General Discussion

Marrah_G

(28,581 posts)

55. You really can't compare prices in Europe to prices here

Sun Feb 26, 2012, 12:52 PM

Feb 2012

There are a couple reasons why. First reason is the size and infrastructure. Much of America was populated after cars became the norm. Most people outside of cities cannot get to work or even shopping centers without one. Also there are many taxes on gasoline in Europe that help to fund social programs that we pay out of pocket here.

If gas goes to 5 dollars a gallon here, the working poor are the ones that will be hurt the most. Cities have become to expensive to live in. Outside of cities, public transportation is either non existent or severely limited.

In my case I live next to the commuter rail and work next to the same commuter rail. Unfortunately, I cannot take that train to work because it does not stop in the town that I work.

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Gas Could Easily Go To $5 And Crush The National Economy [View all] FarCenter Feb 2012 OP

I paid $4.35 today. Initech Feb 2012 #1

No.. sendero Feb 2012 #21

The Fed has nothing to do with it. It's Wall Street speculation. NashvilleLefty Feb 2012 #82

No.. sendero Feb 2012 #86

Easy answer. Arrest all of the oil speculators New Yawker Feb 2012 #2

+1000000000000 Initech Feb 2012 #4

Add a few more zeros to that! seeviewonder Feb 2012 #5

You are going to send Seal Teams to London, Zurich, Singapore, Dubai? FarCenter Feb 2012 #6

What the fuck, it worked in Pakistan. OffWithTheirHeads Feb 2012 #7

Al Qaeda is not even close to being in the same criminal league as London bankers. FarCenter Feb 2012 #9

Begin tightening speculation laws here while pushing to tighten them globally brentspeak Feb 2012 #64

I support that. appleannie1 Feb 2012 #8

Wage and Price Controls CAPHAVOC Feb 2012 #18

How about real estate speculators who push up property prices? Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #20

I filled up here in Iowa on Thursday and paid $3.48. n/t seeviewonder Feb 2012 #3

Our beloved oil companies are EXPORTING gas from the US while speculators drive up the price nt msongs Feb 2012 #10

Exporting GAS, not crude oil. napoleon_in_rags Feb 2012 #14

"Increase refinery capacity" is a bullshit RW argument considering how much gas bullwinkle428 Feb 2012 #11

Last week, we imported more gasoline than we exported FarCenter Feb 2012 #12

Refineries have been closed? KamaAina Feb 2012 #66

Since gasoline demand has been falling, they have been closing east coast refineries FarCenter Feb 2012 #68

"a supply glut at the delivery point for WTI in the Midcontinent" KamaAina Feb 2012 #76

The reversal of the Seaway pipeline will solve part of the price differential problem FarCenter Feb 2012 #77

We should start to hear rumblings of nationalzing the oil companies....in the press Historic NY Feb 2012 #13

Fat lot of good that'll do when the actual gasoline is being exported Zalatix Feb 2012 #16

Nationalise the oil and then what? Spider Jerusalem Feb 2012 #17

Here's how this article is playing out over in "Fair and Balanced" Land... dogknob Feb 2012 #15

Build the Keystone Pipeline. Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #19

Let's just fuck the planet over, who cares Hugabear Feb 2012 #22

I'm less concerned about the fate of the lesser-spotted tree frog Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #24

You realize that fucking over the environment affects humans as well? Hugabear Feb 2012 #29

+1 DCBob Feb 2012 #36

Did you ever learn about the RELATIONSHIPS between the lesser spotted tree frog nadinbrzezinski Feb 2012 #65

Uh, Hello? It's all connected. Arugula Latte Feb 2012 #67

Gasoline is contributing to global warming and reduced crop yields. Zalatix Feb 2012 #69

You want to see hungry humans? Wait until global warming destroys the Great Plains NickB79 Feb 2012 #84

�Hydraulic fracking is very much a necessary part of the future of natural gas,� Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #51

Do I agree with everything that comes out of the Obama administration? NO Hugabear Feb 2012 #62

