Gas is still cheaper than Coca Cola. Oil is precious and valuable - we SHOULD be paying high prices for it.

When gas prices are high, people will finally learn that oil is a limited resource that needs to be conserved. Not only will pollution be reduced but so will congestion. We need to start thinking about long term solutions like: smart development, better public transportation, alternative energy sources, and most certainly more fuel efficient vehicles. It's no suprise that in many other countries where gas prices are high people use public transit more and have smaller more fuel efficient cars.

We're also feeling the pinch North of the Border. Aside from major centres, Canada is very spread out and depends on gas-powered vehicles - the economy depends on it! While we all want to provide aid for the victims of the tragedy that is Hurricane Katrina and pray for the survivors, we also plead for relief from the oil companies that are overreacting to the fuel situation!

I'm reading all these comments about the gas price. Everyone has failed to mention that there is a motor that will run on corn oil. It was featured over 10 years ago on a documentary. It's practical,has power and can be used in a regular automobile. And guess what, SAAB was working on it. Where is it now???? Come on all you "grass roots" hippies. We are old enough to put pressure on the Auto companies or build our own to make the nation get off gas. We could do it if we want to. Instead of blaming each other lets get to work and beat these suckers. Then oil won't be the issue to fight about and the farmer will finally get paid for their hard work.

we have been paying much more than you for years.we pay nearly £1 PER LITRE here, it is just a fact of life.you need to understand that the oil is not a finite resource put there for america to use and disregard the needs of the rest of the world.how many americans travel to europe?you need to see yourselves as part of a worldwide community and act a bit more responsibly,why do you need those enormous vehicles?also what on earth is going on in new orleans,? are you not a civilised country?

The people of America (In general) are not to blame for the greed of oil companies, or questionable (poor) foreign policy of the Bush Administration. All Americans do not waste resources nor live above their means.

High gas prices now are a direct result of years of dependence on foreign oil and poor foreign policy. Corporate greed is not blamesless here either.

The British reader does not take into consideration the average American worker (whose car is small and aged) who is now faced with choosing between buying food for his family or gasoline to get back and forth to work.

The people of America (In general) are not to blame for the greed of oil companies, or questionable (poor) foreign policy of the Bush Administration. All Americans do not waste resources nor live above their means.

High gas prices now are a direct result of years of dependence on foreign oil and poor foreign policy. Corporate greed is not blamesless here either.

The British reader does not take into consideration the average American worker (whose car is small and aged) who is now faced with choosing between buying food for his family or gasoline to get back and forth to work.

The people of America (In general) are not to blame for the greed of oil companies, or questionable (poor) foreign policy of the Bush Administration. All Americans do not waste resources nor live above their means.

High gas prices now are a direct result of years of dependence on foreign oil and poor foreign policy. Corporate greed is not blamesless here either.

The British reader does not take into consideration the average American worker (whose car is small and aged) who is now faced with choosing between buying food for his family or gasoline to get back and forth to work.

As someone who regularly rides a bike to work, I am real aware of how easy it would be for America to do far more with mass transit. Here in Southern California bikers are treated as targets, not people making the situation better. Local governments don't even consider creating more bike paths.

And there has been a huge inertia in creating a comprehensive rail system. Hardly anyone sees the value of rail even though the freeways are clogged from 7 AM till 8PM. There is a rail system that goes to a few places but there aren't enough locations yet to be usable for most folks. In fact, the rail system gets within a mile of the LAX airport and then turns away -- dumb. Clearly other countries have solved the problem elegantly. But America is very provincial in its own way. So we bumble along.

The vast majority of Americans were, until the last few days, blissfully unaware of how fragile the supply system is for gasoline. It takes only hours, not weeks for a refinery shutdown, pipeline incident, exporting country embargo to disrupt the "just in time" delivery system from crude to gas you pump in the tank. The system has worked very well for a long time, granted, but this has left most with the misguided belief that its rock-solid and runs like clockwork all the time. We have been very lucky to have made it this far w/o $4/gallon gas.

Personally, I think high priced fuel would do a lot of people good. We have folks commuting from 75 miles outside of town, when there many options for living closer. Then those folks complain about the congestion on the roads (like they aren't adding to the problem themselves) and the price of fuel as they drive (alone) a pickup truck or SUV that gets 14mpg.

With high prices, maybe folks will re-think massive urban sprawl, inefficient models of transportation and even urban planning.

High oil prices damage many sectors of the economy. Many posts have focused on SUVs (there are many fuel inefficient vehicles out there) but the effect goes far beyond the price at the pump. Goods and services will also go up, often hurting the most vulnerable of our society.
Living in an urban area is great if you can afford it. My husband and I recently purchased a small home within walking distance of the store, metro and entertainment. However, we are fortunate that we can do this. Add two children and we wouldn't fit and would most certainly have to move outside of our comfort zone. Live outside of a major city and you have to drive most places. We need to think about this from all aspects and the varying economic levels of the citizens of the U.S. It is not as simple as just buy a smaller car or walk.
And please stop comparing prices in the U.S. to Europe. Every country adds on taxes at varying levels and most of what is paid in other countries and the U.S. goes to federal, state and in some instances, local taxes.

Luxembourg is smaller than the DC metro area (yes, I checked it on a map). Even France is nowhere as long as the Florida-DC-NY corridor. So, it is a real difference of scale here. The second factor is over 50% of our cities were built after the automobile.

Many cities have no other source of egress (no easy rivers or canals) that does not require motorized vehicles, with the next closest city being a whole Luxembourg away.

In Europe, I'd be surprised if ANY cities have been built after the automobile. The difference between the two is vast; much less provision for walking and alternative methods are made in America. I'm for bike lanes and so forth.
Every 5 miles of road at a standard width, eats up an Vatican city's worth of land, and we have over 10,000 miles of road in america at a extremely LOW estimate.
Hurricane Katina did damage across an area more than 200 km wide, nearly the distance between Luxembourg and Paris. I would imagine such a swath, interposed on Europe would do much more damage than it did here. Where COULD BeneLux citizens run without visas?
Fortunately Europe is too north and cold to be in harm's way of hurricanes.

100 years ago, 2% of US energy was from oil, so there's no reason we have to stick with it. Given time, we can move away from it.

Our government, sadly, simply promotes the consumption of oil.

But, it would be helpful if they adopted a policy of energy independance through both conservation and new technologies.

At the individual level, consumers have cut down on gasoline usage, based on state tax recepts. And, as happened in the 70's, smaller, more fuel efficient cars are now in great demand.

In Britain we have paid for over $7 for decades. Don't start crying about the choice between food and gas, when on average Americans earn more than Europeans and pay less for food. If we have that choice to make we simply take a bus. Stop whining and pay the real price of gas like the rest of us. Adapt. You are a country built on adaption and had a tradition of just getting it done. What the hell happened to you guys?

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