Know what is stupid. I thought prices increase when demand increases. So these prices started going up what, sometime in 2007? What happened? Was there a given month where the people of the U.S. all of a sudden dramatically started using more gas? And as the prices creeped up, did people uses even more gas than ever before?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Prices go up when supply decreases and/or demand increases. In the case of the fuel prices, the demand on the global market is increasing primarily due to growth in the industry in China and India and the increase in the number of vehicles in those countries that has resulted from increased wealth of their populations. The supply has been controlled largely by OPEC nations to increase the price of a barrel of crude oil. Natural disasters, violence, etc. can destroy or idle drilling rigs and refining facilities. This also reduces supply.
It's the futures market and the 401ks/pensions etc(big companies bode well to invest in oil, do they not) and the bunch of boomers/insurers taking out their money to retire on and cover expenditures......their 'credit card' has come due, interest and all....not to mention the banks and institutions that dabble in futures------- and----THERE IS A WAR EFFORT going on.........
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
You are correct that those who speculate on oil futures are driving the price higher. There's a saying about wall street that "the pigs get fed, the hogs get slaughtered". In the investment world, there are winners and losers. Eventually, some investors will be hurt by the high commodities prices.
OK, does this make sense. I see the truckers are having a rally thing at the state capitol tomorrow as a protest to the gas prices.
Doesn’t that sound like a waste of time? What can Patterson or the assembly & state senate reps do to get the Saudi’s to increase production? What can the state do to get more oil drilling in the U.S (so we don’t have to be dependent on the Saudi’s, and any other mid-east area)?
Wouldn’t it be more proper to rally to Washington DC?
Actually, perhaps they should rally to the presidential candidates, after all Bush is a lame duck (and more, but that’s beside the point). McCain wants to protect Alaska. They should especially go after Obuma as today’s gazette business section states that he is opposed to the drilling for oil here in the U.S. –which amounts to continued dependency on the foreign oil – it says Obuma “opposes lifting a ban on offshore drilling and says that allowing exploration now wouldn’t affect gasoline prices for at least five years.”
Now does that make sense? It won’t affect prices today. So, does that mean we then don’t address it today? Let prices continue to rise, and maybe it will be $10 a gallon in 2013 (five years from now), and in 2013 will Obuma still say he opposes lifting the ban because it won’t affect prices for at least five years, i.e., 2018?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
Admit it we just like to drive around- run to the store- run over here and there- I did not have a car in my family growing up. I dont think I traveled more than 10- 15 miles EVER- before age 12-
Now we are at a point where it is just too hard to back off- hey man wake up WE LIKE TO DRIVE AROUND- It would be like trying to loose weight- America has gotten FAT- just like you and me-
ALBANY — New York electric bills will be slightly higher starting in November. Utility regulators on Wednesday started a new program aimed at reducing energy consumption in the state and ordered power companies to collect the money to pay for it from their customers. Some of the ideas the Public Service Commission is looking at include financial incentives to builders to adhere to higher energy efficiency standards and incentives to retailers for selling energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs. Electric bills on average will go up between 16 cents and 30 cents a month as the utilities raise $172 million to pay for the state-mandated efficiency programs. The charges will show up in the “system benefi ts charge” section of bills.
I was pleased to take part in the Truck Rally today from Fultonville to the State Capital... we had a great time, learned a lot and got to meet Mr. Buhrmaster from Schenectady, Jim Tedisco and Governor Paterson. We also met a lot of great people who are responsible for hauling our groceries, food products, soft goods, cars, fuel, heating oil, etc across the state and country. These are the heroes.
Absolutely an incredible event to take part in ... they're talking now about a similar event, on a larger scale in July for midtown Manhattan and Wall Street. I'll be there!
