Why don't we fight the fuel costs?
373903
There are some key phrases in your question that make me wonder why you think "THEY" ought to do something about the problems. Why don't YOU do something about it? Are YOU an activist? Do you even vote? If you've got all the answers, then PLEASE, get out there and start the revolution!\n\nI'm not really trying to be mean or sarcastic. I hear a LOT of young people complaining and when I ask them if they vote, most of them say no, its a waste of time. Well, now you know why it is NOT a waste of time.\n\nYou did finally end your question by asking why don;t WE all do something about it. I agree. I'm ready to start the revolution, are you with me? I was there in the 60's and I'm ready to do it again. Its the only way we can control our government when they've gotten too big and overpowering.\n\nUse your anger for good. You GO, girl!
635751
We have altered our grocery shopping habits.  The rising cost of fuel has caused the price of groceries to go through the roof.  We don't buy as much meat or fresh fruit & veggies, and we are buying a lot of pre-packaged.  Not as healthy, but more affordable.\n\nWe are not the kind of people who eat out, buy new stuff, party, or really have any excess fat in our budget that can be trimmed.\n\nMy business requires me to drive to my customers, as does my husband's.  We are fortunate to live in a part of the country where gas prices have remained below the national average.
517644
I don't want to create a conspiracy theory here - that the gas companies haven't built refineries, so that the supply has remained steady whereas demand skyrocketed, driving up the price...as the companies have seen quarterly profits that are unheard of.  I won't try and say that this was a carefully constructed plot on their behalf, ahem.  Well, ok, I don't think it is but I do think that they've been cheap and that their current plans to expand existing refineries won't solve our problems.\n\nDemand for energy will continue to grow (disproportionately here in the U.S...) and I really believe STRONGLY in seeking alternative sources of energy so that we can not only reduce costs for Americans (costs for living...crude oil costs affect EVERYTHING...prodution, shipping...driving up prices...costs to commute, etc.) but will reduce our dependence on foreign oil - doesn't get much better than THAT!!
1005445
Yes we can, and yes we will.  There is a finite amount of fossil fuels in the world.  We certainly have more (a fair bit more) then the doomsayers would have you believe, but eventually they will run out.  Before they run out, the price will go up, and up, and up, until alternate clean sources of energy become marketable.  This will happen, it's simple economics.  In the mean time we, as a country, should be pushing to increase our domestic supply, and start now with serious research on how to create a new usable transportable source of energy.  I'm personally like the idea of hydrogen burning engines.  They're combustion engines like you have in your car, but they burn hydrogen, and emit water (h2o), that's their exhaust.  The only trick is you need alot of electricity to separate the hydrogen from the O2 in the first place, and we don't have a safe fuel tank for transport yet.  In the mean time, write your congressmen and senators, let them know this is a priority of yours and that it is a priority for our country.  Talk with friends, and increase awareness.  I work in the oil field, and trust me, I certainly recognize that our country, our planet needs to be thinking of the future.
684875
A) It would make our president less rich.\nB) Americans are WAY too lazy to actually care about our environment because all we wanna do is SPEND SPEND SPEND!\nC) We are neglegent of the benefits of biodiesel and such renewable sources.\nD) We would also be putting Middle-Eastern nations out of business - how sad.\nand\nE) We're Americans - we don't care about anything or anyone but ourselves for the most part.\n\nI agree, it's unbelievably cheap to manufacture biodegradable, renewable sources of energy, but we don't have the time and some of us don't even have the resources.  I also think that if Americans could get up off our lazy butts, we could honestly show the rest of the world that we can change our environment before it's too late.  I spend an average of $80+ per week in gas between two cities.  Biofuels would not only save us, but save our environment.
1121329
The price goes up when demand outpaces the supply of gasoline.  and that would mean if we as Americans drove smaller cars than suvs we would have less demand.  Also we need a new fuel source other than petroleum.
1085223
It is in our national interest (because of the geographical size of our country) to either increase the available supply of petroleum or develop alternative fuel sources. The former may only be a temporary solution, but the latter will take time and resources and may invite retaliation in the form of extremely high petroleum prices while we attempt to retool our energy using and producing systems.
267397
Fuel conservation linked to newspaper delivery?  \n\nI suppose, but I suspect you're far off the mark.
958215
I was mad when the liberals wanted to block drilling for oil in Alaska during the beginning of George W. Bush's presidency, and now look at our dilemna!  I am very environmentally conscious and bike and walk when I can but I believe extremes will get us nowhere.  We have to look after our pocketbooks AND the environment.  There is a middle ground.  Show me a preservationist who doesn't drive and I will listen to him!
471050
Are you people serious? our oil and gasoline is Subsidized by the US government.  While your crying about $3 a gallon for gasoline, Europe is paying upwards of $7 a liter for their petrol.  The government is the only thing keeping you driving the 4X4 and giant SUV, wake up.\n\nEdit: and while your on Yahoo Answers moaning to all of your "friends" about how evil a democracy the US gov't is, they are loosening the restrictions on your car's waste output, and opening the countries fuel supply for personal use so YOU don't have to ride your bike to the mall tomorrow.\n\nEdit2: YES they CAN use the excuse they cannot convert oil->gasoline.  We are currently refining at MAX capacity (when weather systems allow) We havn't made a new refinery since the 70s, and since it take almost 20 YEARS to complete a new refinery, don't hold your breath. (10 years to complete an oil rig)  Also, why the hell would Exon make a new refinery? From a business standpoint, they have NO motivation to do so, they are getting prime price for their product.
