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Feedback ForumWho’s most to blame for record-high gas prices?Submissions for this question are no longer being accepted. Previously submitted comments appear below. Comments may have been edited for content or space. Poster: Bill R Comment: Look in the mirror USA. We consume 20 million barrels of oil per day.... 7 to billion a year. It cannot be sustained much longer. The wars in the middle east, the rising gas prices, the lack of interest of oil companies in building new refineries, the exponential growth of china, and the climate crisis are all symptomatic of the fact that the way we organize our live currently will not last much longer. Better start making new arrangements..... Poster: Mike Bendzela Comment: You are. You're responsible for high gasoline prices. Did you mow the lawn today? Did you reproduce recently, or eat some food grown out of state, or drive your son to his scout meeting? You're responsible, then. You want the work of your life done, and you want it done cheaply. You don't even understand that work IS energy, that energy must come from somewhere, that energy is now depleting, that now you must pay the price: in money, prestige and blood. Poster: Michael B. Comment: Verticle integration of the oil industry allows oil companies to milk exhorbitant profits from the marketplace today regardless of the supply or price of crude. The lack of refining capacity is blamed today for the high prices, but the ability of the oil companies to charge what the market will bear offers no incentive to increase that capacity since the profits will baloon, at least in the short term, without additional investment. With conservation and alternative fuels, we can control demand to some extent in this country, but there is a growing worldwide market so what we do will have little effect on the price or the supply without a worldwide effort. Finding new sources of oil will not make much difference if the oil companies can control the supply with lame excuses after the oil is drilled. Even Iran has had to increase the price of gasoline, which it imports. Poster: Robert Rapier Comment: We, the consumers of oil, are to blame. Poster: j, jungberg Comment: Why werent electric cars mentioned? It is my understanding that they were produced leased by many people who were then not alllowed to buy them and then ultimately destroyed by non other than GM. Also many cars in Europe produces by americam car makers are already getting 50-60 mpg. Poster: Chris W Comment: I think there is plenty of blame to go around. How about the fact that there is an increased demand each year for gas and yet the American public still wants to drive big vehicles that guzzle gas. They DO NOT want to make sacrifices in order to cut consumption and help the environment. How about the fact that the oil companies closed a lot of refining plants years ago and now can't keep up with demand. What about the fact that in recent years speculation has now added a premium to the cost of a barrel of oil and there has been nothing done to stop it. This is speculation, not reality, and has no place in driving up oil costs. Look at the auto manufacturers and the fact that they have been working on how to make the engines bigger and more powerful, cars more luxurious, entertaining and safer instead of putting valuable research dollars into cleaner and more fuel efficient cars. Cars today don't get any better fuel economy than 25 years ago. Then again they are building cars that the American public want . So who is to blame for record-high gas prices, Americans that will NOT change their driving habits and make sacrifices!!! Poster: alex crone Comment: Regarding fuel prices: Hedge funds are driving up petrolium prices by speculation, as with other raw matirial, such as copper. It should be about $30/barrel. there is more oil pumped than used. The oil companies are just extracting maximum profits because neather the executive nor the cngress will act against them. Poster: Bob Enyeart Comment: Government leadership is the short answer, to who bears the most blame. The primary role of effective leadership is to look into the future to plan for the emerging/existing opportunities and the current/potential problems that could face the social, business and political needs of the US as well as the rest of world. Our current administration can not shoulder all the blame (as much as I would like to saddle them with the lions share). Carter understood best and attempted to steer us towards a more sustanable future, I believe, but big business conspired to turn public opinion against him. Quite effectively I might add. The 2 current major parties are unable (unwilling) to take the steps necessary to lead us to a sustanable future. Poster: Mike Ruether Comment: The auto manufactures and ourselves are responsible by making and buying gas guzzlers, along with no regulations from government. The greedy oil companies