There's the same amount of gas whether the companies charge $2 a gallon or $4 a gallon. The only thing that really changes is the profit margin. The oil companies, oil producing countries & the politicians all talk a lot about supply & demand & crude oil productivity & refinery productivity all causing the prices to go up & down. But that's not necessarily true. If the oil producing countries cut down on their crude production or the refineries cut down on their production, there would be less product to sell but that doesn't mean it cost them any more or less to make each gallon of gas or oil. The big companies & oil producing countries are all making record profits. They charge more money because they can, not because they have too. The American consumer is being raped by the oil & gas companies. It is simple greed. If everyone in the oil food chain cut their profits by say 1/3, everyone would still be making a good profit but the price of gas would go down considerably. They won't do this of course because they don't have too. I'm all for people & businesses making money, it's what we work for & what keeps the economy going. But when is it enough? Especially when you're talking about a necessary commodity such as gas, oil & natural gas. In our society it is a necessity. Why can't they be happy with making millions instead of billions? or at least a few billion instead of many billion? Don't you realize that even if we all gave up our performance cars & everyone in the country drove cars that got 50mpg, the oil companies would then charge $6 a gallon so they could keep their profits up. It's not the oil, it's the greed that's the problem. I remember back many years ago when they use to tell us to keep your car running when stopped for a train or a red light because it used more gas to start it than to keep it running. But many years later they admitted that wasn't really true. They just wanted to sell more gas. Remember the gas shortages of 1973? Long lines at the pumps, etc? But once the price jumped up from 40 cents a gallon to over a dollar, all of a sudden there was no more shortage. There hasn't been a shortage in the last 30 years. Oil isn't the problem friends, greed is the problem. Unfortunately it isn't going to change. Of course this is a very simplified opinion of these problems. This could be discussed for hours/days/weeks/years on end but I really just wanted to vent some. Sorry for the long winded tirade. Don ----------------------------------------- I agree, our nation has not been conservative when it comes to our petroleum resources, perhaps even flaunted or wasted them in the past and present. On the other hand there have been a lot of innovations over the years that would have provided much better gas mileage, or even taken the place of some of the gas usage only to have the companies bought out by the large petroleum companies and put out of business. I have experienced this with what used to be two different customers I had prior to their being bought out and closed down. I remember because I had to take back a lot of product back from them and had to pay back the commissions.
The petroleum companies are going to do everything they can to slow the introduction of anything that will reduce the gas usage in this country and their profits. Big money wants even more money and we can do very little about it by ourselves. Chuck Speake 70 Chevelle Malibu Glen Ellyn, IL
