The EIA has lost all touch with reality. 

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/08/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm

 

Feds boost summer gas price forecast

Retail prices expected to average $2.95 a gallon this summer, higher than last year; refinery problems blamed for 14-cent outlook boost.

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer

May 8 2007: 12:41 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Citing nationwide refinery problems and strong demand, the government raised its projected price for gasoline Tuesday, saying a gallon of regular will now cost an average of $2.95 this summer.

 

Last summer the average price was $2.84, according to the Energy Information Administration.

 

The previous forecast for this summer's prices, done last month, was $2.81.

"check out this commuting costs calculator"

 

Just for sh!ts and giggles, I plugged in the values for a friend who commutes from an outer-ring 'burb (30 mile round trip), parks in a $150 a month garage, and drives a 28mpg car - $590 a month/$7091 YEARLY!!! That's more than I paid in rent AND utilities for a small one bedroom apartment!?! The scary thing is to think that the majority of downtown Cleveland's office workers follow the same model. Imagine if those people at least moved a few miles closer - and how they could invest their savings - yeesh!

$590 a month is about the mortgate payment for $100,000

^---- "Imagine if those people at least moved a few miles closer - and how they could invest their savings - yeesh!"

 

  Yes, but if ALL of them moved closer, wouldn't you expect the housing cost to go up?

 

  Generally, the farther from the core, the less it costs for new housing. Thus, for many, the game is a trade off between housing costs and transportation costs. Of course, many have made assumptions about future gasoline prices that have turned out to be wrong. For now, they are dipping into their savings or cutting back on other expenses to make up the difference. Let's see what happens in the long term.

I don't have a problem with that since housing, more often than not, is an appreciable asset. A car, more often than not, isn't. Rising gas prices will increasingly cause people to put their money into housing -- allowing them to build equity and wealth. Too bad there's a large number of Americans who own their car and rent their housing. Ass-backwards -- a result of subsidized, artificially low gas prices. An upside of rising gas prices is that it will steadily cause more people to reallocate their resources and assets in a smarter way.

I'd love to make 45k or more a year when I'm out of college and put that 7k or more a year that I made from not owning a car into a mutual fund... wow...by the time I'm 35 I'd be doing pretty well.  I refuse to feed into consumerism, financing giant LCD screens and all that bull**** people buy just as soon as they're able to.

    "An upside of rising gas prices is that it will steadily cause more people to reallocate their resources and assets in a smarter way."

 

    Are you assuming they will have the same resources and assets to reallocate?

 

    Gas prices have more to do than just commuting by automobile. I don't know how all of this will play out, but I am assuming that virtually EVERYTHING will be less affordable.

and the producers of oil will have more and more dollars chasing fewer goods, the result-- massive inflation

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070510/NEWS09/70510010/-1/NEWS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Article published May 10, 2007

 

Gas prices help scuttle area school taxes; defeats tied to economy

 

By JOE VARDON and ERIKA RAY

BLADE STAFF WRITERS

 

The higher gas prices go — they’re hovering around $3 for a gallon for unleaded regular in Toledo — the harder school levies fall at the polls.

 

That’s according to a host of suburban school district administrators and an economist, a day after numerous school funding issues were rejected by area voters.

 

Just one of eight suburban levies or bond issues up for a vote during Tuesday’s special election was approved, according to unofficial results — representing a 12.5 percent passage rate.

on 5/10 the price of wholesale gasoline went up 10 cents to 2.33

Seems to me that Peak Oil has arrived.

^---- Not necessarily, but it seems that the peak of the best grades of oil may have occurred within the last year or two. Right now, it seems that there is plenty of crude oil, but a bottleneck in refining and distribution of gasoline. In any case, the peak of total oil is likely to be only a few years away if it hasn't happened yet.

 

    Regarding the school levy failures: peak oil and gasoline prices are more than just commutes. There is one school of thought that people will get more fuel-efficient cars, move closer to work, take transit, etc. Another school of thought is that people will still drive their big cars on long commutes but cut back on other things. So far it seems that both effects are occuring. Transit use is up, but the restaurant business is down.

