I'll take $2.25 a gallon. When I graduated High School in 1984 gas was around $1.10 a gallon here in the Boston area. I was making $3.35 an hour. At 4% per year that would be $2.61 a gallon now and the $3.35 would be $7.93 an hour. I make slightly over that an hour now so gas really is cheap in the big scheme of things.

And factor in the fact that my FEH gets about 2-3 times the miles per gallon that my $25 '74 Maverick with the 302 got and I'm hardly in a position to complain.

I quite agree with that statement. Unfortunately, it doesn't state he wasn't responsible for them going up in the first place. But no, I don't think he was responsible.

Oil companies do what they want. I think they know it's in their best interest to keep a Republican Congress and are acting accordingly. Everyone on both sides of the fence knows that Democrats are going to regulate the crap out of the industry and fight drilling the ANWR.

It's the equivalent of a mosquito pulling out when he thinks he's about to get swatted.

Would-be hypermiler

It's not the oil companies who control gas prices.

It's the state of the international oil market.

US Politicians have very little control over the ebbs and flows of that market.

OPEC is going to cut production to keep crude above $60 a barrel, so the lowest the US gas average will hit cannot be much lower than $2.25 at that oil price.

At $2.25/gallon, it's almost an investment.

I was making about $8/hr in 1984 and gas was a mjor budget item for me.

My first car was a 1976 Pinto station wagon. It had a V6 so it was more impressive to my friends than a Vega. I thought I was in there with gas mileage, even with the bigger engine. I got 20 mpg on my I-5 road trips. But you know, a friggin Hummer H2 is more environmentally friendly at the tailpipe than that pony wagon I had - by a long way too.

In the big picture of historical inflation, I think $2.25 a gallon is a fair price. It makes sense, oil producers and refiners should be able to make decent money, and its a sensible price for demand.

I remember not even 10 years ago, gas was right at about a $1. There was a "spike" to like $1.25 and people started asking questions. I recall the chairman or Chevron on a local NPR program pointing out that there were not a lot of liquids you could buy for $1 a gallon... not that it's apples to apples, but what liquid product could you buy in a grocery store for $1 gallon then? And at the time, Chevron was not awash in profits.

Anyone of us can buy stock in Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, etc. Shareholders own the companies and we all have the opportunity to buy a piece and share in the profit.

But the oil business has been cyclical now for decades. Nobody will give a rip if oil compnaies start losing money in two or three years - it will be "serves them right for making some much mocney in 2006." But hey, nobody has ever given a rip about oil companies losing money in the past either.

I often wonder if this could be the last hoorah for big oil. They may never see a cycle like this again. Think about what is happening. Even the stinkin Escalade will have a hybrid power plant available with a 25% increase in mileage. Car companies start doing this and SUV could start meeting CAFE standards that are not even applicable to them. What if fleet fuel effciency started going up without the governement mandating it? What if the majority of new cars over the next two or three years got just 5 mpg more than they do today?

My Prius "penciled out" in cost effectiveness. I am looking into solar electricity on my house because it's not a money loser. It will cost me a few extra bucks at first, but not a lot extra if I amortize it out five to eight years. After that, I could have $0 electric cost. Granted, a taxpayer subsidy is still required for the payback to take less than 10 years. And there is always that risk that more green electricy sources are online and rates could drop, making the payback diminish on paper. But look at some of the people complaining about how dropping gas prices wil impact the savings they get with their hybrid cars. Crazy talk if you ask me.

I think most people who own hybrids and are "troubled" as I am about lower gas prices are concerned more than with their own wallet. I know I am.

The higher gas prices have done a lot of good things:

1. Helped end the crazy and wasteful "SUV Era"
2. Made people think more about how large a vehicle they REALLY need
3. Driven people to consider alternate modes of transporation besides the "one person one car" mentality.
4. Put conservation into people's everyday thoughts and conversations.

All those things are good reasons for higher gas prices. There are very few sectors of American society who benefit from lower prices (trucking industry being the number one on that list) and a TON of areas where higher prices are best for us all.

Faster payback for a hybrid vehicle investment is a very selfish benefit to claim, IMHO.

.
.

The little wink face meant I was being sarcastic....

lol - I just think it's reality kicking in. I feel americans have been used and abused when it comes to fuel prices. There is no way gas/oil prices should have been that high ever or even now. I have seen some of the big energy analyst numbers and they are expecting oil to drop below 60 into the 50's and some forcast into the 40s. Our markets have been manipulated by money makers which inturn has made the average american citizens money losers. But I think most speculative traders have left energy and are now looking for the next thing. During the early to late 90's it was tech, now energy, what's next. Yes I agree with most that gas usually drops this time of year but when have we ever exp. the land slide like we have recently. I think in the next few weeks gas will be close to/under $2. I also think the shift in consumers vehicle purchases are putting pressure on the industry. If the shift continues we may be looking at oil in the 20-30 range again - lol. But seriously I am considering a compact/hybrid for the simple reason of cutting our dependence on oil. It pains me to see other countries make horrible comments about us when we are helping there economy as much as we are. So in the next few weeks i am turning of my oil faucet and trying to conserve more - lol.

I think lower prices are a win-win. Both for the economy and for families.

I'm not sure why hybrid owners would be less happy with lower prices. I think most folks think a car "just gets what it gets" for mileage and takes for granted/forsakes the great opportunity which refined driving habits presents.
Some have shown that a few regular gasser economy car drivers can beat hybrid numbers, and many hybrid drivers don't take advantage of the potential already built into their cars.
Sure there are some with terrible driving conditions and doing what they can...but most rely on the car to do it all. (Judging by what I see on the road, not neccessarily GH members)
(Ok I'll get off my soap box now)
I really don't agree with the idea that people will flock to buy SUV's anymore, or to collectively forsake conservation, and I don't think gas is really all that cheap.
Fuel consumption awareness always follows a price increase, and even when gas went from $3.98 to $3.95 folks reacted like a windfall and back to normal wasteful driving habits.

In 2003 I was researching economy cars to be in the market for 2004. I was switching from mid-size to economy for my long drive and average price in my area was almost $1.00.
I bought my HCH on Jan 18 2004 when gas was raised to $1.24 and I still have my 1st tank reciept. So if prices have almost doubled in 3 years I wouldn't call it cheap.

Efficient drivers do it better.
1003 miles a tank personal record. 74MPG calculated. HCH1 CVT