it would take almost $40 today to buy what $10 would back then.

Look at what Europeans pay for gas. Last I checked in England it was the equivelant of around $7 a gallon.

Ask Chavez, you know, the one who just took state control over all the oil fields in Venezuela? He charges his people around .25 cents a gallon, yet sells it to us for these inflated rates.
Yes, GW could do all you just said. But I hardly doubt it would make gas go down to .75 a gallon. And if oil companies, the ones that make around .08 to .10 cents per gallon of gas, were to sell it for .75 a gallon, how would they make a profit if a barel of oil is still at $65.00?

Ask our Federal government about not only the total tax per gallon of gas, between .40 to $1.10 a gallon depending on what part of the country you live in? Ask them to drop those why don't you?

Answer 5

He could "order" environmentalist be locked up until we have sufficient refinery capacity to meet our needs. He could "order" development of oil resources off the California and Florida coast. He could "order" more drilling in Alaska. He could "order" the same blend of fuel be nationalized instead of special, state required, blends for several states that choke refineries.

However, this president like any president, is in a box locked in by Congress where they actually can't "order" things be done except by executive order. Honestly, what do you think would happen if Bush signed a series of executive orders implementing the steps you and I propose?

I suspect the truth is that we actually don't have anyone in government, in either party, who really gives a crap whether we pay $4.00 a gallon for gasoline! It, like immigration, is an issue for one party to beat the other party over the head with - and very frankly, I'm fed up with that approach. I'd like a government who puts America first without regard to their damn party!!

Answer 6

Actually, what needs to be done is completely out of the President's hands.

It is Congress that can reduce long-term demand by allowing new nuclear power plants.

It is Congress that can increase long-term supply by allowing domestic drilling and new refineries.

Answer 7

Actually Ethanol is not the answer, it takes as much fossil energy to produce a gallon of ethanol as the energy that ethanol produces. We need more refinery capacity and a nation wide fuel standard.

Answer 8

Or you could use less, think of the environment and walk, get an eco-friendly car eg smart car?
When you can't breath in 20yrs because the air is so polluted you wont give a sh*t how much fuel cost.

Answer 9

Other than cut the Federal Tax on fuel , I don't know. The price you pay for capitalism I guess. Capitalism breeds greed.

Answer 10

The things you suggest would take the cooperation of Congress as well. Stop the political propaganda.