Post-peaked oil... It'll be an interesting time to be an urban planner  :|

^---- Not necessarily, but it seems that the peak of the best grades of oil may have occurred within the last year or two. Right now, it seems that there is plenty of crude oil, but a bottleneck in refining and distribution of gasoline.

 

According to the long time peak oil voices-- Ken Deffeyes, Colin Campbell, Kjell Acklett, the people at The Oil Drum and others like JH Kunstler, this is exactly what peak oil is-- the peak in light, sweet, easily extracted and refined crude. 

 

The refinery bottleneck is likely due to the fact that there are more heavy oils on the market which too many US refineries cannot process.  Saudi Arabia has been putting more heavy, sour oil on the market for several months now. 

 

To make matters worse, an article at Bloomberg.com says, Saudi Arabia recently issued a statement that they may not need to raise their oil production (as promised) beyond 9.5 mbd after 2009 due to ongoing conservation measures around the globe.  Here's the article:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=ataHAA7GX3js&refer=energy

 

I don't know about you all,  but I think it's a bunch of B.S.  There isn't a whole lot of conservation going on (especially in the US) as global demand is still rising.  IMHO, they aren't going to raise production beyond 9.5 mbd because they cannot. 

 

 

^^^gildone, you're right on. What the Saudi's are saying is simply a smokescreen. If they were to come clean with what their production numbers really are, they would be looking at a world of hurt at home. There is compelling evidence that Saudi production of LSC peaked 2 years ago; they have not been able to increase production despite an all-out attempt to do so. Mexico is in the same boat, only their production has been crashing by about 15% a year for the last couple years....and they are our largest source of imported oil, followed by Saudi Arabia. 

    Without factoring in hurricane season and Iranian shenanigans, I can see gas going north of $4 (I'll say $4.29) at some point this summer/early fall. Yes, "demand destruction" will ultimately occur at a certain price point, bringing prices back down somewhat, but $3 gas is here to stay. The underlying problem, in my opinion, is that the American public just does not grasp the enormity and consequences of what is happening. "Happy motoring utopia" has no future and cannot be saved. The sooner people realize the truth of the matter and pressure the government to act accordingly (investing in inter-city rail, intracity light-rail, and alternative renewable energy sources;and stop subsidizing suburban development, to name a few) the better chance we'll have of making it through this.

The enormity of the situation facing this nation over the next decade or so cannot be understated. This should be the #1 most important issue in the '08 election, but everyone will sidestep it.

Price of gas here in the UK: about .95 pounds per litre. One pound is worth almost $2 US dollars. And there are 4.2 litres to a gallon. You do the math. Despite these high prices, the traffic is still pretty heavy on the few motorways here. The carriageways are fast 60 mph, but if you ride the left line, you'll scrape the hedgerows or an 18th century brick house. Traffic isn't too heavy on these, though they alternative between dual carriageways (a divided highway) where the traffic gets a bit heavier. So I see the world doesn't end at $8 per gallon. There is a lot of development in many cities -- Southampton has an amazing boom of residential construction going on in their historic town center. Bet that's carrying some controversy. The construction, as one might imagine, is centered around transit stops and rail stations.

 

The extent of transit, even 80 miles from London (I'm in Salisbury right now), is pretty astonishing. Even rural sections between cities of 50,000 to 100,000 people have extensive transit bus and regional rail services. It's strange to see a half dozen people getting off the bus in front of you at an agricultural village 20 miles from the nearest town. Then they do the same thing at the next village. Then there's a little bigger community, which has a rail station, and so on.....

^That's good stuff, KJP. Europe is so much better equipped to deal with this because they have been dealing with higher gas/oil prices for decades and have neccessarily adjusted their living arrangements accordingly. We can learn a lot from them, but I believe it's going to be a rocky transition if/when we commit to it. A lot of people here are going to feel the pain.

with people living with such huge debt loads any amount of rise in fuel prices will add another expense that there really isn't an alternative to.  If you live in a cul du sac suburb with no transit and nothing within walking distance you can either drive or dirve or stay home.  even an increase to $4 or $5 a gallon will set off a lot of bankrupcies.

