Gas Prices
That’s Gasbuddy.com’s 5-year track comparing Buffalo’s gas prices (blue) to the US average (red). When we left Buffalo last Saturday, gas prices were around $3.40. They were about the same in Florida, and stayed about the same all week; we paid a low of $3.37 and a high of $3.50. So imagine my shock when the Tops gas down the street was at $3.65 yesterday. What kind of bullshit is this?
And what kind of bullshit is the fact that our gas prices used to pretty closely track the national average, but especially since Katrina (the big 2005 spike), we’ve been about 20 cents higher.
So, gas prices and the economy in general have me pretty well spooked, but the problem is that there’s nothing really worth getting to replace the Passat Wagon and help out with mileage. Diesels aren’t here yet, the Smart forTwo gets real-world mileage that isn’t any better than a normal-looking Nissan Versa or Toyota Yaris, and they can’t import the diesel Smart - which gets 70 MPG - due to emissions problems. I’m interested in the Jetta Sportwagen because I like wagons’ versatility, and this one will come with a panoramic sunroof and a 50 - 60 MPG TDI engine.
The problem is, diesel prices are even worse. Is it a better deal to get 700 miles’ worth of range from a 15 gallon tank of $4.20/gallon diesel versus 400 miles’ worth of range from a 19 gallon tank of $3.65/gallon unleaded? Diesel: 9 cents/mile. Gasser: 17 cents/mile. A very big difference.
What, if anything, have you done to deal with ridiculous gas prices?
Denizen Says:April 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
I find it ironic that a story about “Gas Prices” is filed under “Lifestyle.”
Actually, that’s what the greater picture is all about. Hopefully rising gas prices will wake up the masses and make them realize how piggish their fuel consumption habits are.
The notion that one’s mundane daily errands should require 3,000+lb steel beasts to piss mass quantities of fuel for many miles at a time is outright asinine when put it in perspective.
The situation is getting desperate here in the U.S. for the average citizens transportation needs. Our development of the past decades has practically mandated car ownership to travel to and from work and shopping centers under the assumption that fuel would always be cheap.
Many postulate that we’re living in the last days of cheap energy and cheap resources in general but hardly anyone knows it. Why? — because all of our governmental and business policies would have to be altered from expectations of growth to immigration, road projects, suburban development, anything surrounding growth — nobody wants to do that.
So next time we bitch about gas prices, let’s try putting all these things into perspective instead of just assuming cheap gas is a birthright.
hank Says:April 21st, 2008 at 2:00 pm
1. Put my Corvair back on the road. I still use a tank a week, but it’s a 12 gallon tank, not 27 like my pickup.
2. It’s time that the states and the feds find something other than Gasoline to tax. If the Fed. and NYS Tax was taken off your gas how much would it cost then?
Tax Cigarettes—Tax Cigars, Legalize and tax cannibis, Increase the alcohol tax.
TELL THE GREENIE LOONIES TO GO TO HELL AND START DRILLING IN ANWAR LIKE WE SHOULD HAVE IN 79—CARIBOU DON’T NEED OIL. 99% of all species that have existed on this planet are now extinct. If the Caribou go,(which they wouldn’t), would you cry? They don’t even TASTE good when cooked. too stringy.
Stop licking Algore’s taint and start working on Hydrogen fuel cell technology NOW –HARD AND FAST. Eliminate oil as the #1 mover of the world’s goods.
Lots of things to do–who’s got the balls to do them?
eac Says:April 21st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Seriously?
Derek J. Punaro Says:April 21st, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I think the advantage for diesel cars is going to quickly evaporate as the demand skyrockets with the increase in 50-state legal diesel engines and more models using them. I’m already seeing $4.50+/gal diesel prices at my regular gas stations, and demand is certainly going to keep pushing that up.
What am I doing to deal with increasing prices? Well, I got the wife knocked up so she can eventually quit her job and stay home with the kid. Not recommended for everyone, but it cuts down on oil changes and tire wear too.