just took advantage of our stupidity. Poster: John Campbell Comment: We, the consumers, are. We demanded gas guzzling SUV's and large engine autosvand pick ups and the manufacturers gave us what we wanted. Gutless politicians won't allow more drilling and refining capacity. The driving public for the most part won't use public transportation when it's available. There is a lot of blame to go around. Poster: gary Comment: The US oil companies have been given subsidies from our taxes. They should be required to use those subsidies to update the refineries in our country. I they are unwilling to do so they should be required to give the money back. The refusal of the oil companies to update the refineries is a major reason, I believe, that gas prices are astronomical. You don't ever see gas prices come down when the price of a barrel of oil drops, at least not right away. Poster: Jim Gigliotti Comment: Did you vote for the current administration? Do you constantly drive at speeds over 55 or 60 miles per hour? Are you an executive of one of the large oil companies? Ultimately, there is plenty of blame to go around but we as individuals must realize that our actions collectively lead to the results that contribute to the prices that we pay at the pump. Drive responsibly, own economical and fuel-effecient vehicles and elect to office individuals who are commited to serving the common good rather than the special interests and we may eventually see changes that reverse the abuses of past several years. Poster: Derek Comment: The all-time peak of oil production is ultimately to blame. The maximum amount of oil possible to be produced was passed in 2005, and forever after less oil than in the past will be available. Demand is outstripping supply, and the ripple effects are being felt in every element of society. Maybe you should do a show on this, instead of your poorly done 'where's the 100mpg car' story this past week? Poster: Gary Casimir Comment: Brian: You're looking in the wrong place for the answers to better fuel economy. Try the patents held by the oil companies and in there you'll find a patent held by Shell Oil company for a carburetor (that's right a carburetor) that will allow and internal combustion engine to get 100 mpg. Shell paid off the inventor back in the early 1970's and buried the technology. How do I know this? I got this information directly from a Shell engineer whild I was working at General Motors. Poster: Vivian Hegg Comment: The program on fuel efficiency in American cars was interesting but I am puzzled by the provinciality of much American news and commentary. In Ireland a couple of weeks ago we were told that gas is over $7 a gallon. The Irish typically drive somewhat smaller cars (but they also have many smaller roads) and the number of cars on the road appears to be increasing dramatically with no noticeable increase public transportation. Since gas prices are high all over Europe wouldn't it be interesting to look at the experiences of those countries? Are people driving any less? Using smaller cars? Demanding more fuel economy? What, if any, incentives are governments providing to consumers or manufacturers to increase fuel economy? One of my frustrations with programs like NOW is that it often feels like we are unique in the world, unrelated to the experiences of the rest of the planet. I have also heard that the Franklin, a box of a car built in about 1920, got 40 miles to the gallon of gas in highway driving. Maybe it would be useful to look backward as well as outward. Poster: Steve Pena Comment: Percentage Profits, if there was an tax incentive to produce volume maybe it would help. Better yet its time to regulate it. Poster: Andy A Comment: bottom line, oil corporations drive the gasoline cost up to protect potential market changes toward negative profits. the government is driven by business, the government owes it to the US citizen to change our gasoline consumption culture now...our cars still only go 20 mpg, bigger cars/trucks more taxes/higher gas, driving large car/truck with no passengers=higher pump prices, incentives for electic cars and car pooling. Poster: K Beasley Comment: I believe the Auto Industry in America and the Oil Companies are trying to preserve the status quo instead of any interest in creating cars that help the planet and also provide custormer satisfaction. In the Now program nothing was mentioned of the EV (Elecitric vehicle) whice GM made in 1984. This car was cool looking, went at least 60 miles a day and was in demand immediately with waiting lists as soon as it hit the test market. Watching Who Killed the Electric Car film really nauseated me. The realization that this car was available and then literally crushed when by now we could have been all electric and independent of oil, again was a reminder that its always the short term gain that these companies choose. Toyota has proven there is a big market for cars who are environmentally more