KJP:  You've been there a day and you're already updating us?  It's great to hear from you, but enjoy your vacation and don't worry about all of us stuck here in single-modal transportation policy hell.  :wink:

 

 

Thomasbw:  There are already a lot of foreclosures occurring.  I recently saw an LA Times article about a deputy who works for San Bernadino county.  He's the guy who issues foreclosure notices in the county.  Something like 40% of his notices now are in affluent neighborhoods.   

^of course, this will just worsen the cycle

gildone: A major cause of the forelosure increase is due to the sub-prime mortgage dealio... People getting into houses they really can't afford with low intro variable rates. Once the rates go up after 6 mos to a year, people can't afford their houses and they foreclose.

 

I'm sure the higher gas prices aren't helping much though.

Especially since many of these foreclosures are occurring out in the "burbs", which pushes up the expense of driving.

Gas prices exceed post-Katrina record

Monday,  May 14, 2007 12:05 PM

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Gasoline prices hit a new record at the pump on Monday, but traders sent oil and gasoline futures prices in different directions as they weighed mixed news from overseas.

 

The average national price of a gallon of gas hit $3.073 on Monday, up almost a penny from Sunday's also record-setting price. Gasoline is now well above the previous record of $3.057, set on Sept. 5, 2005, soon after Hurricane Katrina hit.

 

But gasoline futures for June delivery fell 2.09 cents to $2.3312 in midday trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 36 cents to $62.73 a barrel on the Nymex.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/national_world/stories/2007/05/14/gas.html

"You just get a feeling that $3 a gallon … it's got to have an impact from a demand standpoint,” Hodge said. “So, maybe there's a little bit of a selloff on those pressures.”

 

 

Why would it?  who goes for pleasure drives anymore.  American society is so car dependent I would guess 90% of our demand would be constant.  sure 10% would be subject to demand destruction, but what would that be, pre-booked vacations? people probably won't cancel those.  I just don't see too much demand destruction occuring until the system flies apart.

I don't think you're far off.  I don't have any actual numbers, but I think it's safe to say the majority of driving is connected either to work or running necessary errands.  I know my family's "pleasure" driving is down to about nothing these days because of gas prices.  I do more pleasure riding on my bike.

Especially since many of these foreclosures are occurring out in the "burbs", which pushes up the expense of driving.

 

Had lunch today with a developer building a Northern Kentucky waterfront project. He said that you can't sell a house in Indian Hill today. So it's not just the marginal buyers.

I think that the big box retailers will, counterintuitively, benefit in the short term.  People who drive 20 miles each way to work will try to 'cut trips' to save money by going only to one big box retailer for their shopping rather than go the extra two miles to get things from a variety of different stores. 

 

People who drive these massive distances really don't have much control over the actual trips they make and their distances.  Work is a sunk distance, as is the grocery store (unless you will go the extra five miles for biggs over kroger, etc].  Entertainment is the mall, a set distance. 

 

There are no alternatives available to most people due to their shortsightedness.

 

I love the media stories that are "how are you coping with high gas prices?"  And people from montgomery will talk about how they combine trips, driving to the grocery then to the pharmacy then home instead of two seperate trips.  They probably already did this most of the time anyway-who takes the time to make a ten minute drive to blockbuster, comes home and then drives out 15 minutes again to tgif fridays.  Picking up a video on the way home isn't conserving gas, it is just basic planning.

 

Or people talk about how they are biking more or walking.  They probably walked the mile and a half each way to the closest store once or twice to cut down on their fuel consumption.  Well, there goes one quarter of one percent of the fuel budget.

 

If you live two miles away from anything/everything, in the hour it takes you to walk round trip to the gas station to pick up a quart of milk to save 60 cents worth of gasoline you could have just stayed at work for three extra mintues and you would have come out ahead.

 

Why do people persist in thinking we can just reverse engineer the cul du sac suburb into something not requiring cheap oil?  The suburbs were predicated on cheap oil, they require it.  It is like trying to take a boat, put it on dry land and use it for transportation.  It just doesn't work

The only solution(for the most part) for suburbanites, in my opinion, is to vacate suburbia. Pretty radical thought, huh? It's inevitable. How far into the future this happens is anyone's guess. However, if a large chunk of suburbia/exurbia would wake up to this reality and put their homes on the market in an attempt to get closer to work/into the city/etc., who would buy them?? What would that do to an already declining home market across the country? Most people's wealth is tied up in their homes. This is really the crux of Jim Kunstler's views regarding peak oil & suburbia. These "cul de sac-ers" who don't grasp what is going on and just hope this all goes away are going to be incredibly screwed. I would be trying to get out now.