Julia Says:April 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
We’re continuing to do most of what we had been doing before gas prices were over $3/gallon:
1. My husband and I car-pool to work together because we can.
2. We keep our car as empty as possible stuff-wise
3. We fill the tank where the gas is cheapest. I know that sounds “Duh!” but what I mean by this is that I drove our car as little as possible before a trip to Rochester because gas prices were over 10-cents cheaper in Rochester this past Friday than in Jamestown. That changed by Sunday, of course.
4. Less road trips.
lindy ruff Says:April 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
anyone want to buy a chevy silverado, 5.3L V-8, shortbed?
indabuff Says:April 21st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Derek,
Great advice…
Bumber sticker…
SAVE OIL…KNOCK UP YOUR WIFE!
I love it!
Christopher Says:April 21st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
One boon to the oil industry in the USA is they’ve failed to rebuild refining facilities destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.
This fact alone has helped shrink supply as demand climbs.
When and until the Federal government steps up and step in, forcing the oil industry to rebuild what was lost from Hurricane Katrina, or be forced to pay a windfall tax on their record, obscenely high profits, big oil won’t do what’s right for the consumer and the nation.
But don’t expect anything to happen as long as the Mofo from Midland is in the White House.
Jim Ostrowski Says:April 21st, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Gas is still a big bargain, not much real price increase in 100 years. Most of the current increase is inflation to pay for nation-building. This price spike is a gift of the neocons. Gas taxes are outrageous too. Even a partially-free market works wonders.
Timothy Domst Says:April 21st, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Anyone who has been reading the paper for the past couple decades had to know this was going to happen sooner or later. Quit crying and drive less, nothing else to do. If our government had been using the gas tax to develop a better passenger train system, and taking away some of the free ride that the auto industry has had by not paying for the roads like the railroads do for tracks, then we’d have more options wouldn’t we?
Denizen Says:April 21st, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Exactly!
Everybody is bitching and whining like cheap gas is a fucking inalienable god-given right.
Wake up folks, we homo sapiens constitute an ever-increasing population on this finite planet. The more those “up and coming” (China, India) nations who strive to live gluttonously like Americans are able to catch up, the much bigger strain on the globe’s non-renewable energy resources.
Suck it up and plan a future around less resource consumption. Drive less, live somewhere where you can walk to a grocery store or maybe take a bus to work. Eat less, yada yada yada. You know the drill, it ain’t easy being green.
TheRover Says:April 21st, 2008 at 7:08 pm
Burn a tank of gas, plant a tree. Dredge the St Lawrence Seaway to allow oil tankers in and build new refineries along the Lake Ontario shoreline. They would be out of the hurricane path. Lake Ontario doesn’t freeze. Ice Breakers can keep the seaway open. We could use the jobs. New York State always needs the tax revenue, tax dollar junkies that they are. Everybody wins.
STEEL Says:April 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
….What Denizen said!
mike hudson Says:April 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm
if you can’t afford the gas you can’t afford to drive. the deville gets around 15 mpg in the city but, since i don’t have to drive 20 miles to work like the morons who live in the suburbs, it’s not a “hardship.”
Mike Walsh Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
Per gallon was 3.05 when I was in New Jersey last week. Arriving home, my local Mobil station was 3.69.
Of course, the prices couldn’t have anything to do with the falling dollar and the funny money that the government, the fed and the banking industry have been playing with. Could it?
Christopher Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 7:43 am
I have to laugh at these simpletons who say the solution to record high gas prices is to “drive less.”
The fact is, according to AAA of Western New York, people are driving less and only when they must. I suppose not going to work is one answer but, most people aren’t interested in becoming homeless.
Our neighbors — an elderly couple, the husband walks with a walker and his wife does the driving, told me they only use the car to go to Wegmans and to the doctor. She said living on a fixed income, the gas prices are hitting them really hard.
I wonder what moron will tell to scale back?
Jim Ostrowski Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 8:09 am
Gas prices are determined by supply and demand. Many people Driving less WILL reduce prices below what they would be otherwise.
