Pinched at the Pump

I asked myself this question:

Question: Why are retail gasoline prices so high?

This website: http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ask/gasoline_faqs.asp#gas_prices

Offered this answer:
EIA analysis of the petroleum market points to the cost of crude oil as the main contributor to the record high gasoline prices that we are now experiencing.
The cost of crude oil now accounts for almost 70% of the gasoline pump price. World crude oil prices are at record highs due mainly to high worldwide oil demand relative to supply. Other factors contributing to higher prices include political events and conflicts in some major oil producing regions, as well as other factors such as the declining value of the U.S. dollar (the currency at which crude oil is traded globally).
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You know what? I'm finally going to complain about gas prices.

For the past few years as gas prices have continued to soar I've taken a pretty nonsensical attitude about it. You have to have gas, as I pointed out in a recent blog. Whether it's $4 or $10 per gallon, somehow you have to work that math out.

And yet I've become increasingly frustrated.

You see, I drive what most would consider to be an economical car. My teeny tiny Chevy Aveo gets (on paper) 23 in the city and 31 on the highway. I'm not entirely sure I'm hitting those marks due to various factors (I speed and run the A/C constantly). However, when I bought the car (ha, read that I as my parents) it cost me on average $23-$25 to fill up.

Fast foward to today and if I were completely empty it would cost $39.49 to fill up.

In 2002 my father bought me my first car, a 1989 Toyota Corolla. It was a total clunker but I loved that damn car. It had a fuel tank size of 13 gallons.

In 2002 the average price for a gallon of gas was $1.30. Which means at empty I paid $16.90 for a tank of gas. I distinctly recall being able to take $4 to the gas station and actually leave with enough gas in my car to tinker around town with.

So solutions.

This is a bit of a tricky subject to research.

I can't, honestly, find any. There is the long term solution of forcing the automakers to improve gas mileage, find new technology, interpret technology that already exists.

And then there is biofuel.

If you don't already know the downfall of biofuel let me give you one hint: check your latest grocery store bill.

Getting higher and higher?

Sams Club limiting your rice buying? Is vegetable oil insane and does purchasing milk make you want to be lactose intolerant?

Yep. Biofuel.

Dumb idea if you ask my opinion.

Here are the Presidential Candidate's potential solutions:

DEMOCRATIC ILLINOIS SEN. BARACK OBAMA
- Double fuel economy standards to 50 miles per gallon by 2026.
- Devote $150 billion over 10 years to developing alternative energy.
- Does not support suspending the gas tax, saying oil companies would simply raise prices to make up the difference.
- Investigate market manipulation of oil prices.

REPUBLICAN ARIZONA SEN. JOHN MCCAIN
- Suspend the gas tax through the summer months.
- Suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
- Has not proposed targets for increased automobile efficiency, and voted against a 2003 measure that would have boosted standards to 40 miles per gallon by 2015.

DEMOCRATIC NEW YORK SEN. HILLARY CLINTON
- Suspend the 18.4-cent federal gasoline tax through the peak summer driving months. A windfall tax on energy companies would cover the revenue shortfall.
- Suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for one year, freeing up more oil for the open market.
- Devote $150 billion to developing alternative energy.
- Raise royalties for oil companies that drill on public land.
- Increase fuel economy standards to 55 miles per gallon by 2030.
- Investigate market manipulation of oil prices.

source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2849693920080428?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
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Make of it what you will. I don't care what your stance is politically, or who has the best solution. All I know is this: somebody is going to have to remedy this situation. Even a little bit. Or else I'm gonna need $20,000 for a Prius.