Being from and still living in the South, I see this tradgedy everyday, but it is a tradgedy caused by low gas prices of the past and not high gas prices.

Where gas prices remained high (notably Europe). Sane land use was practised, and they can live with gas that costs twice as much as ours.

We artificially reduced gas prices and let development sprawl. We are left with unsustainable development and are paying the price.

So I pray for higher gas prices so that we move back to cities throughout the South and elsewhere. I just have to hold my heart when I know that people who had little to do with the way the country has grown (other than blissfully remaining ignorant) have to pay such a heavy price.

The US NEVER 'artificially' reduced gas prices.

Our politicians simply didn't slap vastly higher taxes on it, like the glorious "socialist democracies" have done for years.

Examples: ["At the moment, taxes in France make up about 70 percent of the pump price. For comparison, the U.S. federal gasoline tax of of 2005 was 18.4 cents per gallon, with each State adding between 10 and 33 cents of tax, according to Widipedia. That makes the maximum gasoline tax rate 17% in the U.S."]
source: goeurope.about.com/od/transportation/a/gas_prices.htm

["In the latest show of distress, Spanish truckers Monday began a blockade of their country's border with France, lining up their rigs and slowing them to a crawl to protest the cost of fuel. The strike blocked the highway in both directions in southwestern France. The protest turned ugly when would-be strike-breakers in Spain found their windshields and headlights smashed and their tires slashed.

But the Spanish drivers were not the only ones feeling the pinch. French drivers slowed traffic near Bordeaux to demand lower fuel prices, offering a foretaste of a planned national strike by truckers next Monday. Portuguese drivers blocked roads, and in Belgium thousands of labor union members demonstrated in Liège to protest the rising cost of living as a result of fuel costs.

Fuel prices have been far higher in Europe than in the United States for many years, largely as a result of fuel taxes imposed after the oil shock in the 1980s. Taxes account for at least half the price motorists pay, and sometimes more than 70 percent.
...
The police used water cannons and batons in Indian Kashmir on Monday to disperse hundreds of government workers protesting fuel prices, while a general strike shut down the northeastern Indian of Assam, Reuters reported.

Demonstrations and strikes have already forced India, Malaysia and Indonesia to raise fuel subsidies."]
source:www.iht.com/articles/2008/06/09/europe/fuel.php

(The Europeans 'can live with it'..., huh? Apparently THEY don't seem to think so, nor do the Asians!)

Yes..., of COURSE! YOU'VE got the Answer!
FORCE everyone to pack themselves into the cities, live in cramped, overcrowded, crime ridden bee-hives, dependent on the government.
Just the sort of Utopia we've always dreamed of.
Just the 'American Promise' the Founders had in mind for us all!

The primary reason for our high gas price today (law of supply & demand still being in effect) is that with a growing population and resultant increase in demand, no new SUPPLY has been developed in this nation within the last 32 years, because the politicians have made it too costly for ANYONE to jump through all the necessary hoops.
Therefore..., all the politicians now wringing their hands over the short supply and high price have only themselves and their predecessors to blame.

So go on..., 'pray' for higher fuel prices, and to hell with the rural people who produce and deliver your food, who are now faced with the choice of paying for fuel to get to their jobs..., or putting food on Their OWN children's table.

Your Liberal Compassion is UNDERWHELMING!

I heard on the news that people in the city were going to be made felons if they don't cut their grass, so with gas prices really high, there may be lots of felons. Felonies work well for the conservative right wing Republicans because felons aren't allowed to vote.

In underpricing the total cost of energy by NOT tacking on the associated costs of road construction, economic impacts caused by suburban development, allowing building practices that encourage overuse of energy, etc., John is spot on. We did indeed undervalue the TRUE cost of hydrocarbon-based fuel.

John is sort of right, sort of wrong. Those in the South whom this is affecting never lived in cities -- there is no "urban return" to speak about. We have always lived in the sticks. As lifestyles change (from farming as your livelihood to having to drive into the nearest town to work, to buy food) driving costs are affecting traditionally rural groups the most.

I agree that much of our problem is that low energy prices encouraged the kind of growth that is causing all kinds of pain now.

The real problem is that energy prices are rising much faster than consumers can adjust their behavior.

Lets say that gasoline prices doubled in 20 years. People would have time to choose more efficient vehicles, some would choose smaller or better insulated homes closer to where they work, families might even choose to have fewer kids.

Gasoline prices doubling in 7 years have hit consumers effectively trapped into their decisions. They can't afford gasoline for their SUV which may not even be paid off yet. They can't sell their large house because of the housing market. They can't find a job closer to where they live because nobody is hiring.

For a lot of people there is just no way out.

["In underpricing the total cost of energy by NOT tacking on the associated costs of road construction, economic impacts caused by suburban development, allowing building practices that encourage overuse of energy, etc., John is spot on. We did indeed undervalue the TRUE cost of hydrocarbon-based fuel."]

Still thinking in terms of "city" when you talk about "subURBAN" development, you know...?
The rural country and small towns aren't "The 'Burbs"!

Are taxes on gaxoline, burdening primarily the rural poor & working class, the ONLY way that development can be funded?
REALLY?

Are those the people "Compassionate Liberals" want to burden for things like job creation and improved housing choices?
REALLY?

Maybe it's just about punishing the people the left considers "rednecks"...?

Or can we think outside the box for 30 seconds?

Guys - this is a problem that's caused by poverty, NOT gas prices. They gas prices make it temporarily worse.

As for "IBegToDiffer" who said "The US NEVER 'artificially' reduced gas prices."

Oh yes we did, and we do! What do you think the price of gas would be if we did not intervene constantly in the middle east? Military spending is a direct subsidy on the price of gas at the pump.

The irony, of course, is we're actually paying more our of our pockets and people only complain when they notice it at the pump.

$4 gas is a great thing for this country - it's the only thing that's going to start getting our priorities straight. I agree that the sting will be felt worse by the rural poor and clearly we should find some way to deal with that, but lowering gas prices cannot be that solution.

If, however, gas goes much higher, then I fear the shock will be too much, too fast and we may do more harm than good.

Casey - you are right on, but it's totally insane to suggest that public transportation can fix the south. It is WAY too spread out. There are solutions, but that's not one of them.

["As for "IBegToDiffer" who said "The US NEVER 'artificially' reduced gas prices."

Oh yes we did, and we do! What do you think the price of gas would be if we did not intervene constantly in the middle east?']

Actually, LOWER. Constant political turmoil in the producing regions does NOT figure to make production smoother and more efficient, does it?
So our intervention is making it artifically HIGHER.

["Military spending is a direct subsidy on the price of gas at the pump."]

Causing it to be HIGHER overall, NOT LOWER.

thanks alot.

thanks.

teşekürler türkiye.

kaplama yapın.

Guys - this is a problem that's caused by poverty, NOT gas prices.