About those fuel prices…

[Ulu]

That's insane....and to think we are practically sitting on millions of gallons of oil right here beneath us and all manner of excuses are made as to why we don't have access to it!

Follow the money. Some People are paid well to keep those prices high and lie. Fortunately those people will not live forever.

99% of this is about people, here and abroad. who don’t want US control of things. Considering the people in charge here now, I don’t blame them.

There are only two places to go from here. Our Civilization collapses or we have another boom cycle.

A good portion of the Latin American labor market has moved to the United States, and if we can put them all to work effectively we can roar, economically.

It comes down to whether our workers work better because they like their conditions better, than the workers working in other countries like their working conditions.

They come to America because the conditions here are better. We better keep them better.

 

[dogofwar]

I think what you're saying is that the way that we all don't have to pay whatever prices the *global market* sets for fossil fuels is to not depend on the use of fossil fuels.

As long the supply of THE resource that we all need to go about our daily lives is controlled by global corporations and despots, then we're at their whim and wars, price gauging, finger pointing about why gas costs $5 a gallon and all the rest will continue. Sadly.

The rate limiting step for us moving off of fossil fuels and/or caring about each other doesn't have anything to do with ALSO caring that LGBT people have full rights and can live their lives free of discrimination. We're all in this together!

The rate limiting step for us moving off of fossil fuels - or at least becoming WAY less dependent on them - is a (pick your metaphor) Manhattan Project and/or Moon Landing scale R&D and infrastructure investment in renewables.

Imagine how expensive gas would be if we - at least in the US - didn't subsidize it with our tax dollars as much as we do!

This is a global problem because the richest men in the richest countries made it so. It is their handle on power.

Watch them become media heroes as they “solve” it and blame “others” for everything.

Watch them continue to make all expansion and progress more difficult and expensive so they can keep people jammed together in helpless chaotic situations.

Watch their flacks continue to explain away these crimes as “just the facts of a global marketplace”.

How you control a population is to keep them in a catch-22 situation. It looks like the way out is here or there, but each way is a trap. They turn constantly, and nobody goes forward.

Here’s the thing that amazes me. Everybody’s focused on them selves and their problems and their orientations in their pronouns and nobody gives a fook about the wars.

They are all worried about showing off for some fancy pride month and nobody’s protesting the killing.

Because our leaders have decided to solve their problems with crimes and violence and war, they can continue to expect to see their citizens follow in exactly the same paths.

Crime and violence and war.

 

[Ulu]

I love the car for it’s looks, I want to customize cosmetics wise. I don’t like to speed and put others in danger, so yea I try to be as safe as I can, it is a fun car to drive though ! And yea insurance is 150 and the car note is 600 with 0 down payment and 4.0 apr.

It used to be higher but cars have gotten safer and fewer kids are getting killed in them. I lost a couple buddies right out of high school, because they got into car accidents.

 

[Ulu]

I think what you're saying is that the way that we all don't have to pay whatever prices the *global market* sets for fossil fuels is to not depend on the use of fossil fuels. . .

I don’t know why you would think that.

It’s like you’re just imagining things inside my head for your own amusement.

 

[dogofwar]

To be clear, apart from the dig at LGBTQ people, I'm not sure what you're saying. I think we agree that the status quo is untenable.

Want different direction? Choose - and support - folks who won't put the former CEO of Exxon (who received Russia's highest civilian medal from Putin for investing in Russian oil drilling and infrastructure) and the man formerly known as "The Congressman from Koch Industries" in charge of our foreign policy.

Complaining that gas is $5 per gallon seems to be pushing us right back into the arms of the people who profit most when gas is $5 per gallon

I don’t know why you would think that.

It’s like you’re just imagining things inside my head for your own amusement.

 

[dogofwar]

The United States was a total petroleum net exporter in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the United States exported about 8.63 million barrels per day (b/d) and imported about 8.47 million b/d of petroleum (https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-and-exports)

The answer is not that we don't have access to more oil... there are literally thousands of wells that could be producing oil that are not being used...and thousands more places that could be drilled (legally) that aren't.... but that it doesn't make economic sense for US oil producers (corporations) to add more to global supply. So they don't. Think that US producers or the OPEC cartel or others couldn't just flip a switch and produce MORE oil? Absolutely they could. But they're not. Because their allegiance is to their shareholders and economic returns.

And drilling for oil is different than actually producing oil or having the capacity to refine or distribute it. Think we should invest *billions* more as taxpayers to give to corporations to expand our fossil fuel infrastructure?!

Will higher prices reduce demand for gas? Or just cement the status quo? We'll soon see.

That's insane....and to think we are practically sitting on millions of gallons of oil right here beneath us and all manner of excuses are made as to why we don't have access to it!

 

[krichardson]

Like I already said,there are plenty of excuses being made and I guess folks are going to go with whichever one makes the most sense to them.I've been reminded of a campaign promise that a certain individual made quite a few months ago and with the way things are right now,it seems to be one of two dubious promises that he has made good on.
That's all I'm going to say about it as I'd rather see continued complaining about five dollar gas prices than have the thread locked.

 

[LBDave]

Whelp!.....gas is five bucks a gallon here.

About $6.50 -$7.00 here.
Trucking costs are crazy.

 

[dogofwar]

That's the point: Gas prices aren't high because *any* politician *anywhere* made or didn't make *any* campaign promise or did some thing. It's *not political* unless people *make it political* for *political* reasons.

It's about supply and demand and who controls those levers. And it isn't the US president. It's corporations, OPEC, other oil-producing nations and "the global market."

We're at the mercy of those external entities as long as we're dependent on fossil fuel for our economy. Which is why we need to have broad agreement on a pth from fossil fuel to a sustainable future for our country (and world).

Like I already said,there are plenty of excuses being made and I guess folks are going to go with whichever one makes the most sense to them.I've been reminded of a campaign promise that a certain individual made quite a few months ago and with the way things are right now,it seems to be one of two dubious promises that he has made good on.
That's all I'm going to say about it as I'd rather see continued complaining about five dollar gas prices than have the thread locked.

 

[krichardson]

About $6.50 -$7.00 here.
Trucking costs are crazy.

I've heard that all the dollar stores around here have gone up and they are now three dollar stores!