While it’s fairly obvious that most of us are pretty upset with the fact that gas prices have gone up so much in a relatively short amount of time, according to a recent survey on Daily Fuel Economy Tip, who we feel is to blame is a little more up in the air.
When asked, “Who or what do you blame the most for the record high gas prices?” 49% of respondents stated that they blamed “Big Oil”; 27% of respondents are blaming the Bush Administration; 21% of respondents believe increased demand is to blame; and 3% of respondents feel car manufacturers are the main culprits.
I figured that most people would lay the blame for higher gas prices at the feet of “Big Oil,” especially considering the fact that just the other day 80% of respondents in another Daily Fuel Economy Tip poll stated that they felt oil and gasoline companies had manipulated the supply of gas in order to cause prices to increase.
However, as odd as it sounds, I was mildly surprised when only 49% of respondents in the most recent poll stated that they felt “Big Oil” was to blame for the record high gas prices.
The item that really surprised me the most was the extremely small number of people who blamed car manufacturers. The reason this kind of caught me off guard is whenever the conversation of gas prices comes up, inevitably someone will start talking about “gas guzzling trucks and SUVs” and how car makers need to produce more hybrids/fuel efficient vehicles.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to blame the car manufacturers – ultimately, the consumers decide what the manufactures will make based on what vehicles are in high demand – but I just figured more people would have voted for them.
Personally, I voted for the increase in demand for gasoline; as I’ve stated several times on this site, the only way that we’re ever going to see gas prices fall is if we reduce the amount of gas we use.
Regardless, because the responses to the polls were so spread out, it seems like we might not ever be able to agree on who we believe is really behind the huge jump in gas prices.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I blame the federal government. They refuse to use our own oil supply in the United States. Kudos to car companies, for rolling out hybrid and other alternative fuel burning. Only problem is not every tom, dick and harry has 20-30 grand to drop on one of those.
The government is stalling the issue for one reason. If we find an alternative, renewable fuel source and it becomes mainstream. The Government will lose an astronimical amount of tax dollars. How much can the government honestly expect to be able to tax Ethanol? A renewable fuel made from corn.
Ya i’m 17 and $20 used to fill my Dodge 1500 halfway…it doesn’t now! I’m not really sure why gas is high whether its some dude not pumping oil fast enough or a tree hugger holding a sign is in the way,I just know that gas is going UP UP UP and my moo-lah is going DOWN. Thank God i’m a waitress and get cash everyday otherwise i’de never have the money to get gas!
Interesting post. I personally feel, like you, that the recent rapid rise in gasoline prices is the product several sources (e.g. OPEC, supply and demand, corporate shenanigans, etc.).
Another possible source for the increase in fuel prices is, believe it or not, the government’s mad dash to increase the use of biofuels.
This New York Times article explains:
“They [the oil companies] point to a surprising culprit: uncertainty created by the government’s push to increase the supply of biofuels like ethanol in coming years.
[...]
“That has forced many oil companies to reconsider or scale back their plans for constructing new refinery capacity.
““If the national policy of the country is to push for dramatic increases in the biofuels industry, this is a disincentive for those making investment decisions on expanding capacity in oil products and refining,” said John D. Hofmeister, the president of the Shell Oil Company. “Industrywide, this will have an impact.””
Shrill, interesting point. I didn’t expect that biofuels would have that much impact on gas prices, but the article does bring up valid points. I’m personally opposed to certain biofuels (particularly E85), but for different reasons (corn for fuel takes away corn for food).
I “blame” supply and demand, and I don’t think Travis, that those reserves are enough to change the supply and demand equation.
But then, “blame” is a silly word. I don’t really blame anyone. Prices in a market economy “just are.” There is really no high or low, there is just what we’ll pay and what we won’t.
If they feel too high to you, move closer to work, or get a job closer to home, or drive a smaller car, or walk or ride a bike, ….
In a market economy you don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to. You certainly don’t have to buy as much gas next year as you did this year.
I think its a combination of all those factors together. And we should act by demanding car companies change and demanding that the federal government mandate that change.