643854
This is a difficult situation. Oh course my children come first, as I know yours do. Our country was established with the idea that thw petroleum engine would lead us on forever. We individuals have to start thinking of our own solutions; such as carpooling, bus, etc. Let your mind leave the angry place and see if you can come up with a solution that might work for you.
8558
Because of net profit. E.g., we make more than we spend on gas. Also, people need purpose - like work, hoever futile.
502628
Not that I am for this--But dear it wouldn't matter and why you ask---well here is an article--this is starting to open up a new can of worms--please understand--Anyone in the world could have all the oil in the world..and it really wouldn't matter at this point...\n\n$3-a-gallon gas: Blame Washington, not Big Oil\nWhat's driving up gas prices? It's not just higher crude costs; it's new regulations.\nNelson D. Schwartz\nMay 3, 2006: 2:20 PM EDT\n\n\n(FORTUNE Magazine) - With gas prices roaring past $3 a gallon and consumer fury rising even faster, Congress and the White House are engaged in a Kabuki-like ritual: pointing fingers at each other over who's to blame, while furiously attacking Big Oil for reaping gargantuan profits - as drivers get hosed at the pump.\n\nIf the politicians really want to figure out who's responsible for the latest round of price increases, though, they'd be better off looking in the mirror. That's because the rise isn't only due to higher crude costs. It's also fallout from some little-noticed provisions in the energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last summer.\n\nBuried in the 551-page energy bill - which was supposed to ease energy shortages, not worsen them - were new regulations governing what additives go into gasoline and how it's refined. Corn-based ethanol is replacing the petroleum-derived additive MTBE, but Congress timed this logistically tricky switchover to occur just as demand for gasoline peaked ahead of the summer driving season - right about now.\n\nThe end result is an extra strain on the refining and distribution system when it can least afford it.\n\n"It's too late now, but Congress has consistently failed to sequence regulatory requirements in a responsible fashion," says Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.\n\nAdds Larry Goldstein of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation: "The gasoline crisis is made in the U.S.A., not in Iran or Venezuela or Nigeria. At least half the increase in gasoline prices is due to unintended consequences of the energy bill, but no one in Washington wants to admit that."\n\nIndeed, while crude prices have risen 21% since the end of 2005, gasoline is up 37% - a sign of just how stretched the system is. Congress's mistake, says Goldstein, was setting the new law to go into effect 270 days after it was signed - May 5 - rather than waiting until fall, when gas demand is typically on the downswing.\n\nNow the big question is, How high can gas go? Well, perhaps the only good thing that can be said about paying three bucks per gallon is that it seems to be slowing consumption - which should, in turn, reduce prices. Over a four-week period in April, says oil analyst Jamal Qureshi of consulting firm PFC Energy, U.S. gasoline demand dropped by half a percent, to just over nine million barrels a day. That may not sound like much, but it's a reversal from the 1.7% average annual increase in gas consumption the U.S. has experienced over the past decade. If $3 is indeed the tipping point at which consumers change their behavior and alter their driving habits, it's the one silver lining in an otherwise very dark cloud for drivers.\n\nThe wildcard in this scenario, of course, is the increasing risk of a military confrontation with Iran. If that happens, says Qureshi, "all bets are off." Given that crude oil accounts for 55% of the cost of each gallon of gas (refining accounts for 22%, taxes for 19%, and distribution and marketing for 4%), an upward spike in crude oil would push gas up even if the bottlenecks caused by the energy bill ease this summer.\n\nThat's why Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, says the answer in the short term is conservation. Washington is indeed being turned upside down when it's left to Cavaney, Big Oil's chief lobbyist, to talk conservat
953352
The government of the United States was not established to act as a purchasing agent.  What do Americans expect, free fuel?\n\nA large part of the cost of automotive fuels is the high cost of refinng, with the legislated requirement of reduced pollution, both on the road and at the refinery.  Recent legislation requires new low levels of sulfur in diesel fuel, which is great, although it will raise the cost of transportation and the cost of goods at every store, and reduced profit at the refineries.\n\nSince the Democrats have gained more seats in Congress, and have promised to "investigate" Big Oil, they are simply driving my retirement nest-egg into overseas investments, because I can't afford to invest in American companies whose profits are being depleted by their own government.  Goodbye Exxon Mobil.  Hello Petroleos Brasilieros.
870256
this only applies if you are talking about the usa:  your premise is wrong. we pay "road tax" through the fuel tax (which you mentioned). therefore, the more fuel you use, the more you pay in tax. I don't see how population control will be achieved through taxes. did you mean polution? and an increase in fuel tax is a regressive tax. it hurts the poor much more than it does the rich. a poor family will spend a higher percentage of their income on taxes (any tax) than the rich.
378056
They'll just keep putting the prices up because they know that companies and individuals have no option but to pay.  It's what's heppened here in the UK where gas is now more than $7.50 a gallon and demand is still rising.\n\nThere won't be fuel rationing unless there's an actual shortage of fuel and that doesn't seem likely.\n\nI can only speak for the UK when I say that there has been fuel rationing - during the war and during the oil crisis of the early 1970's.
436887
vote... all this middle eastern saber rattling is driving the prices sky high...\n\nhe obviously doesn't have money to invest in "alternative fuel" vehicles... what are you people smoking?