friendly. Let's get the American auto industry to kead the wave of the future, bring the electric car back and within 20 years be independent of oil for automobiles. This could save the planet from further global warming. Poster: Jim Woita Comment: The Goverment. I turned 16 in 1976. All the talk then was wind and solar generated electricity and electic cars. Here we are 30 years later having the same debate. Our government did nothing to force auto makers and the energy industry to steadily change to altenative fuels. Now we are again in a crisis. At least progressively get better gas mileage over this time. If MPG would have increased 1 MPG a year we could have abevy of automobiles at 60 MPG, instead we are still stuck at 20-25-30. Those were numbers we achieved with little or no effort in the early 1980's. Then MPG standards remained the same and instead of dumping new technology into higher MPG, it went into increasing horsepower and maintaining the same old MPG standards. And I haven't even brought up the sham of letting GM off the hook cutting up the EV1 (their electric car in 1996) I think it may be their #1 seller right now if they would have left it in production. Don't tell me they don't still have the blueprints in a vault somewhere and could restart production in a heartbeat. Then all other car companies would follow. Couple that with your photvoltaic panel on the rooftop of your house and WA-LA, GOOD BYE to the gas pump, HELLO reduced carbon emmisions and Global warming. No reason we can't do it in this next 30 years, or much sooner like the next few because we already have the technology. Which was the excuse all these years it's too expensive and the technology of electric hasn't caught up with the price of fossil fuels (oil and coal). Poster: michael molesky Comment: our own government in washington d.c we sould have alternet fuel sources besides oil and gas.other nations are way ahead of us wind ethol and getermol. Poster: alain samoun Comment: I read the interview of Csaba Csere. I found interesting that this expert seems to completely forget the hybrid cars (powered by electricity+gas), this type of cars, especially when gas will be replaced by diesel, will give the 100miles per gallon that we need. This year, I was looking to buy a new car, I found by accident that there is an American hybrid car (With a Toyota engine): The Ford Escape. After testing it and getting some information on the internet, I decided to buy the Escape: An SUV spacious and easy to drive, that gets about 32 miles per gallon. I still, to this day, to see an advertisement for the car on TV or even on newspapers... Last question: Is it true that the big three got several millions dollars from the federal government, some years ago, to develop an hybrid car with the result today that the Japanese automakers did it and the big three compete each year between themselves to show which one get the biggest lost? When are we going to see a Steeve Job or Bill Gate in the auto industry? Poster: Achille Biagi Comment: Oil company execs at Chevron, Exon, BP Poster: alicia Comment: G.W.B. and D.C. and their fuel industry people all over the world. Look at what G.W. did as Govenor of Texas. Poster: Walt Johnson Comment: We are the root casue of this situation because we have not sought independence from foreign sources of energy. If we were spending 1.75 Billion dollars per week on renewable R&D instead of hte war in Iraq, one can image where our economy would be right now. Poster: Paul Ostrander Comment: The balance of supply to demand sets prices. Demand is up for gas because there is no other transportation alternative. The supply is down because the lack of a surplus refining capacity. The oil cartel and lack of new drilling in the US and friendly countries keeps the oil price up. Poster: Randy Comment: The federal governement and the Democrats. They have not allowed drilling within the US territory nor have they allowed additional refineries and any moderization of current facilities. The regulations hamstring the production of fuel. All of this cause shortages and price increases. Poster: G. Green Comment: Gas is too high because the United States and the gas suppliers obviously are having a disagreement. When this is resolved maybe we will see a decrease in price, otherwise they will have to create a lot of bike lanes. Gas is just too high! Poster: Elizabeth Zingg Comment: The oil companies are simply taking advantage of the American consumer's ever expanding appetite for gasoline and oil products, such as everything made of plastic! The oil companies know that , since oil reserves will eventually run low or run out, their opportunity for grabbing as much wealth from the masses of oil-addicted consumers is on a timer and the clock is ticking faster every day. If the American public wants to take control of their energy sources, they will need to get serious about pressuring government to support development of