Gas prices were going up NEEDLESSLY before the disaster. Gas companies made record profits this year. There was no need to raise prices before Katrina. Now that Katrina has forced gas prices up from an already high level, someone should really examine the oil companies pre-hurricane policies.

Misterjk...prices are going to affect groceries and other items in stores. The cost of transporting products by truck just went up. Trucking rates will go up. Prices will go up. It affects more than just SUV drivers.

the cheney/bush regime do nothing for the us citizens except their oil buddies. they can send troops into iraq in no time ,but to help the victims of katrina ,just more big talk. where's the iraq oil? the republican facists are gonna lose big next election!

first of all i think your ignorant to say gas should go up seven dollars ... who says that other people has to use their cars to get to work . . . WHATS WRONG WITH U

Tens of thousands of people have had no food or water for five days, dozens are dying waiting for promised aid to be delivered, and you guys are whining about the price of gasoline?

Wake up and smell the hydrocarbons, guys. America is slowly approaching the prices that the rest of the world has been paying for years. Get your goddamn priorities right.

As for FEMA... what a botched, disorganised attempt at assistance. People at the Superdome and convention center don't need to be kept waiting for school buses. They need flat-bed 18-wheelers bringing in bottled water and energy food bars, and taking out 200-300 people at a time to a safe staging area outside the city. That's the place to put them on buses. Just get them out of there!

$7! I don't think even Europeans pay that much. Our country is dependant on the auto. Its our way of life. Unfortunately, we won't modify our ways unless we have to pay $7/gallon. Federally mandated regulations such as fuel efficiency floors won't ever happen becuase of the powerful auto and oil lobbyists. Its a no-win situation. Just make sound individual decisions and be happy that you're not one of those SUV owners paying $80 to fill up.

why are americans being called refugees in new orleans when in florida it was save the americans.

Americans! Walk to work. Ride a bike. Take mass transit. Show some pride in your country and sacrfice your precious independence to help those in need. Even if you don't see the long term effects of US energy use on the globe, this is a time where our collective selfishness will hurt those less fortunatene here at home. Drive less!

WAKE UP AMERICA! Our consistent 'reactionary', apathetic posture to everything in this country is coming back on us like a tidal wave of desolation! sinking morality, no civil defense, energy dependence, terrorism, (the Islamist's are goin' to make Orleans look like a carnival!) corrupt and ineffective, clueless intelligence and self-serving government, rampant unchecked greed. Everybodies been out in LALA land for so long its too late! There's not going to be any 'studies' or 'reccomendations' this time around, we're in the middle of it and it's happening NOW! Like the Cop told the woman in Orleans "Lady, its every man for himself" Get ready people, HE'S COMING BAAACK!!!!

I just spent $50 to re-fuel my car and I am mad as hell. And I heard that the price could go up further What is going on this country? I'm looking forward to taking this anger out on some of my elected leaders this November. And next November. And in '08. Im totally not kidding. If these prices continue to be like this, then a) I'm selling my car and b) I'm going to personally see to it that there will be some serious changes in who represents me.

The cost of gas hits everyone, not just truckers. Huge spikes in the price of gas are obviously inflationary, but if people are paying upwards of $50 per tank, then there will be less money for consumers to spend on other goods and services. That could have a recessionary spiral on this very fragile, consumer-oriented economy of ours.

Let me just add, I hope that the prices of gas will lower in time for my elderly grandmother to afford her home heating. She lives in northern NH and it gets really cold up there. Last year she was telling me about having to make a choice between her heating bill and her Rxs. It looks like she might be facing the same problem again this year, only this year will probably be worse.

Well, we in the Netherlands pay now more than 1.50 euro for one litre. This is about 8 dollars for a gallon. And the government is giving the US gas from our strategic reserves. If Americans stopped with using the planets reserves like madman (25% off all oilconsumption) we could all have reasonable prices.

As someone posted already, the price of gas hits everyone and many sectors of our economy, not just folks who drive fule ineffecient vehicles (and there are a lot out there in addition to SUVs). Trucks need fuel to bring goods to stores, school buses need gas to take children to school, schools will need heating oil in the winter and I could go on here. We need to take a step back and look at the broader scope of what this means. Not everyone lives in an urban area where walking or biking are sufficient means of transportation and for those low-middle income individuals who must drive to work, price spikes hit them the hardest. Please show some sensitivity. Here in DC, we aren't all fortunate enough to live inside the Beltway or on a metro line.
For those comparing prices to other countries...Crude oil is one price based on trading levels but varying levels of taxes are implemented throughout the world, which alters the price consumers pay.
This has so much farther effect than the price of a gallon of gas at the local gas station.

As someone posted already, the price of gas hits everyone and many sectors of our economy, not just folks who drive fule ineffecient vehicles (and there are a lot out there in addition to SUVs). Trucks need fuel to bring goods to stores, school buses need gas to take children to school, schools will need heating oil in the winter and I could go on here. We need to take a step back and look at the broader scope of what this means. Not everyone lives in an urban area where walking or biking are sufficient means of transportation and for those low-middle income individuals who must drive to work, price spikes hit them the hardest. Please show some sensitivity. Here in DC, we aren't all fortunate enough to live inside the Beltway or on a metro line.
For those comparing prices to other countries...Crude oil is one price based on trading levels but varying levels of taxes are implemented throughout the world, which alters the price consumers pay.
This has so much farther effect than the price of a gallon of gas at the local gas station.

doesn't it seem ironic that when gas was $1 a gallon that we were apoplectic about the idea of perhaps funding alternative fuels and increased fuel economy with lets say a 50 cent a gallon tax. but now we are at 3 and climbing. i just want to say nah nah nah nah don't you wish you has listened to the tree huggers. btw haji luvs the income, buy much better bombs with it.

I JUST SOLD MY CAR AND WHAT BETTER TIMING TOO - IT TURNS OUT THAT THE COST OF MY INSURANCE PLUS THE COST OF GAS IS MORE THAN THE RE-SALE VALUE OF THE CAR - TO WHICH I SAY

SO LONG SUCKERS AHAHAHAHAHA I WONT HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE SCAMS AT THE INSURANCE COMPANIES, AT THE PUMP, AT THE PARKING LOTS - I JUST SAVED A BUNDLE OF MONEY AND IM LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK

AND TO SAY THAT NOW THERE IS A DEMAND SHORTAGE IS LAUGHABLE - MORE PEOPLE WILL WAKE UP TO THE REALITY I JUST DESCRIBED AND JUST GET THE HECK OUT OF THE MARKET

SO I SAY AGAIN - SO LONG, SUCKERS! - SEE YOU AS IM ZOOMING PAST YOU ON THE METRO DURING RUSH HOUR!

AHAHAHAHA

Who Are The Real Looters?

Mr. Robert Person of Madison, Wisconsin thinks the real looters in every disaster are the gas and oil companies. He writes in a letter to the editor of the Capital Times (for some reason Yahoo News highlighted this):

Read more at: http://bilges.blogspot.com/2005/09/who-are-real-looters.html

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