Remember right after 9/11 when gas fell below a buck a gallon?

[pepperbear]

It was around Christmas, and it didn't last that long, maybe a couple of months. Does anyone remember the "official" reason? I did a little research and one of the first entries to come up in Google was this excellent (and prophetic) post from a fellow DU'er. However, I couldn't find any other documentation or news about it. I don't know why it bothers me, but it is very suspicious, and smells of manipulation. What a strange time for prices to plummet.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1513957&mesg_id=1517770

[Skidmore]

1. We are being gamed and extorted, not by any other nation, but

by the petroleum/energy industry and its bought and paid for government officials. They are hardballing to get what they want--permission to build more refineries, drill ANWR, and chew up mountains of oil bearing rock. We are being destroyed as a nation for a few fat cats and their toadies to make big bucks.

[Spider Jerusalem]

2. No, we aren't.

By all appearances, global petroleum production reached a maximum level in the summer of 2005, which it has not since equalled. This is what is known as 'peak oil'. Production has, since, remained relatively flat; demand, however, continues to increase, thanks to growing demand pressure from India, and China. Fixed supply + increased demand and greater resource competition = increased prices. This is very simple and basic economics. The margins between production and consumption are razor-thin, and there is very little overhead capacity. Factor in the collapsing dollar, and the reasons for the increase in oil prices are obvious without resorting to a sinister conspiracy.

The basic fact: patterns of energy use and dependence must change. The US has 5% of the world's population, and uses 25% of the world's oil and 40% of the world's total energy output. This is not a situation which can go on much longer, nor should we realistically expect it to.

[Indenturedebtor]

3. Yep peak oil is here folks and the higher the price the better

I'm ready to see our planet begin to heal. Sorry that we all have to suffer to do it, but my Parents and their Parents were warned. Hell I've known since I was a kid that we are running out of oil and that our planet is being destroyed.

I'm sorry if any of you made choices that force you to bear the brunt of this, but if it weren't for this price hike would you ever have made the right choice for the planet?

I'm glad this is happening, sorry for your pain.

[Frank Cannon]

5. To all you people who are glad about this, kindly fuck yourselves...

with a white-hot cast-iron dildo.

I just got out of a meeting last week with my colleagues where we discussed the very real problem that the rural poor are not seeing their doctors for preventive screenings or to have significant symptoms checked out. They just can't afford the gas to drive there. These people are suffering and dying because of this. I have not seen this problem mentioned on the front page of any newspaper... yet.

I'm glad all of you who happy about these gas prices are young and healthy enough to walk or bike to work, and that you are lucky enough to live in areas with decent public transportation. Pray that you remain as fortunate. In the meantime, kiss my ass.

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. Welll, it's unfortunate...but inevitable, also.

The amazing stupidity and gross selfishness of American energy usage is something that was tremendously shortsighted, to say the least.

[Indenturedebtor]

7. It has nothing to do with me being fortunate

It has everything to do with me choosing to live close to where the work is, and buying a fuel efficient car. Tucson doesn't have decent public transportation at all, but that's our main prerequisite for choosing where we move next.

Like I said I'm sorry that people are suffering, but they wouldn't suffer if they gave half a thought to the future of our planet and the fact that we're running out of oil.

When were they going to start caring? When all the ice was gone and the ocean turned to acid? Oh wait that's happened, and I guarantee that folks would still buy SUV's and choose to live in the country so they can clear cut 15 acres of land for fourwheelin if they could afford it.

[Skidmore]

4. Would it surprise you if I also agree with you?

I do believe that this whole situation is a combination of both scenarios. For the last 30 years, the petroleum industry and the automobile industry have worked together to make certain that we kept using gasoline engines in cities that were laid out without good mass transit. They shut the passenger train systems down that used to service rural areas.

Now, our family happens to be among those who have worked to conserve as much energy as possible, something I realize that many people are being forced to discover at a time when our nation building policies are creating more demand for oil There needs to be a global shift in energy use and planning for the future, starting with a serious look at the level of human population the world can sustain. There comes a point when all of our technology will no longer be adaptive and we will not be able to be the outliers on the evolution curve. How many of us would have survived without technology in the distant past. Little old nearsighted me would have been predator food much earlier in life, and I certainly woudl have stood little chance to reach my mid fifties teeth after having cancer.

[B Calm]

8. I hate to say this but, we're victims of PREDATORY CAPITALISM!