Summer Vacation And Gas Prices

[Superchop]

Originally Posted by raikage

I think it's going to start changing. People are finally realizing that gas isn't going to get any cheaper, and hopefully that will make those fuel-efficent cars more attractive to buyers.

I would still love to get a fully-electric car, but until then I'm just going to bike to work (weather permitting). Have to save up gas money to get to Anime Expo and Comic-Con somehow.

It will start changing but i personally think that these fuel efficient cars will gain the interest more of the older generation and not so much the newer one. I'm not saying that all kids want fast and powerfull cars but i do think that if given the choice...they'll pick a slightly stronger and more "eye candy" car over it's hybrid counter-part. I remember the first time i saw the Civic Hybrid around the time it first came out...i thouht the thing was hideous (still do as a matter of fact) and i didn't even think of buying one even if it did offer me 50+ miles per gallon.

Fortunetely (or unfortuntely, depending on how you look at it) these hybrid cars are coming out and starting to look more and more like their non-hybrid siblings. Now this is actually a good thing since looks won't be a factor in picking between the hybrid vs. non-hybrid version but as it stands the hybrids still don't pack the punch that the others do...except in the case of the Honda Accord Hybrid. The thing has some 240 Horsepower but since it's that strong it's mpg has gone to about half of what the other not so powerful cars can do. I personally think that it's so pointless to raise the cars power and lower the mileage...it kinda defeats the purpose. Granted it's still better then the non-hybrid version but why sacrifice a majority of the cars existence just to be able to go slightly faster.

But yeah...things are gonna have to be changed around a lot...and who knows...maybe we'll even see less SUV's on the road these days.

Hehe, no more taking out the H2 to pick up little Johnny from his friends house a block away.

[Homeschooler_Jenni]

Originally Posted by Superchop

It will start changing but i personally think that these fuel efficient cars will gain the interest more of the older generation and not so much the newer one. I'm not saying that all kids want fast and powerfull cars but i do think that if given the choice...they'll pick a slightly stronger and more "eye candy" car over it's hybrid counter-part. I remember the first time i saw the Civic Hybrid around the time it first came out...i thouht the thing was hideous (still do as a matter of fact) and i didn't even think of buying one even if it did offer me 50+ miles per gallon.

Fortunetely (or unfortuntely, depending on how you look at it) these hybrid cars are coming out and starting to look more and more like their non-hybrid siblings. Now this is actually a good thing since looks won't be a factor in picking between the hybrid vs. non-hybrid version but as it stands the hybrids still don't pack the punch that the others do...except in the case of the Honda Accord Hybrid. The thing has some 240 Horsepower but since it's that strong it's mpg has gone to about half of what the other not so powerful cars can do. I personally think that it's so pointless to raise the cars power and lower the mileage...it kinda defeats the purpose. Granted it's still better then the non-hybrid version but why sacrifice a majority of the cars existence just to be able to go slightly faster.

But yeah...things are gonna have to be changed around a lot...and who knows...maybe we'll even see less SUV's on the road these days.

Hehe, no more taking out the H2 to pick up little Johnny from his friends house a block away.

Goodluck with that. Look out for cars and ummm wear a helmet? O.o

[Aoie_Emesai]

Bush is losing favor toward his on going campaign and here's what he's trying to do now to attract some more people ^_^. Article On Bush On CNN

Spoiler:

Well obviously there's a surge of gas/petro prices around the world but what I think bush is doing is nothing more then a publicity stunt

Originally Posted by Superchop

Pretty soon it'll be up to at least $4 a gallon for regular...I hear that many places in the US have already raised the gas price to about that much..so it's only a matter of time before it hits everywhere. But now they're starting to put out that new "corn" fuel in some gas stations...which would be a good thing but there have already been numerous problems with it...the main one being that people's cars don't start if you use that fuel and if i remember correctly the gas companies aren't taking responsibility for that (correct me if i'm wrong). Where i work this one guy that owns his own gas station comes in everyday so if anything changes and i ask him about it he'll always tell me what's going on.

Personally it doesn't bother me as much as i think it should mainly cause I do have a fairly small car with "decent" gas mileage (given i ease off the accelerator a bit) so whenever i fill up it never costs me as much as the person next to me filling up their SUV. I mean...i dont' like the fact that gas is getting so expensive...but for the most part there isn't much i can do except start taking public transportation...which I dont like cause i won't be working with my schedule. Getting Diesel and Hybrid cars are great ideas, especially now...but like Kamui mentioned, here in the US most people are just too obsessed with HP and never really look at the gas mileage and even if they do look at what mileage the car gets...their decision is then also affected by the way the car looks.

As of 4-25-06 It's average about $2.82 ^_^.

---

Originally Posted by jpwong

What's that convert to? It's $1.083/liter CND here right now (and I'm in an area that actually makes the stuff). Guess that converts to $3.612/gallon USD.

Thank god I don't drive

You are so lucky, I gotta drive every single day . Though on Monday and Friday I dont work so i drive 20 miles less.

----

Originally Posted by srb

China has never been "pure communism" and it has been a controlled market social fascist state with private property for at least 20-30 years now. However, their increasing demand for oil will certainly put a further dent into the price as the suppliers will increase the prices as demand increases, and it will also be a major threat to the environment due to the gas emissions.

Sorry about my misinformation Srb.