alternative, clean energy sources and the machines that will be run by those sources. This country has three huge coastlines and yet we have done little to harness the wind and tidal movements to convert them to electricity. When people react negatively to off-shore wind turbines as happened a couple of years ago when turbines were proposed for the shoreline off Martha's Vineyard, you know people aren't really serious about moving toward clean energy or cheaper energy. Poster: Fred Yontz Comment: The big oil companies, with record-breaking profits, are doing the same to motorists in the U.S. as Enron did to California: manipulating the market, shutting down refineries for 'maintenance' (maintenance of profit margins!), taking advantage of an extremely permissive federal government oversight regime. When you look at the oil men at the top of the administration, could you expect anything else? It also makes you wonder what collusion might exist between big oil and the car manufacturers, who have used their engine technology advances to increase power rather than fuel economy. After all, the prime objective of business is to extract money from consumers, and the more, the better (just ask shareholders). Poster: elisabeth clark Comment: I expect my response will be viewed as a 'blame the victim'. However, 'record-high' gas prices is a settling of accounts naturally flowing from Americans having benefited too long from 'record-low' gas prices' that are a direct result of public subsidies to the oil industry. there exists the misshapen view that every commodity sold in America needs 'to be the cheapest'. America is the wealthiest society ever known, yet so many invest great time and effort to avoid paying for its perceived entitlement. when will America realize that it must cease to allocate its wealth to the wealthiest. Poster: Betty Layport Comment: In this age of Bushonomics, with our nations president and many in his cabinet, as well as those who serve as department chiefs, directly and indirectly tied to the energy industry through past employment, service on energy company boards and as stock holders, is it any wonder that gas and oil prices have gone through the roof. I would love to see a complete list of those in the Bush family and Bush Administration as well as those in Congress who have such ties to big energy. Poster: Linda Bentley Comment: The republican administration supporting the big oil companies with mostly unregulated prices. Poster: Sue Evilsizer Comment: We, the people, are to blame for record high gas prices. The population is growning, there are more drivers and we buy the gas guzzlers - (supply & demand) and dont think of the repercussions. We do not learn from history, gas prices and shortages are nothing new! People have short memories, its time to tell our government to enforce vehicles to be more efficient and we must get away from oil consumption if America wants to continue to be a super power country. We are doomed if we continue on this path of gluttony and ignorance. Poster: Ronald Eby Comment: As usual the answer to this question is not as straightforward as it would seem. Limited refining capacity is rhe most important facter in the current run-up of prices. The US has not built a new refinery in the last 25 plus years. Future rises will be due to demand for crude oil exceeding supply as oil fields dwindle or political situations take oil off the market. The background of all this is many-faceted and too complicated to go into here. Poster: Maggie Louden Comment: Some blame for record-high gas prices results from the uncertainties that the War in Iraq and its spill over to and continued conflicts in the reason. Big blame, however, rests with corporate leaders who want to be able to explore and drill whereever they choose for oil. The want people to be willing to allow them that right and so keep prices high. The US citizen has come to expect that we can have any auto and vehicle toy we want and to travel wherever we want. We also want low prices for our habits. Blame also rests with those who make big money from oil exploration and drilling. They recognize that they can continue to become richer so long as the US is so dependent on oil. Poster: Cathleen Coulson-Keegan Comment: The wind will blow and the water will flow, whether we tap it or not. Everyone who is not willing to commit to the future is to blame for the high prices of fuel. The elegant molocules of oil should be used sparingly. Long ago David Brower, of FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, said that the very skills and industrial infrastructure of the auto industry are 'geared up' and ready to develop wind power technology. MOVE ON! Poster: Lou Bruhn Comment: Just look in the mirror. By prefering oversized, overpowered vehicles and rejecting diesel engines and manual transmissions, we have succeeded in making gasoline demand approach the current supply capability of refineries. Without some other