Who heard the quote from the Shell exec ?

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Something is going to have to give. If Prices for gas keep rising the economy in my mind cant be sustanined for a long period of time. Unlike most european countries we dont have a Vast Public Transit system. The transit system most used here is cars because of the way our transportation system has developed over the years,And forgetting the vast expanse of the country.
 
Well, due to our consumption based "success" formula ...what we're gonna get are prices just as high as Europe ...without any of the benefits. You'll see the spread narrow. We use so much energy that the rest of the planet is "also ran".

The government already regulates much of our medical care. As more and more of our population ages, Medicare will be taxed higher and higher on our income. As the mass of babyboomers hit 62-67 ..you're just about there ...except that the burden will be borne by the smaller working population ..that will on average be making less per capita then the generations that they're funding. The only problem with our government administration of such things is that it's corrupted on one end or the other. It either disappears into a blackhole ..or allows some unthrottled exhaust vent on the demand end. So, it either subsidizes a "for profit" enterprise (which medicine is without a doubt) ..or is soaked up in some form of pork either in the administration of it ..or the things that it produces (education credits, tuition ..construction of facilities) ..somehow it would just end up being less for more.

Adam- any real transit system was destroyed by the Eisenhauer defense oriented Federal Highway Network. Before that was developed ...rail was the only way to transport anything anywhere. This would have made the moving of assets very cumbersome and vulnerable. There's a reason why 1 mile in every 5 is straight on a Federal highway. There's a reason why their spec'd to 80,000 lbs. M It (rail)was very efficient. Going coast to coast in a car may have had top speeds of 45 mph for the majority of the trip.
 
quote:

Originally posted by dwendt44:
European countries pay more for gas because of the high fuel taxes over there.
Shell gasoline in one of the better ones out there; well I don't use it regularly, when I do, I get slightly higher mileage from the Shell.
Even so, a case can be made that gas here is over-priced as it is. It's high because we are willing to pay it, and because of speculation.
If a terrorist in Iraq belches, they bump the price a couple of ¢¢¢.


don't forget folks, the poms, ozzies, kiwis etc get a BIGGER gallon than you do.
and it ain't for free ...
 
Love our big gallons. My Corolla gets over 50 mpg.
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P.B.
 
I can't switch from Shell when they give me 5% off my gas purchases from Shell each month. That's 16.5 cents off each gallon at $3.30/gal - if a station was selling gas for 3.135 compared to 3.30 everywhere else they'd be lined up for miles. Even if Shell is 3 cents more, I'm way ahead.
 
Mastercard's Citi Dividend card does pretty much the same thing as above but works for most gasoline brands. Unfortunately, it cuts the rewards off at like $300 or something
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Edit: By the way, our gas has dropped down nicely. Here in Apple Valley a Valero is going at $3.08/gal while at home in LA we're still doing $3.23/gal. Better than $3.33/gal+ last week.
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Wow, there are a few good things about Georgia. Among them, I was able to fill up both vehicles yesterday with BP/Amoco Premium at $3.02/gallon.

But then it dropped a few more cents today!
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I pay about $2.75 for BP/Amoco and Sunoco around here, and Shell is probably 2-3 cents more...Pilot and Flying J were at $2.63 this morning when I stopped. Why does it hurt me to feel good about that?
 
quote:

Originally posted by surfstar:
I can't switch from Shell when they give me 5% off my gas purchases from Shell each month. That's 16.5 cents off each gallon at $3.30/gal - if a station was selling gas for 3.135 compared to 3.30 everywhere else they'd be lined up for miles. Even if Shell is 3 cents more, I'm way ahead.

If you use it right, you're absolutely correct. Since we drive a combined 4500 miles a month or so, it would save us some bucks if I could convince my wife...

Problem is, many (most?) people aren't disciplined enough to pay off their card every month, so they end up paying more interest than they save on gas with rebates and such.
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Oil companies pump OUR oil out of the ground at a cost of less than $20/barrel, then charge US the same $60+ dollars for that barrel of oil as they pay for the imported oil (whose price they're also setting since they ARE OPEC). I kinda admire the way Venezuela cuts the oil execs off at the knees regarding the excessive profits per barrel at world oil prices, and uses those excessive profits instead to subsidize cheap gasoline prices AND fund a variety of social programs.

When the oil companies get done securing Iraq's oil, Venezuela better look out.

