I've decided to take the time to answer Hustler:

1) US fuel consumption went down 5.2% just in the last month.
2) The exchange rate of the Dollar vs the Euro is: US$1.60 - €$1.00. I'm willing to bet that exchange rate will come down in the near future; when the States finally get a new President! :mad:. Europe can't afford that exchange disparity. Your exports are going to kill them.
3) Pemex (the Mexican government's petroleum company) just offered to sell all of its oil production for the next 4 years at $128 per barrel on the futures market to anyone willing to buy.
4) The US economy is in the worst shape I've ever seen and I'm old! but; you'll rebound as you've done before. Not before going through some additional pain in economic adjustments.
5) The US is sending over $700 billion overseas in oil purchases. T. Boone Pickens is right; you can't keep on transferring that much wealth to the fucking Arabs. I'm sure you'll find energy alternatives to reduce that dependence. You've shown how resourceful you can be in the past.

Hustler, I can provide even more reasons! :)

It cost me $46 on my last fill up here in Atlanta.

That T. Boones article was a great read.

However you appear to have more optomism in our situation than many people I know.

how often do you drive your car?

thanks, I like real information. I still think the off-shore drilling is bullshit, based upon the oil drilling leases which are inactive. I know this information first hand, but not much else in respect to the market. I don't see why off-shore is necessary when resources sit idle here. I assume drilling interests just want to buy up the land for later use.

haven't driven it since march this year, untill last thursday..

it's my daily, but only 3 miles to work

there was an email sent around my work(automotive) from audi. their study showed that in the US we've driven 60 billion less miles than a year before.

gas prices suck. and my dumbass just bought a 300hp v8 as a daily. 15mpg in town FTL!

What year/model do you have? and yes, anything but an sti and legacy has shit for a transmission, subaru really didnt think that one through.....

on another note, I havent driven mine for about a month now, and saved about 200 on gas lol.....borrowing the wife's civic hybrid is really saving me financially since I am commuting 45 miles 1 way to work right now

You're dead on in that one. Offshore drilling is not the answer right now. The answer lies in new technologies.

but newer technologies dont call up republicans at dinner time and convince them to buy in...

65.00 to fill up the Saab with 93.

The C&D article was interesting, but they pretty much skipped over the Speculation aspect.

This is a spam letter sent to me from AirTran Airlines, interesting Read:

An Open Letter to All Airline Customers

Our country is facing a possible sharp economic downturn because of skyrocketing
oil and fuel prices, but by pulling together, we can all do something to help now.

Stop Oil Speculation Now
For airlines, ultra-expensive fuel means thousands of lost jobs and severe reductions in air service to both large and small communities. To the broader economy, oil prices mean slower activity and widespread economic pain. This pain can be alleviated, and that is why we are taking the extraordinary step of writing this joint letter to our customers.

Since high oil prices are partly a response to normal market forces, the nation needs to focus on increased energy supplies and conservation. However, there is another side to this story because normal market forces are being dangerously amplified by poorly regulated market speculation.

Twenty years ago, 21 percent of oil contracts were purchased by speculators who trade oil on paper with no intention of ever taking delivery. Today, oil speculators purchase 66 percent of all oil futures contracts, and that reflects just the transactions that are known.

Speculators buy up large amounts of oil and then sell it to each other again and again. A barrel of oil may trade 20-plus times before it is delivered and used; the price goes up with each trade and consumers pick up the final tab. Some market experts estimate that current prices reflect as much as $30 to $60 per barrel in unnecessary speculative costs.

Over seventy years ago, Congress established regulations to control excessive, largely unchecked market speculation and manipulation. However, over the past two decades, these regulatory limits have been weakened or removed. We believe that restoring and enforcing these limits, along with several other modest measures, will provide more disclosure, transparency and sound market oversight. Together, these reforms will help cool the over-heated oil market and permit the economy to prosper.

The nation needs to pull together to reform the oil markets and solve this growing problem.

We need your help. Get more information and contact Congress by visiting www.StopOilSpeculationNow.com/sos.

Take Action

Sincerely,

Robert Fornaro
Chairman, President and CEO
AirTran Airways, Inc.
AirTran Logo
Bill Ayer
Chairman, President and CEO
Alaska Airlines, Inc.
Alaska Airlines

Gerard J. Arpey
Chairman, President and CEO
American Airlines, Inc.
American Airlines
Lawrence W. Kellner
Chairman and CEO
Continental Airlines, Inc.
Continental Airlines

Richard Anderson
CEO
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
Delta Air Lines
Mark B. Dunkerley
President and CEO
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc.
Hawaiian Airlines

Dave Barger
CEO
JetBlue Airways Corporation
JetBlue Airways
Timothy E. Hoeksema
Chairman, President and CEO
Midwest Airlines
Midwest Airlines

Douglas M. Steenland
President and CEO
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
Northwest Airlines
Gary Kelly
Chairman and CEO
Southwest Airlines Co.
Southwest Airlines

Glenn F. Tilton
Chairman, President and CEO
United Airlines, Inc.
United Logo
Douglas Parker
Chairman and CEO
US Airways Group, Inc.
US Airways

It's not like offshore drilling is the worst thing in the World either. I'm just stating it's not the solution. And furthermore, I'm saying that I still believe in American ingenuity.

BTW oilstain, that is a communique sent by the airlines to all its customers to try and get them on board because they are among the worst hit industries. What they say about a part of the price reflecting speculation is a fact.

Yeah, I believe it will. Gas this time last year was 3.20/gallon for premium, now its $4.38/gallon.

New technologies also don't appear out of thin air or integrate into our infrastructure seamlessly. While I agree 100% we need to figure out something else, in the mean time we need to use the fucking resources we have AVAILABLE so people like myself don't end up bankrupt and living in the streets with nothing. I can assure you, if this keeps up thats just where I'll be with millions of others. The outrageous price of crude oil is causing a lot of harm on the economy in my opinion. Think about everything that comes from oil, more than just fuel. Plastic for example comes from oil. Our air line industries are on the verge of complete collapse because of Jet fuel costs. As prices increase on fuel, the price of shipping consumer goods will also increase to offset the cost as will actual product costs.

Think about Diesel fuel for example. Container ships use MILLIONS of gallons of diesel fuel.. Virtually every aspect of shipping goods to a retail market are 100% dependent on diesel fuel or an offset of it.

What kind of new technologies are we talking about for automotive use? Hydrogen? I'm certain you know the process to manufacture hydrogen for one of these "green clean burning cars" right? Here again if you could overcome THAT problem, where the hell are you going to fill your vehicle up at? Heres the number one problem... Affordability. Can't speak for anyone else, but I know from speculation I couldn't even come close to affording something that like. Where does that leave the THOUSANDS of dollars invested in the other vehicles I have now? What about these kids working at McDonalds makin' minimum wage and can only afford a 250$ 1981 POS Chevy Chevette?

Some are very optimistic when a new president is in office then everything will change for the better I however don't believe that. From what I've seen, from what I've learned about economics.. This country is done. I sure hope to hell I'm wrong, I'd LOVE to be proven wrong... Only time will tell. :mad:

You have now hit on the ONLY benefit of being old. Dying before everything takes a shit.:eek5:

Fixed

elesjuan, if you're referring to the price of oil going even higher I have to disagree.

thats because we are still paying. prices will continue to rise untill useage goes down, the prices will fall just enough where people start driving again, and it will repeat.