If supply goes down, prices could rise even with lower demand.
This is just elementary economics.
Buffalopundit Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 am
1. No one here has suggested that “cheap gas” is a “birthright”.
2. The tone of my post is: gas prices are going up, and I’d like to do something about it, but there’s nothing really in the market to do that with.
What I need is a small car with a diesel engine that has ABS and traction control of some sort. I need something into which things and people can fit, and I need some measure of security on the road. Nissan Versa, Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit - even the non-Si Civics - no traction control.
3. I like to drive. I own two cars, and one racks up 30k miles/year, and the other racks up about 20k/year. I like road trips. So, I’m not whining about gas prices. I’m trying to address them. You know, people in Britain pay $8.00/gallon, and they still love to drive. (e.g., see “Top Gear”).
4. Denizen & Steel and others who address only the utilitarian aspect of driving; to and from work/school/shops are missing more than half the point when it comes to people who enjoy driving. We get it, guys. You hate cars, the people in them, and the very notion of independent conveyance because it offends your haughty notions of societal right & wrong, and if you had your druthers we’d all live in the city and take the bus.
God forbid the cost of self-righteousness rose exponentially. Then whom would you lecture?
Derek J. Punaro Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 9:43 am
Well said, BP. Some people don’t like city living, don’t like the housing options near where they work, don’t work in the same place year after year, have families where each person doesn’t work in the same geographic location, can’t be constricted by inflexible public transportation options, or as you said, actually enjoy the independence and freedom of driving. God forbid indeed.
Christopher Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
Forcing the U.S. oil industry to rebuild oil refineries in the Gulf of Mexico destroyed during Hurricane Katrina will increase supply.
There is no motivation for the U.S. oil industry to rebuild these refineries because as long as they lay ruined at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, inventory remains pinched and profits remain high.
This is such an easy concept to understand even a Republican should be able to follow it.
Here is a list of the OPEC nations:
Algeria, Africa
Angola, Africa
Ecuador, South America
Indonesia, Asia
Iran, Middle East
Iraq, Middle East
Kuwait, Middle East
Libya, Africa
Nigeria, Africa
Qatar, Middle East
Saudi Arabia, Middle East
United Arab Emirates, Middle East
Venezuela, South America
Which one will we send the military into next to topple with the promise of cheap oil? I mean, it’s worked out so well with Iraq. Just ask Dick Cheney.
lulu Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 11:32 am
What, if anything, have you done to deal with ridiculous gas prices?
I have replaced my 1997 Subaru outback with a 2008 5 speed Impreza (smaller engine and way more fuel efficient, though the all wheel drive Subaru forces on all models does increase the gas guzzling and is unnecessary 350 days of the year, IMO). What is your opinion, Alan, of the All wheel drive situation with Subaru, do you think it should be optional? I prefer being able to choose when I want four wheel and when I don’t.
Also, three years ago I purchased a home in a walkable part of North Buffalo and moved my office to a walkable part of Allentown. My commute is just under 5 miles and being in both areas makes me happy and keeps me well fed!
Denizen Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 11:47 am
Alan, 30K/yr on one car?? EGADS! I rest my case.
P.S.
There is a huge difference between enjoyment and addiction.
Denizen Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 11:58 am
Oh and I guess I’ll answer the question:
What, if anything, have you done to deal with ridiculous gas prices?
Consolidate trips; don’t drive somewhere if it’s not necessary; ride my bike or walk if it’s a convenient distance; i.e. DRIVE LESS.
Buffalopundit Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 12:06 pm
@Denizen: And what? Fly more?
My parents live 400 miles away. Many of our friends live 400+ miles away. Pop one of those in about 1x/month on average, and you’ve doubled the average mileage that an American puts on a car.
A weekend trip to visit family is a 1000 miles right there. I don’t know where your folks live, but that’s a cost of being an immigrant to this area.
Note that I’m not complaining about it, or the miles we put on the car. I’m just stating it as fact so as to rebut your condescending allegation of “addiction”.