You do realize that the oil transported through that pipeline will do nothing for the US MadHound Feb 2012 #73

Except there is plenty of crude. Problem is refinery capacity and gasoline exports. Exports are yellowcanine Feb 2012 #87

There is no glut in crude, we are importing 8.7 million barrels per day of crude FarCenter Feb 2012 #88

I paid $8 a gallon here last week, and the national economy still isn't crushed DFW Feb 2012 #23

We Americans are really spoiled when it comes to gas price. DCBob Feb 2012 #25

Germany is the size of Montana. Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #26

Th EU is bigger than just Germany, and with a bigger population than the USA DFW Feb 2012 #35

doesn't a large part of the price you pay go to government tax receipts magical thyme Feb 2012 #31

1. mostly yes, and 2.) mostly no DFW Feb 2012 #37

road maintenance and improvement. magical thyme Feb 2012 #38

Roads in the Northeast will likely deteriorate sharply as the price of asphalt increases FarCenter Feb 2012 #42

I don't know magical thyme Feb 2012 #53

There are refineries in the Maritimes FarCenter Feb 2012 #61

the speculators never run out of money magical thyme Feb 2012 #63

When you're a country in the middle of a continent that borders on ten other countries, DFW Feb 2012 #47

Yes they are turning to gravel CatholicEdHead Feb 2012 #54

Germany, France and Britain are much better equipped for mobility sans automobile..... marmar Feb 2012 #39

I wish! DFW Feb 2012 #49

what is the average commute in Germany? nt Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #50

Depends on what you do and where you are. DFW Feb 2012 #56

I meant more of a distance calculation. Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #78

Bamberg is a relatively small town DFW Feb 2012 #81

You really can't compare prices in Europe to prices here Marrah_G Feb 2012 #55

In some cases, the reason for that is enough to make your blood boil DFW Feb 2012 #58

I agree it is infuriating. Marrah_G Feb 2012 #59

It's about the same price in the UK, actually Spider Jerusalem Feb 2012 #85

That article sounds like Drill, Baby, Drill to me lunatica Feb 2012 #27

this will be a good thing in many ways Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #28

So you're rooting for $5 gas. Nice. Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #32

whatever it takes. Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #33

We should have been increasing the taxes a dime a year since the '70s FarCenter Feb 2012 #43

You forget that farmers and cattlemen can't work in the cities. KatyaR Feb 2012 #41

IIRC, gas and diesel for use in tractors on farms is not taxed. FarCenter Feb 2012 #44

But how do the farmworkers get to the grocery stores to buy food? Nye Bevan Feb 2012 #52

We used to go to town once a week, or less when the roads were bad FarCenter Feb 2012 #60

NEWS FLASH!!! We've already passed the point of peak oil. The cost of gasoline can ONLY go up Zalatix Feb 2012 #70

So you want to use gas prices as a blunt object to force people to repopulate urban hellscapes Sen. Walter Sobchak Feb 2012 #71

Won't have to be "used". It will happen naturally. nt Snake Alchemist Feb 2012 #79

X2 moparlunatic Feb 2012 #30

Yes, it's time to change our driving habits. ananda Feb 2012 #34

additional pipelines and areas opened up for drilling won't save the economy... ibegurpard Feb 2012 #40

The speculators are betting on the EU boycott of Iranian oil and the possibility of an attack FarCenter Feb 2012 #45

well, right ibegurpard Feb 2012 #46

Regulation of oil speculation in the US won't affect the world market FarCenter Feb 2012 #48

Yet the Ford F-150 is the #1 selling car in America taught_me_patience Feb 2012 #57

Doubtful. But it is due to speculation, higher demand internationally, and the Iran shit. RBInMaine Feb 2012 #72

Like many others on the coasts, you are forgetting something about "flyover country". MadHound Feb 2012 #74

If the price of energy goes up, the price of food will go up, and we will eat less FarCenter Feb 2012 #75

sadly.... unkachuck Feb 2012 #80

So in summary: 1) approve Keystone XL, 2) build more refineries, and 3) scrap clean-air rules NickB79 Feb 2012 #83