[Homeschooler_Jenni]

X__X gas...gehhh

[Random Otaku]

With the price-rise planned for the start of May, we're going to see a nifty price of 6.4 NIS (~1.43 USD) per Liter over here.
The "car" part of me getting a drivers license in the next few months? Just got replaced with a "motorcycle".

In retrospect, it was a good thing that I didn't get my licensed, and a mandatory 2nd hand car, along with my friends a year or two ago. Now I get to see the cars they bragged so much about, collecting dust in the driveway.

[Zero Shinohara]

They expect gas prices to get as high as 5 dollars a gallon in the next 45 days, which is pretty high considering that things here are far as hell. But I'd doubt that it will stay like this for a much longer time.

As for how it will impact my summer... well, I won't even be here; the place where I'm going claims it has autonomy in oil (lies, though :P), so things there aren't much of a concern as of now. But when I come back, it's gonna be hell, just like every summer vacation: Loss of sleep over Brother's invading room at 6 am to play WC3, boredom along the entire summer. And I'll probably have to work.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Originally Posted by Homeschooler_Jenni

X__X gas...gehhh

Ditto. I don't know where you all are from, but even in Indiana it's high ($3). That's saying something.

[Aoie_Emesai]

Originally Posted by Zero Shinohara

They expect gas prices to get as high as 5 dollars a gallon in the next 45 days, which is pretty high considering that things here are far as hell. But I'd doubt that it will stay like this for a much longer time.

As for how it will impact my summer... well, I won't even be here; the place where I'm going claims it has autonomy in oil (lies, though :P), so things there aren't much of a concern as of now. But when I come back, it's gonna be hell, just like every summer vacation: Loss of sleep over Brother's invading room at 6 am to play WC3, boredom along the entire summer. And I'll probably have to work.

You have better start working. You might as well start working to pay those summer tution and summer dues ^_^. I know i'll have to work even more.

[raikage]

From http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/wa...gewanted=print:

May 3, 2006
Plan for $100 Gas Rebate Appears to Be Dead
By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, May 2 — A Republican proposal to provide taxpayers with $100 rebates to compensate for higher fuel prices appeared all but dead on Tuesday, with leading Congressional Republicans saying that it had quickly fallen flat.

"I just think that trying to satisfy voters with a $100 voucher is insulting," said Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House majority leader. "Over the weekend, I heard about it from my constituents a few times. They thought it was stupid."

Other Republicans in the House and Senate did not mince words either.

"It was a silly idea," said Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, a member of the Republican leadership, who predicted that the rebate would not be in the final energy package when it reached the floor.

On Monday, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the majority leader, announced that he was dropping a broad tax proposal from the leadership's eight-point package of energy initiatives. The resistance to the rebate meant that two core elements of the plan were off the table or teetering on the edge.

As a result, Republicans will be trying to regroup on energy measures while under steady attack from Democrats who say the ties between Republicans and the oil industry have contributed to increasing prices at the pump.

The harsh reaction to the rebate was also a setback for Mr. Frist, who last week led the rollout of the energy plan and defended it in an interview on CBS News on Tuesday.

"I think what is clear to the American people is that we have no silver bullet," he said.

"We do have this short-term rebate of $100 per person," he added. "That's the federal taxes that are paid over the course of a year per person on average."

Even as they distanced themselves from the rebate proposal, Republicans sought to show they were taking escalating gasoline prices seriously. Speaker J. Dennis Hastert met privately with Rex W. Tillerson, chairman of ExxonMobil, and House Republicans planned to consider bills on Wednesday that outlaw price gouging and encourage new refinery capacity.

Mr. Hastert said Republicans wanted to make certain that Americans were not victims of price manipulation. The increases appear "disconnected from supply and demand," he said, adding, "We need to know why that is happening."

Democrats tried to lay the blame for high prices on Congressional Republicans and the Bush administration. The Democrats said officials in power had been too close to the oil industry and had emphasized tax breaks for producers of fossil fuel and opening an Alaskan wildlife refuge to oil companies over conservation and alternative energy sources.

"Sadly, we are now living in a new era of robber barons," Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, said about record profits that oil companies are reporting.

"Drill, drill, drill, drill," Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate minority leader, said as he gave his interpretation of Republican energy policy.

Mr. Boehner fired back, saying Democrats had long opposed adding to domestic production and refining capacity and improving fuel distribution.

"They are the ones who have been standing in the way, and I've been a bit surprised that they've not had to answer for their past sins," he said.

The increasingly tough exchanges reflected fears in both parties about how outrage over gasoline prices will play in the November elections.

Mr. Hastert said he believed that Congressional Republicans could weather an outcry.

"We have been through gas spikes before," he said.

The $100 rebate was advanced by the Senate Republican leadership last week as an alternative to Democratic proposals to suspend the federal tax on gasoline sales for 60 days. Almost immediately, it was criticized by callers to Congressional offices and on talk radio as a transparent effort to mollify voters without getting at the underlying problem.

Some Republicans stood by the rebate proposal on Tuesday, saying it was a reasonable effort to provide immediate relief while other elements of the Republican plan were directed at long-term solutions.

"Every voter I've talked to has been excited of the fact that they get $100 tax relief," said Senator Rick Santorum, the Pennsylvania Republican who is in a tough re-election fight. "It does give a temporary help to consumers who are faced with higher prices."

Other Republicans said the rebate was quickly becoming moot.

"It doesn't look to me like it is terribly alive," said Senator Pete V. Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who is chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.