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Sat 5 Jul, 2008 08:57 pm
I have the perfect solution (HaHa)... Someone who is willing and able should offer gasoline to the American public at cost plus 10% for 12 months for a single payment of $500 today. Given there are about 300,000,000 people in the U.S., if just half the people paid the $500, the funds would total about $75,000,000,000. With that much money, the person (corporation) could buy Exxon Mobile, and keep some profits. Everyone that paid the $500 would be issued a "credit card" type account to charge their gas with. The statements would be adjusted to reflect just 10% over cost for the gas (or some great price reduction). If someone didn't pay the bill, they loose the account and reduced gas prices. One card issued per account, so if you have 4 family members, 4 cards would be needed. After the 12 month time is up, the $500 offer could be repeated.
I know... it's way out there, but I wonder if it could be made to work (just a thought).
the oil companies mostly don't own the reserves, or pump the oil. They buy crude like everybody else, with long term purchase contracts pegged to the spot market prices. do you see the problem??
Don't forget that back in October, 2007, Exxon Mobile has posted a quarterly profit of $9.9 Billion, the largest in U.S. corporate history, as it raked in a bonanza from record oil and gas prices!
I wonder what their profits (and markups) are now?
One of the problems to overcome here is determining "cost". Same problem as working up a windfall profits tax, of course.
Cheaper gasoline = greater demand = higher prices.
The price of gasoline, from a big picture point of view, is going to go up until the demand goes down, period.
Want the big secret? Buy a plug-in hybrid in 2010 (when you'll have several to choose from).
I don't drive enough to care, but that's what I'd do if I had a problem with gas prices. Now what to do about air travel is the big secret I want to know, I have to travel several times a year and that is a ballooning cost that I don't know how to solve.
Robert Gentel wrote:Cheaper gasoline = greater demand = higher prices.
The price of gasoline, from a big picture point of view, is going to go up until the demand goes down, period.
Want the big secret? Buy a plug-in hybrid in 2010 (when you'll have several to choose from).
I don't drive enough to care, but that's what I'd do if I had a problem with gas prices. Now what to do about air travel is the big secret I want to know, I have to travel several times a year and that is a ballooning cost that I don't know how to solve.
what we need to do is have small fuel sipping cars, and rebuild our rail system so that we can get people out of cars and planes for much of our intercity travel. Little problem with that; in the eighties our newly deregulated railroads closed down and sold off much of the rail system. Fixing this mistake and building modern high speed rail lines in strategic places would cost a trillion dollars and take twenty years. We should still do it if we should ever find the money.
Public transportation is a great idea, but as you note is a long way off. Plus, Americans will treat it as a culture shock and as such it will struggle to gain the scale it needs for efficiency.
Plug-ins are on the cusp of being ready for production (there are already prototypes getting 60 miles off a charge and charging overnight) and our current power grids could support converting the majority of gas cars to plug ins right now. Toss in more nuclear power and the smart grid and we're set.
Now yesterday, sitting in traffic, I note that it does little to solve such congestion, but is currently the world's best hope for this particular energy problem.
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