Not only the gearing and amenities, but also the emissions standards are much higher. you could get a 70's VW geting 60MPG, but the people behind you would be choking on the smoke. Now we have to add more and more technology to make them cleaner and cleaner but they lose MPG with every "upgrade"

 

Adramalech your right over the bridge from me. I'm in the concord area. I don't get it either even in Martinez where the refinerys are the gas isn't the cheapest. It seems like the cheapest gas I have found is out in riovista its normaly about 10-15 cents cheaper.

 

well if the theory is corect of why gas is more expensive further away from refineries then i think that they must go to like lake tahoe and on the return trip fill us up right out side of the gates...LOL[]

 

Let's see, it's pretty simple to figure why:

#1 The Bush Administration has been increasing the amount of the Federal Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which basically means vast quantities of oil are being taken off the market and being stored in the Reserve which causes continued price increases.

#2 The world oil market has a much bigger footprint these days despite our thirst for it. Major competitors in the world market are China and India, each with populations of over 1 billion people who now have the means to buy cars, refrigerators, etc. because of our outsourcing of our jobs to them.

#3 The refineries are restricting their margins on fuel production causing further price increases.

So, it's a huge sh*t sandwich and we all have to take a bite!

 

mmmmm...sandwiches.

 

its just plain appalling. i'm listening to vintage 80's hair metal (whitesnake..) and reminiscing on when i thought gas was stupid high at $.79.. i wasn't driving at the time this music i hear was popular, but from all the bitching i heard about it, i grew up thinking... "wow.. it'll suck when it hits $1.00"
then guess what..lol now, i praise God i'f i find anything even remotely close to $3.00.. my fist bike.. (when i first started riding 7 yeards ago) cost MAYBE $4.00..

now.. the 7 requires the good stuff.. a fill up averages about $12. and thats a good price.. i NEVER thought i'd see it.

its almost to the point where i gotta move to the town i work in, which is a 40 minute ride from me. just rock a pedal bike..lol

this stems back (as usual) to when i become president. i always find a way to bring it back to that, ya know.. lol

as freezing cold as it gets at 1:00am when i leave work, i can't afford to drive my truck.. i'll trade heat for 40 minutes for gas economy.. sad tho, ain't it?

 

People in the mid west are already starting to strugle to pay for gas. I remember reading an article about it. I will see if I can find it. I wonder what is going to happen in CA. We have the highest gas prices and just about every one drives to work. At least in northern CA its cheaper for a lot of people to drive to work then take public transport. The job I got is 35 miles from where I live if I take B.A.R.T. (bay area rapid transit) Kind of CA's subway system. Round trip is $13 its a 2 mile walk to the station from where I live and a 1.5 mile walk from the station to the job. If I drive my civic its a gallon of gas each way thats 7.60 round trip. Just running some numbers I will be spending close to 10% of my pay just for gas to get to and from work.
here is a link to the new article
http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/24/news...ion=2008032910