 

^Hopefully cheap alternative energy prevails. But even if it did, it would be an obnoxious transition for everyone, and money would be lost. I don't think anyone is going to be in a rush to move back to the city. They'll take suburbs as they are until its absolutely out of the question. Remember, a lot of people in the city commute to suburbs also, where many major corporations are now located.

05/16/2007

Brace yourself for $4 gas 

MEGAN KING , Morning Journal Writer 

 

Post edited 9-4-09 to comply with terms of use

Sunday (May 13) in Pittsburgh, I topped off at $2.859 before heading home. In this morning's paper I read that prices in Fort Wayne hit $3.40 yesterday. Finally, people are screaming.

 

Sadly, the reaction of most is, "We'll just have to suck it up. There's nothing we can do to reduce our need." A few who have bought motorcycles think they've got a leg up on the situation, but wait until the snow and ice come along.

 

Things haven't yet gotten bad enough to jar local commuters out of their complacency and established habits. Car-pooling is virtually unheard of, even among people who share a workplace and hours and who live within the same subdivision. The ones that I've asked about it say that it's worth the extra money to have their privacy while commuting, or that sometimes they need to come in early or work late. There's little substance to their excuses, just denial.

 

They still drive too fast and too aggressively, with no will to conserve or awareness of how to do it. They may not even be aware that their driving habits have a big effect on their fuel consumption. The signals on arterial streets and roads are nearly all progressively timed, and it's possible to set a speed and drive clear across the city without stopping, although the morons who dash from one stoplight to the next, and then have to stop and wait, do screw up the flow to a considerable extent.

 

The police department needs to implement an Idiot Patrol, made up of big guys who pull over clueless nincompoops and yank them out of their cars through the window and slap them around and yell at them. Nothing less will get through to them. :whip:

 

 

I would paste bumper stickers on gas pumps and rent billboards with this message:

 

"The Rx for Pain at the Pump?: Invest in More Public Transit & Rail"

Consumer groups say average family's annual gasoline bill up $1,000 in 5 years

Wednesday,  May 16, 2007 9:46 AM

 

 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The average U.S. household is already spending $1,000 more per year on gasoline than it did five years ago, two consumer groups say in testimony they planned to present to a House Judiciary Committee task force Wednesday.

 

That's an increase of 85 percent, and rural households have been hardest hit because they spend about 20 percent more on gas than urban residents, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union said, citing Labor Department figures.

 

"It is time for Congress and the administration to do their part to help alleviate the pain consumers are feeling at the pump," said Mark Cooper, director of research for the federation. At Wednesday's hearing, he plans to call on the federal government to provide greater oversight over oil industry market practices, create strategic refinery and product reserves, and enact policies that promote reduced oil consumption. 

 

Find this article at:

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/16/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm?cnn=yes 

 

"''We've even tried to teach our son that you have to change your lifestyle if you want to do things. It's just ridiculous.'' "

 

Teaching your child how to adapt is ridiculous? :roll:

I would paste bumper stickers on gas pumps and rent billboards with this message:

 

"The Rx for Pain at the Pump?: Invest in More Public Transit & Rail"

 

it is amazing that we actually have not only a solution, but probably the best solution and we are doing nothing to implement it.

I am as confused on this issue of peak oil as I am on the global warming issue.  I feel like I have one group saying everything to sway me on way and the same for the opposition.  On one side I feel like I am hearing conspiracy theorists and on the other I feel like I am hearing terminal apathy.  The only rationalization I can come up with is that the truth is somewhere in between whatever that may be.

 

As far as high gas prices at the pump here is my equation:

 

Artificially high crude prices (due to prospecting) + lack of investment in domestic refinery capacity (market tinkering) + cash rich US economy (current contractionary policy has not yet overcome the post dotcom/9-11 expansionary policy) = $3/gal.