mechanism, higher pricing is the main way to limit any greater consumption. Maybe it's time for mandatory pump limits, to help stimulate personal conservation, and bring the prices down. Poster: Zvonimir Comment: Gas in California is selling for $3.25 plus, depending on where you are. In San Francisco the price is well over $4.00. I call it greed in the form of deliberately created scarcity. Department stores here are practically giving away their merchandise because people are not shopping. Today my granddaughter's school band paraded in the mall as part of a plan to draw people in. Poster: Patricia Hughes Comment: It is shared by the greed of the oil companies who did not build refineries and upgrades with their huge profits, by the consumers who bought gas guzzling SUV's (we all don't live off-road and need 4 wheel drive), by our legislators who do not take the lead on energy consumption (remember the 'secret'energy summit with Cheney), and finally, the manufacturers who could have build hybrids long ago and refused to go against the big oil Corps. We all pay now but the poor pay most just trying to get to work. Poster: Zvonimir Comment: Gas in California is selling for $3.25 plus, depending on where you are. In San Francisco the price is well over $4.00. I call it greed in the form of deliberately created scarcity. Department stores here are practically giving away their merchandise because people are not shopping. Today my granddaughter's school band paraded in the mall as part of a plan to draw people in. Poster: Dr. Chuck Lynch Comment: The Bush-Cheney administration with their close relationships to the oil & gas industry. Poster: J J Barrera Comment: I think it's a good think the gasoline companies continue to cause the rise in prices at the pump. That way maybe more people will get fed up enough to find ways to ween themselves off the gasoline addiction by becoming active by contacting their representatives to push the US auto manufactures to quit making gas guzzlers. Enough is enough! Poster: Albert A. Bartlett Comment: Demand for petroleum is close to exceeding supply, a situation that was predicted in 1956 by M. King Hubbert. Hubbert made many reports to the Congress in following years, pointing out these facts very clearly. The Congress has ignored the reports for decades. The Congress is to blame for the high price of petroleum in the U.S. The same thing is happening with natural gas. Production has peaked in North America, so prices will rise substantially every year from now on. Albert A. Bartlett Poster: Emily Comment: The gas companies making record profits are to blame for the high cost of gasoline. Bastards... making $$$ off the backs of the working class. Poster: s. m. gaumond Comment: We are. We subsidize petroleum, refuse to conserve, and bully the rest of the work creating unrest and waste. Poster: Barbara Bacon Comment: The Bush administration. Their oil business cronies are making obscenely large profits, so there is no justification for oil prices to be as high as they are -- in my city. nearly $3.30 a gallon for regular gas. Even Nixon instituted price freezes when it became necessary. Poster: shawn olsen Comment: Hands down-oil companies and the politicians, like Bush and Cheney that are in their pockets, period. Poster: PaloAltoMan@netzero.net Comment: ....Politicians who have consistantly taken money from big Oil companies and looked the other way when it came to consider anti-trust monopolies... or collusion of oil companies...... AND THE PUBLIC,.... for not demanding Politicians to uphold existing laws or enact legislation.....And, the Public for not demanding legislation from Politicians to give the same incentives and tax breaks to technologies that have already been proven as alternatives to fossil fuels... Politicians, Big Business and Big Government Bureaucracies have enjoyed a very cozy and mutually beneficial relationship for years..... at the cost of the rest of us. Poster: Donna Comment: The Oil Companies, of course!!!!!!!! Poster: Gary Ingersoll Comment: Its supply and demand. Owners of large SUVs and pickup trucks are driving up demand and causing high prices for everyone. These behemoth vehicles are also safety hazards to those that drive responsibly sized automobiles and are gross polluters. Poster: Richard Dovgin Comment: The oil cartel gangsters have run the show in this country since John D. days. The recent obscene profits, Exxon for example, are a natural product of big oils historical control. And is there any other industry that gets a tax break for using up its own natural resources to make huge profits, namely the oil depletion allowance? Our representatives in Congress must share some of the blame, of course, but how could they refuse aiding and abetting the gang that is so generous to its friends. Poster: Jeanne Lindsay Comment: Bush & his cronies - they are making millions on the Iraqi's backs. |
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