for those that can't see the artilce here is what it says


CAMDEN, Ala.(CNNMoney.com) -- Corey Carter spends a quarter of his paycheck on gas.The 30-year old Carter, who earns $7 an hour making car parts for a Hyundai factory near Montgomery, Ala., spends $65 a week on gas, double what it cost just a few years ago.Paying $30 more for gas out of a $240 paycheck makes a big difference."Going out to eat, going to the movies, you can't do stuff like that," says Carter, filling up his Firebird at a BP station in Camden, a quiet southern town 80 miles southwest of Montgomery. "You're working for gas now."Carter, and other residents that live around Camden, are having a particularly hard time - they devote more of their budget for gas than anyone else in the United States. So, like Americans everywhere, people here are cutting back on spending, and that's threatening to send - or may have already sent - a shaky economy into recession.For people like Carrie Frye, 33, a mother who commutes 70 miles each day, the choice is about much more than simply cutting back on entertainment.Frye works at a factory in Selma, Ala., making lawn chair cushions. If she makes her production quota, she might bring in $329 a week. If not, it's $220. Either way, she says the $60 a week she now spends in gas comes out of money for food, the doctor, and buying clothes for her kids."I just hope they don't grow that fast," she says, filling her tank of her Jeep Cherokee at the Camden BP. Issue #1: America's Money[/align]Camden is a classic rural southern town - men sit on porches, shopping gets done at the general store. The county bills itself as the "hunting and fishing capital of Alabama." The main industries here are logging, farming, and, more recently, business related to the Hyundai plant which opened in 2005. But the county is poor - household income of $26,000 is nearly half the national average. And people have to travel a long way to work.The combination of low wages and long travel times means the people of Camden, for the second year in a row, spent a higher portion of their income on gas than anyone else in the country, according to a study from the Oil Price Information Service, a research firm that tracks data for AAA. In Camden, drivers put 13% of every paycheck right into the gas tank. In wealthy towns around New York City, people spend less than 2% of their income on gas.For local businesses, an extra dollar spent in the tank means one not spent at the restaurant or hardware store.[Customer's] budgets are tightening," says William Malone, head of the local Chamber of Commerce. "They're cutting back any way they can."Malone, who also runs a local insurance company, said he's seen people cut back on their insurance plans, purchasing them with less coverage or higher deductibles. He's also seen a growing interest in smaller cars, a claim backed up by the local Chevy dealer. Not every business is struggling. A worker behind the counter at the local bait and tackle shop says they've had a bumper year. Evidently, folks will hunt and fish no matter what the economy's doing - maybe even more so if they're out of work. But at Uncle Redd's, a barbeque joint on the way out of town, owner Andrea Finklea says over 100 people a day would come in for the chicken, ribs, and mac n' cheese. Now, they're lucky to get 65."We're planning on cutting back on employees hours, that's a bad thing," says Finklea.Jimmy Pugh runs the Coast to Coast Tru Value in the center of town, although the shop's hardware store moniker belies the merchandise on hand - the wood floor, tin ceiling general store sells everything from toys and tools to electronics, guitars and furniture.Pugh says his business is off 10 to 15% for the last few months, and he too may have to cut back on hours."It's the overall economy, but gas prices are having a big effect on it," he says. "I just don't know where it's headed."The dip in business is hitting the town's coffers.Camden's seen its revenue from sales receipts drop 5% in December, the first decline in seven years, according to Mayor Henrietta Blackmon. In February revenue fell another 2.5%.Despite these figures, a tax hike isn't in the cards yet. But for the people of Camden, and other communities across the nation struggling with declining home values, tightening credit and rising unemployment, high gas prices are just another burden as the economy teeters on the brink of recession.

 

"high gas prices are just another burden as the economy teeters on the brink of recession."

amen.


thanks for the article, aszreal.. (and good morning, btw!)

like i said before.. its an atrocity..

it's really pathetic how no one will step in and say "enough is enough".

we're in a sad state of affairs. gas isn't the pinnacle of reasons we're in an economic tailspin, but it certainly doesn't aid us in keeping the expenditures up where they should be.. the whole "trickle-down" thing.. ya know? no one can afford to go out. drive.. party.. (well..lol) go to the movies.. spend money on toys and all (whether for grow-ups or kids..)

therefore, the money that IS being made pretty much just ends up lining the pockets of the already the uber-rich oil pirates, since its the necessary evil to our survival (commuting to work, the store, whathaveyou)

they're (oil company owners) certainly not going to spend it.. they're far to concerned on securing their own financialindependance (not like they don't already have that!?)

it circulates around pure greed. theres literally no reason prices should be as high as they are.. and they only ones NOT suffereing are those who ultimately profit off our sufferage..

it's going to be impossible for some to commute soon, i think (and fear). like me.

i live in B.F.

theres nothing even remotely close that could offer me the money i make by commuting to town. i'm certainly not going to bale hay or do farm-type things.. i'm way too lazy. and the pay is horrid.

but what about the aforementioned travellers in that story, diving a collective 80 miles.. i do that as well.. well, its maybe about 60 or 70 a day, but still.. even on a bike, it kills me.. and i have no dependants or major, major bills.. how are these ppl gonna survive in a few years when theres no "good" (at $7.00 /hr!) paying jobs anywhere close!

ghost towns...
then urban sprawl with the epicenter being whatever major employer exists.

 

I've been looking for a job for many months now and the only one I have found that pays enough to commute is a 70 mile round trip. That is crazy.

 

yup.. that seems to be the way it is!! lol

the mechanical engineer at the block plant i was EE at drove 2 1/2 hours from the middle of virginia to the plant in hagerstown, Md. and he drove a dodge truck. a new one.
whether he was paid WAYYYYYYYyyy more than i was (probably was!) or he just already had uber money.

like i said man.. i gotta ride 40 minutes to get to work... theres alot of ppl that commute to D.C. and baltimore from here as well.. i can't IMAGINE what its like for them. especially sitting in beftway traffic at 5:00pm and wasting a half a tank and not even moving.