Regards, GAry in Sandy Eggo
 
"I know a guy who drives an old Mercedes, goes around to several (locally owned) restaurants taking their used vegetable oil, filters it through big coffee filters, and dumps it right in his gas tank. I don't know if he uses any diesel fuel additives, or how long he expects the motor to last, but he has been going strong that way now for over two years."
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You should really take this to the biodiesel thread.
 
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Originally posted by Raven18940:
Don't care, my car loves Shell v-power and I'll continue to use it. Besides, they won't raise their rates unless they can get the other big oil companies to go along with them.

The big oil companies have for decades agreed among themselves on what the price of gas will be in this country. There is no competition. That's why the price at the pump is the same or almost the same no matter whose gas you buy and has been as far back as I can remember, which is quite far back. And that's why when gas goes up or down in price it goes up or down the same or almost the same amount for all the companies.
 
How is it that so VEEERRY few people recognize that the roads ARE a public, mass-transit system? The difference between a highway and (for example) a light rail system is that highways are far easier to build in response to growth (as opposed to the growth having to respond to the transit system), highways are more flexible than a light rail (you can come and go whenever you want rather than on the train's schedule), and highways socialize the cost of transit less than rails.

Think about it for a moment, folks. Highways ARE public transporation.
 
Right you are, bulwnkl. Certain interests have for years guilt tripped us over the issue of public mass transit. Europe has this. Europe has that. So what? If that works for them, then great! Most all of Europe's countries would fit into the state of Texas with room to spare! Somehow I'm supposed to be as stupid as this CEO, and as these liberal think tankers apparently are, and not be aware that there are real significant differences between public mass transit in the US and in Europe! What gripes me, is that many of those same people buzz over to Europe for weekend jaunts but seem to learn little or nothing from it. Many seem to know more about European cities and nations than they do about the states and cities that exist west and south of Philadelphia!

Heads UP, think tankers! Europe is small! The US is large. What might it cost per mile to build mass transit rail lines all over the US like they have in Europe? East Halfasack, NJ might need a transit line, but I doubt a line would profit between there and Shotput, MT or even to Prickleyheat, AZ.

Recently, I was in West Podunk, AR and needed to get to Little Rock. Would you believe there was no mass transit, or even a bus line between those two places? Instead, I had to drive my car, and pay for my gas, which was BTW taxed $4.919191 less per gallon than anywhere in Europe! I felt so guilty that I couldn't take a train! I wasted so much of the world's resources and denied some poor SOB in Calcutta his daily share of the earth's energy resources. Mea culpa!!

Never mind, that this country, for the most part, developed the entire oil industry and some uses for the stuff that no one had any use for before then. This nation developed into what it is today because of its own internal conditions and needs. Geography. Economics. Culture, etc. Quite frankly, Charlotte, I don't give a darn about how things are in Europe, or how much it costs "over there!" Europe is Europe. The US is the US. They historically developed in there ways, as we did in our ways.

At least I haven't forgotten "why" we came here! Now, what we've been doing since we got here is another matter...
 
I listened to the Shell exec Sunday morning on Meet The Press with Tim Russert. I recall the the guy saying that corn based ethanol will cause the cost of Corn Flakes to rise. I'm thinking, it's a good thing I like Rice Chex.
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Originally posted by Clyde65:
...Shell exec... saying that corn based ethanol will cause the cost of Corn Flakes to rise...

Ooooo -- like I'm really scared. There's always Cheerios, and like Clyde said, Rice Chex.

But then there's the matter of all our other foods made from corn syrup!
 
Don't forget our other "mass transit" industry...airlines. Probably not that cost effective to fly from from Berlin to Hamburg, or from Paris to Brussels, or Rome to Florence, or Amsterdam to Rotterdam, but I can't see many people wanting to take the train from Philly to Seattle (though the view would be nice) for routine business. Ever notice how many different airlines are in the U.S. compared to how many in each European country? Big difference...and I'm so glad we don't have to fly "Big Brother Airways".
 
quote:

Originally posted by Clyde65:
I listened to the Shell exec Sunday morning on Meet The Press with Tim Russert. I recall the the guy saying that corn based ethanol will cause the cost of Corn Flakes to rise. I'm thinking, it's a good thing I like Rice Chex.
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This is the kind of lying nonsense that makes me wonder why anyone believes anything that the oil companies say. In addition to which, ethanol can be made from anything that has sugar content or that contains something that can be turned into sugar. It can be made from sugar cane, sugar beets, wild grasses, lawn grass, wheat, wood pulp from lumber mills, and other things.
 
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