Holy crap, they're gonna hold hearings on gas prices?? I guess that means problem solved, right?

It's good to know that they're going to talk about the it instead of, you know....SOLVING THE PROBLEM!

Talking about and investigating the situation, is the first step towards coming up with a workable solution.

Not when they do it over and over again. They did the very same thing last year and the year before, and nothing ever happens. Its the same dog and pony show every frikken year.

The solution is very simple.

1. Build new refineries
2. Drill off our own coasts
3. Drill ANWAR
4. Convert oil shale in the rockies.
5. Increase gas mileage on vehicles

Problem solved.

Last year and year before = Republian Majority. They didn't wanna bite the hand that fed them. Hopefully the congress this year will be different. If not they might not win by such a big margin in 2008... They are voting to increase MPG Requirements. As for refineries I doubt the oil companies want to build them, they like the prices up high where they are now.

You're placing hope in the hands of politicians dude. I gotta you, they can't and won't solve the gas price issue because they are in the pockets of too many people and there are so many environmental laws around oil, the paperwork and fines are enough to choke a Hippo. They will go on and on about hearings and say stuff about windfalls, but in the end they (and I mean Republicans and Democrats) will accomplish absolutely nothing, and we will see the same thing next year when we are staring down the barrel of $4.00 a gallon.

And as much as people bitch and moan about the price of gas, they will continue to pay it because gas is necessity, and they are not demanding real change.

Better than being hopelessly cynical huh Wumpus?

The high price of gas is a natural reaction of the worldwide energy market. Demand is increasing yet supplies are basically still the same below ground, instability has increased and not decreased.

Of course most of those price fluctuations are speculative, Big oil profits actually increased not decreased. Because it's being played on the market, while external factors affecting the oil supply did increase, the supply actually has been expanding in terms of extraction and prospecting, so the oil companies are basically making a killing under the guise of supply instability and price fluctuations. The oil companies of course increase the prices on what is most suitable for their profits, the fact that high energy costs actually stagnant the economy in the long run. The only way that will change is if the self-interest of the American people as a whole and not as individuals or as corporations start to decide on what is best for the country.

America finds itself in the strange position of having to wane off oil dependence while at the same time still relying on world trade oil in US dollars to fund it's gigantic debt.

Go get em' Nancy, and while you're at it, overhaul our health care system, like Hillary did years ago. Oh wait...

That was the same thing they said in California as Enron manipulated the energy markets. We later discovered that it was so high due to fraud. It can be as simple as shutting down refineries at the right time for "routine" maintance. But I have little doubt the commodity markets are being manipulated. That's why after the last round of serious threats to look into the gas prices the price dropped almost 1$ per gallon here.

I wonder if I sent Fox News a tip to check out a certain users profile would they do anything...

See my most recent video submission... EV-1 : Who Killed The Electric Car ? OPEC ? US Govt ?

hey Wumpus, you're forgetting that OPEC pretty much controls worldwide oil prices. US oil sells for the same prices as Saudi oil. Oil companies have no reason to sell oil cheaper than OPEC prices. Actually, if they do that, OPEC will stop selling them oil. The same companies that import Saudi oil are the same companies that would be handling US oil.

Consider this: if they sell US oil cheaper, that means a few things will happen:
1. Other countries (i.e. China) will have more access to OPEC oil
2. the oil companies will make less money on american oil than on selling OPEC oil in other countries
3. once we use up all our national supplies, OPEC oil will cost huge ammounts more.

The most sound business ddecision, is to continue burning off foriegn oil, while keeping local supplies untouched. When foriegn supplies start to get thinner and more expensive, there's all that easily extracted local supply that can then be sold at the high rates set by limites forien supplies, thus maximizing profits.


Google "exxon profit"
please note, these numbers are not annual profits, but QUARTERLY.

24 July, 2001 $4.38bn

May 2, 2003 $7 Billion

10/27/2005 $10B

April 26 2007 $9.28 billion

"you're forgetting that OPEC pretty much controls worldwide oil prices"
I'm not forgetting that. OPEC does play a role but if the government was actually serious about getting off foreign oil, we could easily drill our own. Both China and Mexico can drill in the Gulf of Mexico, but environmentalism we can't. Does that make any sense to you? We can drill it, refine it and use it all within our own borders...that is problem solved. Does anybody disagree with that?

And just for fun, what does Exxon's profits have to do with it?

"I wonder if I sent Fox News a tip to check out a certain users profile would they do anything..."

I'm sure a random poster who upvotes videogame and pet videos is high on their priorities.

Huh,

Gas should be $5 dollars a gallon if it had followed inflation rates like everything else.

Gas prices were held low by tapping into the national reserve during the late 90's

There hasn't been a new refinery in over twenty years because of the amount of regulations to build one is insane. So instead we import over half our oil.

China has become a major competitor for oil for the US, the first time any nation has been a major competitor to the US for Middle East Oil and there just isn't enough.

We use 2/3 of the energy produced in the world but only have a population of 300 million, maybe we deserve gas this high ever hear of that?

Gas prices in Europe aren't higher they just add on a larger tax to discourage people from using automobiles instead they use public transportation.

Funny story I remember economists saying a year before gas prices started spiking that they would be going up to 3 dollars this was still when it was in the 1.50 to 1.80 range.

Yeah there making record profits and guess what people aren't decreasing their gas consumption instead it is still going up.

And yes we do have the technology to make cars have better gas mileage.

Also in conspiracy world why is the car industry trying not to go bankrupt while gas companies profits are going up?

*discard

Self-discarding this video (discard called by original submitter bl968)