 

As with the dotcom bust, these markets have a tendency to regress when they become bloated or overpriced.  If this fails to happen in the next few years with petroleum, I would then begin to suspect much greater forces at work than just economic cycles or market maniupulation (meaning supply is truly depleting or peak oil reached.)

 

Flame away...

I wasn't convinced until I went to the Department of Energy's website and looked at the actual numbers. go to http://www.eia.doe.gov/ and take a look for yourself.

 

For example from 2002 to 2005 world oil production increased by nearly 10% (9.8something)

From 2005 to 2006 world oil production increased only .3%.

 

Keep in mind Katrina was in 2005 and even with those production losses 2006 was only .3% higher.\

 

The real question is, is this THE peak or a peak?

the problem is this:

 

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/17/news/economy/record_gas_prices/index.htm

 

Holiday drivers shrug at record gas prices

National average tops $3.11 a gallon to reach yet another all-time high, but AAA says rising prices won't slow driving for the Memorial Day weekend.

By Chris Isidore, CNNMoney.com senior writer

May 17 2007: 8:40 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices hit a record high for the fifth straight day Thursday, according to the daily reading on gas prices from AAA, but a separate survey by the same group is also projecting that a record number of Americans will be on the road during the Memorial Day holiday.

 

The motorist group says the average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded gasoline was $3.114 in its latest reading, which is based on a daily survey of purchases at up to 85,000 gas stations. That's up from Wednesday's record of $3.103 a gallon.

 

And the group believes that more record-high prices could be on the way. It is forecasting prices are likely to approach $3.25 a gallon during the next 60 days.

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1440671920070514?feedType=RSS

 

Gasoline hits record $3.10 a gallon

Prices top highs hit after Hurricane Katrina; rose 5 cents last week and 16 cents from a year ago.

May 14 2007: 5:58 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- U.S. consumers are digging deeper in their pockets to fill up at the pump, with the average price for gasoline now a record $3.10 a gallon, the government said on Monday.

 

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline rose 5 cents over the last week and is up 16 cents from a year ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly survey of service stations.

 

The latest pump price tops the old record of $3.07 set in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina disrupted refinery operations and oil production along the Gulf Coast, the EIA said.

 

The much larger AAA survey showed the price for gasoline at a record $3.07 on Monday.

making large posts without reading them... grasscat style

KJP:  You've been there a day and you're already updating us?  It's great to hear from you, but enjoy your vacation and don't worry about all of us stuck here in single-modal transportation policy hell.  :wink:

 

 

Thomasbw:  There are already a lot of foreclosures occurring.  I recently saw an LA Times article about a deputy who works for San Bernadino county.  He's the guy who issues foreclosure notices in the county.  Something like 40% of his notices now are in affluent neighborhoods.    

 

You know how many times I've heard people here in the UK complain about the equivalent of $8/gallon gas prices since I've been here?? ZERO!

 

What's surprised me most of all are the number of people who walk. I expected to see it in the town centers, but not in the suburban areas and even rural areas. But they do. When we ask for directions on how to get somewhere, we're often told "You can walk there in about 5-10 minutes and there's also a bus right at the corner." When my sister asks if there's parking, they say "There's parking down there somewhere."

Drivers cut back — a 1st in 26 years

By Paul Overberg and Larry Copeland,

USA TODAY

 

The average American motorist is driving substantially fewer miles for the first time in 26 years because of high gas prices and demographic shifts, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal highway data.

 

The growth in miles driven has leveled off dramatically in the past 18 months after 25 years of steady climbs despite the addition of more than 1 million drivers to the nation's streets and highways since 2005. Miles driven in February declined 1.9% from February 2006 before rebounding slightly for a 0.3% year-over-year gain in March, data from the Federal Highway Administration show. That's in sharp contrast to the average annual growth rate of 2.7% recorded from 1980 through 2005.

 

Find this article at:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-17-gas-prices_N.htm 

 

There is a possibility of regional gasoline shortages in August.  Perhaps the decline in driving will help avert it.  We'll see:

 

The peak oil crisis: Alarms are sounding

 

By Tom Whipple

 

Across the world alarm bells are starting to clang. Above every gas station, a large sign is proclaiming that prices are on an unstoppable climb towards un-affordability. In Paris, the International Energy Agency has announced that the demand for oil is likely to exceed the supply later this year, unless, of course, OPEC steps up production. In the Middle East OPEC spokesmen reiterate time after time that all is well, there is plenty of oil, and there is no need to increase production.