Bring it on! I want gas to be up around $5.00 to $7.00 per gallon. At that point,
1. People will change their driving habits and the types of vehicles the drive.
2. They won’t drive and will have to take public transportation, walk or bike. This will mean that more work will be done on mass commuter systems, bike lanes,etc.
3. Urban sprawl will stop because people wont be able to afford to drive in from 50 miles out. This will save trees and wildlife.
4. People will stop buying gas unless they have to and if they do, it will be to fill up their Prius or other high MPG vehicle. This will force all the car company’s to make more efficient cars and it will be the end of SUV’s that put tons of crap into our air and have terrible gas mileage.
5. As people stop buying gas and forcing more efficiency, gas companys will lose profits as there will not be as much need for gas, thus ending our “addiction” to gas and the end of multi-billion dollar profits.
So, bring it on!! $7, $8, $9 per gallon will work great!
Jim
The simple fact is for those of you praising ethanol as a viable alternative; you don’t know what you’re talking about. To create fuel from corn for our population in the United States or even a single state would require such a large field of corn that it would be comparable to the “pod fields” in The Matrix.
Please wake up. Stop believing everything that you hear and read. Start using common sense and think for yourselves.
The goverment wants your dependance on gas.
Thats why bio fuels are heivly priced, and anyone running diesels with WVO are getting fined and taken to court due to useing a free fuel.
Sarin, could you please cite examples with links?
Man some of you people really are dense. ONLY because of how IMPORTANT this subject is and ONLY because the only way to beat it is to WIN BY NUMBERS that means I have to try to educate you.
“there is just what we’ll pay and what we won’t.
If they feel too high to you, move closer to work, or get a job closer to home, or drive a smaller car, or walk or ride a bike, ….”
There is no price at which we will not pay (within reason and they are not stupid enough to pass that point)
Do you realize how much it costs to move ? NO high price in gas can ever ba as HIGH as the cost to move for 99% of us. Oh get a job closer to home thats so fraking easy why did I not think of that. God that makes me mad when people who have it well are so stupid as to say GET a different job !!! OH just buy another car. Thats just so damned easy. I have less than $50 left over from each months income after all bills and expenses. Please by all means go find me a $50 a month car with better economy than the 28-30mpg I am getting now. Walking and Biking DO NOT WORK for the mass majority of us. Get over it. This is not europe.
“1. People will change their driving habits and the types of vehicles the drive.”
Only in your fairy tale. for the people that ACTUALLY need to worry about gasoline prices are the VERY SAME people absolutely INCAPABLE of buying a “new car” (used or otherwise) and driving habits will only go so far. The LESS gas we use the HIGHER the price will go to compensate for the lower usage to maintain the profit margins.
“2. They won’t drive and will have to take public transportation, walk or bike. This will mean that more work will be done on mass commuter systems, bike lanes,etc.”
YUP you got me there. I forgot we live in a Star Trek universe with matter replication on a mass scale we can just POOF Computer Construct Mass Transit system. Acknowledge Energising matrixes Mass Transit System ready for use.
OH wait ?? we DON’T live in that universe ? Ahhh you had me fooled there for a while. SO as people start LOSING there jobs and falling into debt and the gov realizes we have to build public transit. Is your brain even capable of imagine how much TIME it will take to actually CONSTRUCT such a system?? ANY clue at all ? let me educate you if we FULLY mobilized every construction company in this country and have an UNLIMITED BUDGET I figure it will be 5 year before the first minimal routes start to mobilize and 10 years before it can make a significant DENT in the issue.
So the 80% of the population that lives pay check to pay check has enough “reserves” in the bank to hold out for 5-10 years right OWE wait I just said they live pay check to pay check. Ahh pitty.
What is the average DRIVING distance for a work commute ? Besides the people who will have the secondary benifit of losing some weight (me) our resource usage will SKY ROCKET as people start to eat much greater quantities of food to supply this energy to ride bikes these mammoth distances you think we can all just start doing like magic. So we transfer the cost from the gas tank to food and food goes up in price because THAT MARKET is largely driven by supply and demand. We have no more real supply so demand going up does what…. Yeah your really thought this through.
