Americans united fo fuel price control

[KU40]

Originally Posted by djenyc

I'm not sure drugs analogy is valid. For decades, oil allowed more and more people to experience better quality of life. Fighting this "addiction" would be like fighting one's addiction to breathing air or eating food.

Ross

I agree. I don't think we're addicted to oil, it's just a resource that's so easy to use and opens up so many doors for technological advancements and ease of life. We're just using a resource to its full benefit. Just like cave men who hunted mammoths and used everything in the animal. They didn't mean to hunt them into extinction, and I'm sure didn't want to. We don't want to use up all of our oil, but it has just became our way of life like the mammoth was for them. We have to remember that gasoline isn't the only thing we use oil for. In fact, it makes up less than half of the use of a barrel of oil. It has heated our homes, provided road coverings, all the chemical uses (plastics, fibers, etc.), waterproofing, etc.

[KU40]

Originally Posted by Greyg

We can cut back on oil use in so many ways beyond driving. Plastic water bottles and soda bottle, plastic walmart bags, stryofoam fast food containers and coffee cups. Oil is very useful, don't get me wrong, but were using it like it's the only rescource we have. This leads me to an "addiction" analogy. It's all a matter of changing bad habits we have acquired living in a throw away society.

I know I sound like tree hugger.

I don't disagree with you on that. But at the same time, if we didn't use oil, we would have to use some other resource to make our products. What are our alternatives? wood from trees? Mine more metals and rock out of our ground? Those are all finite resources as well and would mess up our visible environment a lot more than drilling for oil does. We could make some things with non-hydrocarbon chemicals, but many of those are hazardous materials that would end up deposited somewhere (although many hydrocarbon chemicals are hazardous as well, so kind of a trade-off there).


Everybody likes seeing all these technological advancements, but I can't help wondering if they aren't actually bad for us because so many of them require us to use even more resources. We could all be drinking out of clay bowls and be getting around on foot while hunting and gathering and we'd still have all of the resources in the world available. But that life was fairly tough, so we advanced, and now we're using our resources up at an alarming rate because of all our advancements. Is life really any easier or better? I guess that's subjective. Medical advancements, sure.

I also agree with djenyc about population. I've believed the earth has been overpopulated for quite some time. Sure they say everybody in the world could have a section and fit in Texas, or something like that, but living space isn't the problem. It's resources. I've always felt insensitive when I think about overpopulation because I can't help but think of so many bad things as natural population control. Things like war, natural disasters, etc. I don't like seeing people get killed. We just need to control things better. China is trying, which......well.......most of us know about that.

[Greyg]

I'm not saying drink out of clay bowls, but how many times have we had a bottle of water, thrown it away when were done and opened another one. Could we refill that bottle and put it in the fridge and take another rifilled one out? Your saving the bottle and a buck and a half on something you can get out of your tap. I'm saying we need to use less of everything, be smarter about how we use things and spend our hard earned dollars. If you don't grow your own vegetables but them fom a farmers market when you can, not ones that have been shipped across the country. These are examples and I realize not always possible. I realize we need oil in the winter for heat etc. but if we were smarter about how we use oil and all of our rescources maybe we wouldn't be in a jam right now.

As far as over population and life being easier or better, that's a philisophical discussion I may need beer or some other mental "enhancer" and a camp fire to discuss.

[bowtieguy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNP8tf78pXc

end of story!

[GasSavers_D_K]

EW, BIll O'Rielly FTL!

[bowtieguy]

it would only cost me ~$120 more, but my concern is the economic affects.

[djenyc]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Were gas to go to $10/gal from $4/gal, it would cost me $150 more per month. Big whoop.

When gas goes to $10, we'll be worrying about being able to afford groceries and stacking up on wool sweaters. Manufactured goods, rents, most services and state/local/federal taxes - I bet everything will go up. Because of lag time, the impact of $100 oil has not propagated through supply chain yet, but it's catching up.

[Greyg]

Bill O'rielly is such a bottom feeder. Much like all political commentators, and really, politicians themselves. It reminds me of when I go to training for sales. All the instructors talk about so many ways to help me put money in my pocket! Of course by selling their product or accessories. It's amazing how much interest people have in how much money I make when my selling their product makes more for them than it does for me. Bill O'rielly cares about "the common man" as long as he gets ratings and doesn't have to directly deal with "him".

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by djenyc

Because of lag time, the impact of $100 oil has not propagated through supply chain yet, but it's catching up.

correct! i deliver produce, and we are working diligently to keep our prices from increasing.

in addition to drilling for oil and ACTIVELY developing alternative fuels, the US gov't MUST tighten its budget in order to, God forbid, maintain present tax cuts as well as lower taxes in many areas.

this is how to stimulate an economy!

[bowtieguy]

Originally Posted by Greyg

Bill O'rielly is such a bottom feeder. Much like all political commentators, and really, politicians themselves. It reminds me of when I go to training for sales. All the instructors talk about so many ways to help me put money in my pocket! Of course by selling their product or accessories. It's amazing how much interest people have in how much money I make when my selling their product makes more for them than it does for me. Bill O'rielly cares about "the common man" as long as he gets ratings and doesn't have to directly deal with "him".

don't misunderstand my use of the link. i'm not crazy about the guy either, but he is very much on target here:

he puts the blame not only on the democrats and republicans, but on the oil companies and consumer as well!