 

 

Article archived at :

http://www.energybulletin.net/newswire.php?id=29754

 

Original article :

http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1284&Itemid=35

Bicyclists, transit officials and environmentalists are happy about high gas prices

By Laurie Blake, Minneapolis Star Tribune

 

The $3 gas prices posted at the station he passes on the way to work give Kevin Ishaug 20 miles to gloat over how much he saves commuting by bike.

 

Ishaug, owner of the Freewheel Bike shop in Minneapolis, is one of those people who welcome higher prices at the pump. It brings more people into his shop for new bikes or repairs, as they switch to muscle-powered transportation to save money.

 

© 2007 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1188541.html

Seeming to gloat over other's problems probably isn't the way to win converts.  When people who are highly dependent on their car complain to me about high prices I try to explain to them simply and matter of factly that the decisions they have made about how they live are what make them so vulnerable to these changes.  I definitely avoid the phrases "hope they continue to go up" or "delighted that gas prices are going up".

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/21/news/economy/record_gas_monday/index.htm

 

Gas prices: Worse than '81 oil shock

Gas now at highest level, even adjusted for inflation; AAA's reading of nearly $3.20 a gallon marks ninth straight record high in current dollars.

May 21 2007: 8:31 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices soared to levels never seen before as even the inflation-adjusted price for a gallon of unleaded topped the 1981 record spike in price that had stood for 26 years.

 

And higher prices could be on the way as Americans get ready to hit the road for the Memorial Day holiday and the start of the summer driving season.

 

The Lundberg Survey, a bi-weekly gas price tracking service, put the price of a gallon of unleaded at $3.18 in its latest reading released late Sunday, up more than 11 cents from its reading of two weeks ago.

Bicyclists, transit officials and environmentalists are happy about high gas prices

 

The $3 gas prices posted at the station he passes on the way to work give Kevin Ishaug 20 miles to gloat over how much he saves commuting by bike.

 

I love this! I enjoy biking to work, to the grocery store, to class, etc. It provides me with not only excerise, but more money in the wallet that I can spend elsewhere. Yes, I do gloat, because I feel satisfied that I am doing something to help change this asinine car-crazed culture that we live in. We've put ourselves in this situation, and some would rather keep it at the status quo -- reduce gasoline taxes to help the middle-class, go to war with Iran and Venezuela, drill for oil in Alaska, lalala etc.

 

But I feel that the high gas prices will be good in the long term. Short term you'll hear the same whines over and over again, and it may be a burden for some. But do we really need that 3,000 sq. ft. house and that small fenced in back yard? And that massive freew... er driveway that consumes 1/4 of the yard? I think we can all make do with less.

"We have to wake up. We are at the edge of a precipice and we have one foot over the edge. The only way to avoid going over is to move forward and move forward aggressively with initiatives to develop alternative fuels. Just cutting back won't work," said Milton R. Copulos, president of the National Defense Council Foundation and an expert on the military's energy needs.

...

According to a new study by defense consulting firm LMI, the dwindling availability of oil, plus its rising costs, makes the U.S. military's operations "unsustainable in the long term."

Well, it's either develop synfuels or make a concerted push to capture the Balkan oil fields in Iraq Rumania.  That was the deal in 1943.

^Its unfortunate most people don't think that way. I like when people brag about their 8 cyl cars being "good on gas'. I wanna be like "B$^tch are you retarded!?!?!". Unless you drive a 4 cyl car or need a bigger car for a good reason then you have no excuse for complaining about gas prices.

It's also unfortunate that people are putting their focus on just the prices at the gas pump.  What the public (and most media) are failing to come to grips with is the impact fuel prices are having on the prices of the goods we consume and services we use. They too are affected by the rising costs of fuels.  If you think your wallet aches every time to pull up to the local BP station, take a look at your grocery bill and think about how much more the fuel costs to bring those groceries to the Giant Eagle or Krogers.