Club Homepage Forums Classified Ads Buy & Sell - Everything But Airplanes Don't pump gas on May 15th!

I just saw a story in the paper today that in spite of the price of gas, demand is still high. The price won't come down until either supply increases or demand decreases.

I'm getting a little sick of this gas price roller coaster we've been on for the past couple of years.

I saw it too, Dave. The article said that demand is running something like 2% ahead of last year.

Whatever...

Tell me about it. I operate four trucks. My gas bill for the 15th was just over $250!!

Reg

Demand may be up by 2% overall, but, how many more vehicles are on the road this year? If the increase in the number of gasoline vehicles results in more than a 2% increase in overall consumption, then the actual rate of consumption would be down.

Whatever...

Had a brainstorm this morning, watching the news, the topic "Memorial Day Travel expected to set an all time record in spite of high gas prices."

I agree with the observations here that not pumping gas for a day does nothing, we'll just all buy more gas the next day.

But, how about optional travel? Wouldn't demand decrease sharply over a holiday weekend if folks just stayed home by the millions?

It's my unqualified opinion that that might actually have the appropriate effect. And what would be so bad about staying home and doing something with the family like have a barbque instead of driving somewhere to vacation? Just an idea.

How about every weekend? I say the Malls and stores should close
on Sundays and people should spend some time with their family
after going to church.
Could be a win win for all.

Just my thought for what it's worth.

And don't give me that stuff about it would be bad for the economy. We did just fine back in the 60's and early 70's.

Ron

George Will had an interesting column today. Besides the increase in consumption, there were a couple of other interesting points:

"In real (inflation-adjusted) rather than nominal dollars, $3.07 is less than gasoline cost in 1981."

"In some ways, Hayward says, America's energy supply is more secure than it was in the 1970s, partly because "since 1975, energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product has fallen 48 percent." Furthermore, "oil represents a shrinking share of total U.S. energy consumption -- from 44 percent in 1970 to 40 percent in 2005." The oil America consumes -- only one-eighth of which comes from the Middle East -- is used almost entirely in transportation. Half of America's electricity is generated by coal, of which the United States has a huge abundance."

Just more food for thought.

Just to maintain historical accuracy ... I remember the early '70's. It was not a happy time, economically. Though that had nothting to do with the blue laws.

Reg

Ron , you hit the nail on the head , I remember the 60's & 70's also , and though the economy was bad during that supposed "gas crunch" , We were a changing society .

Changing many of the Moral values that the country had operated off of for many decades , I know everybody nowadays bases all their political , buisness , or any other major decision on one thing..............MONEY.............It is the controling factor in every aspect of every decision that the powers that be use for what should be done !(right down to the manager at the video store)

Until enough people realize that ........JUST CAUSE IT MAKES A BUCK DON'T MAKE IT RIGHT , and starts making different decisions , My opinion is , we are in for ALOT more of the same !

SO GOES THE HOME .......SO GOES THE CHURCH..........SO GOES THE NATION.......


So the question is....... Whats your home life like ?

I was wondering when someone would post that fact here. I'm not so sure that the price of fuel is out of line. What I do know is that the government should not be stepping in and telling the oil companies, or anyone else, how to run their business. At the same time we shouldn't be bailing out businesses when they run themselves into the ground, but that is another matter. We still have free enterprise in America. How many people spend $1.00 or more for a 1 liter bottle of water?

We will continue to burn unbelievable amounts of gasoline and dump pollution into the air until a cleaner, less expensive alternative comes along. The race for new technology is driven by potential profit. The more expensive gasoline becomes, the stronger the motivation will be to develop better alternatives.

Truth be told, if gas was $1.00 per gallon, I'd probably be driving my truck daily instead of my economy car and burning more fuel. I know that I'd be burning more "100-not-so-low-lead" aviation fuel.