Capitol convoy ALBANY State leaders receive an earful Truckers protest diesel cost spike BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
The state’s capital sounded more like Manhattan Thursday morning as an ensemble of horns blared. But these weren’t cabbies laying on their horns in gridlock; they were truck drivers venting over high diesel fuel prices. Over 130 trucks from as far as Michigan and Virginia descended on Albany in a boisterous rally outside the Capitol. They prodded lawmakers to do something to reel in diesel prices soaring in the $5-per-gallon range. Two truck convoys — each stretching miles long — made their way to Albany from Fort Ann and Fultonville. After joining where the New York State Thruway meets the Adirondack Northway, they blared their horns as they slowly rolled into Albany, stopping near the east steps of the Capitol. When the horns went silent, angry voices erupted. “It’s killing us. The price is outrageous. Something’s gotta happen,” said Aaron Hill, a driver for Longhorn Trucking in Fort Plain. His semi-tractor trailer was among the row of trucks parked along Washington Avenue. At the rally, attended by over 200 people, drivers called for an array of measures ranging from a gas tax holiday to lower highway tolls. As of last Friday, the cost of a gallon of diesel in the Capital Region was $5.07, up 70.5 percent from $2.97 a year earlier, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. Barry Tybor’s blue semi was toward the head of the procession that rode down Washington Avenue. The National Transportation Brokers driver carried around diesel fuel receipts from earlier this month, ranging from $565 to $695. Tybor, a 24-year trucker, primarily hauls paper products from Finch Pruyn in Glens Falls to Fultonville. He said the higher fuel prices are making it harder for him to pay the mortgage on his Gloversville home. “It’s like a roller coaster ride, and it’s getting worse,” Tybor said. Scenes similar to the one in Albany have been appearing around the globe as $130-a-barrel crude oil pushes many businesses toward their breaking points. The Albany rally was coordinated by Truckers and Citizens United, a group that heralds from the Harrisburg, Pa., area and with 52,000 members. Since being created in March, the group has held rallies in Harrisburg and Washington. The Albany rally was mostly peaceful, aside from the noise. But the Truckers and Citizens United members did threaten more protests that would “shut down” Manhattan and Washington. A popular proposed relief measure backed by the truckers was the gas tax holiday, which would eliminate the state’s 32.5-cent tax on each gallon of fuel. The Republican-controlled Senate in May passed legislation for the holiday, but it has met roadblocks in the Democrat-controlled Assembly. “You’ve got to stay with it. You’ve got to get it done. This is a quality of life issue, not just for truckers,” Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno said at the rally. He was flanked by several other state Republican lawmakers, including Sen. Hugh Farley, Assemblyman George Amedore and Sen. James Tedisco. Gov. David Paterson spoke at the rally and reiterated his position on the gas tax holiday: he would support the bill only if oil industry officials promised to lower retail gas prices for consumers. “Until then, I don’t want to take a chance with taxpayer money going to industry,” Paterson said. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver shares the governor’s concern about retailers and not consumers benefiting from a gas tax holiday, leading him to oppose the proposal. But Silver spokesman Dan Weiller said the speaker is sympathetic to the truckers’ plight and he noted the Assembly passed an energy strategy package on Wednesday. The package included legislation for a windfall profit tax on big oil companies and the development of a statewide gas price Web site to encourage comparative shopping. It also allows for the sale of unbranded gas, which could encourage price competition and aims to stop “pump jumping,” in which pumps start charging people before gas is pumped. Other solutions for high transportation costs included a state attorney general investigation into oil speculation on Wall Street, lower highway tolls and the elimination New York’s ton-mile tax. PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER MIKE GROLL/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Above, trucks drive past the Capitol in Albany on Thursday as part of a noisy rally to demonstrate against skyrocketing fuel prices that are staggering their industry. Below, Tom Breen of Colonie cheers the truckers on.
PETER R. BARBER/ GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER A boy covers his ears as trucks blow their horns at Thursday’s rally in Albany.
One can’t help but wonder what scores of truckers thought they were accomplishing yesterday, making a big, loud nuisance of themselves in protesting high diesel fuel prices at the state Capitol. They were directing their ire at the wrong people — state legislators, who have little control over the situation and a penchant for doing nothing even when they can make a difference. And, by driving slowly and creating traffic tie-ups — wasting fuel — they were exacerbating the very problem they were protesting. Growing global demand for oil in the face of dwindling supply is, more than any other factor, responsible for skyrocketing prices. New York’s high diesel taxes and tolls may be making the situation slightly worse, but truckers weren’t screaming bloody murder a few years ago, when the price of diesel was half what it is today. It’s gone up in part because of political uncertainties in the oil-producing Persian Gulf, greed among investors, and, yes, high taxes, but mostly because motorists the world over — including truckers — have been driving more and using more oil. Only in the past year have Americans, for example, started cutting back at all — driving slightly less and driving smarter. They’re combining trips, using public transportation or carpools to get to work, and walking or biking more; they’ve also curbed their appetite for gasguzzling “light” trucks and SUVs. But they, and the rest of the world, still have a long way to go: They’re still driving much more than they should, and much faster. Because of wind resistance, cars and trucks get a lot better mileage at 60 mph than at 70 or 75, but few motorists seem even remotely interested in making that kind of sacrifice. Rather than cutting taxes and tolls — which would only encourage more driving and wasteful use of oil — politicians should be focusing on ways to get motorists and businesses to use less. What’s needed are more incentives for alternative energy development, greater use of trains for people as well as cargo, and even stiffer penalties for personal gas- and diesel guzzlers. And speed enforcement: A 55 mph national limit would save an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil annually — more than we import from the Persian Gulf! Likewise, drilling for more oil in environmentally vulnerable areas, as President Bush is again pushing for, would do little to ease the current crisis. In about 20 years, it might impact supplies and help reduce prices, but at considerable risk to coastal areas that depend on clean water for their economic survival. (A Valdeztype oil spill off the Gulf Coast of Florida would kill tourism in that state, for example.) It makes far more sense to concentrate on developing better energy alternatives, and until they arrive, to drive less, and to drive more efficiently. That goes for trucks as well as cars.
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