“3. Urban sprawl will stop because people wont be able to afford to drive in from 50 miles out. This will save trees and wildlife.”
NO it won’t we have well over 300 MILLION people here.
We already have what 7 million in NY ? how many more people do you think our cities can support ? they are already over crowded.
how many JOBS per square mile do you think EXISTS in our cities ?
Even if everyone COULD move (people living pay check to pay check which is 80% of us CAN NOT AFFORD to just “move” the cost of the MOVE would be greater in the first year than the next DECADES worth of gas for most of us) Most of us to not have the luxury of that kind of liquid financials or we would not e whining about ineffecient cars and gas prices.
And what happens to all the MILLIONS of companies and jobs IN those urban areas. What kind of an effect does the termination of all those companies and jobs have on an economy. Have you even TRIED to think about the foot your shoving squarely in your mouth ?
I am sorry to be so harsh and mean but I am SICK AND DAMNED TIRED of people SPOUTING all this idealistic BS without putting an OUCE of actually THOUGHT into the REALITY of this.
$7 $8 $9 a gallon will put MILLIONS of people in irretrievable DEBT as they lose there jobs for the simply inability to afford GETTING to there jobs. As people go unemployed and have not the finances to support themselves as they seek a new closer job of which will run out AMAZING fast and they are not in absolutely no position to move as they are LIKELY in a forclosure situation or eviction situation by this point (no job no money for rent or mortgage)
Unless auto makers can instantly replicate cars star trek style and GIVE them to people they will NOT come fast enough to have any effect on the suffering people.
NOW for this reason alone we are not going to see $9 gas because they will suffocate there customers right out of the market. They are smart enough to know this They will wait until the bogus hybrid technology is prevalent enough before doing that so that your “per week” fuel costs will be about the same as they are today even though your buying half the gas.
We have to STOP using gasoline all together. There is ONLY one way to do this and its NOT alternative Fuels or walking of biking. its ELECTRIC POWER. it is the ONLY viable technological answer we have.
Hydrogen is a WASTE. COME ON PEOPLE please please remember your 5th grade chemistry. WHAT IS HYDROGEN POWER
Hydrogen power is ELECTRIC POWER without ANY of the benifits of ELECTRIC POWER.
Let me clue you in on the PROCESS of Hydrogen powered fuel economy.
You use ELECTRICITY to make Hydrogen and then use the HYDROGEN to make ELECTRICITY..
THINK about that for JUST a second. JUST THINK ABOUT THAT. Your taking electricity and converting it to Hydrogen and then converting it back to electricity.
With EVERY conversion there is LOSS (NO reaction is 100% efficient entropy insures that demands that its a LAW of the universe not a rule we can bend.
SO how exactly is going from electricity to hydrogen to electricity better than just USING the damned electricity ??
THINK people THINK. Just THINK about it.
Hey Chris, I cut my yearly gas use in half. What have you actually done?
Oh, by the way, the statistic is that 50% of all American workers commute less than 5 miles. If you aren’t one of them, maybe you can at least support bike lines and low bus fares, to get THEM out of their cars.
Way to go Jim Groves. That’s what we need more of in this country, environmentalists that have too much money and probably no kids, hence the disliking of SUVs and vans. People want to live and enjoy their lives, not give a crap about how many elk are displaced in the nearly 600,000 square miles of Alaska. Most level-headed Americans understand the global need to conserve our natural resources, to a point. However, that’s not OPEC’s or any goverment’s decision to make but one that should be made by the majority of the people PAYING for their fuel. Although I will never resort to such insanity, I foresee a frightening problem with violence at the pump before gas prices fall back to a price that’s sensible.
Hey odograph, I’m in the same boat as Chris. Will you grant me a loan with the money you’ve saved by cutting your yearly fuel costs in half? Don’t you mean you’ve cut your lifestyle in half to keep from paying more than you’ve always paid for fuel? No offense, but there sure are some morons in this world. I guess that’s why we’re having problems in the first place.