Buffalopundit Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
@lulu:
AWD is what makes Subaru Subaru. The option if you don’t want AWD is to go with something comparable from Honda or Toyota. C&D says the road noise in the new Impreza is a bit much, and the weight of the AWD makes mileage suffer a bit.
The new Corolla is rather nice, and I love the new Civics. I’d actually consider a Civic if it had traction control. Corolla is available with traction control, but not without an automatic transmission, I believe.
Denizen Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Alan, well…on the bright side, when you sell your Audi you can truthfully tell interested buyers that most of the miles racked up are really highway miles
hank Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Someone needs to tell Christopher that the top two exporters of oil to the US are
1.CANADA
2.MEXICO
I don’t think EITHER belongs to OPEC.
And don’t blame a President from Texas because refineries weren’t rebuilt after Katrina. There hasn’t been a refinery built in this country since 1976. Neither Bush nor his Father, nor even Ronald Reagan was President then. And in the Crisis years following 1976,
WE KNOW WHO THE PRESIDENT WAS—THE BEST ONE WE’VE EVER HAD—JIMMY CARTER.
Why did he not force the Windfall profits tax (which was an unqualified disaster) to be used to build refineries?? Because he, and his Democrat Pals who controlled Congress, WANTED TO SPEND IT. AND THEY DID.
You people don’t live where the refineries are. People DON’T LIKE A REFINERY IN THEIR BACKYARD. WOULD YOU? That’s what’s been holding back oil companies from building refineries–not miserly holdback of the profits, but CAN’T GET THE LAND TO BUILD THEM.
Then, there’s the GREENIES—Between them and the EPA there’s so much new regulations and rules about building a refinery the oil companies don’t want to open that can. Can’t say I blame them.
And for the rest of you whiny fucks, Take a look AT YOUR 401K’s—Want to see their value drop about 30%—Pass the windfall profit tax and watch your retirement money—mostly held in oil stock, MELT AWAY.
Is there some kind of inpenetrable bubble around you people? Common Sense, Economics 101 and such seem to be beyond your comprehension. All you do is Blame BUSH for every damn thing that you don’t like, whether it’s directly his fault or not.
Why not ask CONGRESS for some help—After all, the Democrats Control it. Don’t they listen to you? Of course not, you igorant twits–no go out and vote all those pork grubbin’ assholes back in so you’ll CONTINUE to have something to whine about.
Timothy Domst Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Christopher is just a crappy troll, trotting out his infirm neighbor couple (as violins play “My Heart Bleeds For You” in the background) that on the one hand barely drive and on the other are headed to poverty because of gas prices. It sounds like the least of their trouble. Then it’s the familiar dopey parrot-squawk “WAR FOR OIL- braaawwwk- CORPORATIONS- braawwwwk- EVIL REPUBLICANS- braawwwwk”
Oil companies can’t build refineries overnight and might not want to if they (wrongly in my opinion) predict that the price is going down. It’s their money, their decision. More recently this refinery blew up which made matters worse. Now try and shape your wild, knee-jerk conspiracy theories to fit those boring facts Christopher, you tard.
I hope gas goes to $8 a gallon, it’s the only way we will see alternative-fuel cars get serious attention. I love to drive too, but I do it on a 40 mpg motorcycle, so for the time being I’m ok. Whatever cars run on in the future driving will still be fun, but I won’t be able to afford a nice sports car then just as I can’t now.
Vernacular Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
What, if anything, have you done to deal with ridiculous gas prices?
Not live in Clarence.
mike hudson Says:April 22nd, 2008 at 11:24 pm
my parents live in tennessee. i don’t have a friend whom i’d think of “going to visit” within 200 milles. i have put an average of 12k miles a year on my cars over the past decade. i fly 4-5 times a year, which is hardly as excessive as driving 50,000 miles. of course, like i said, i live in downtown niagara falls, walking distance to stores, the casino, restaurants and work. right now, from the window nearest me, i am listening to the roar of one of the world’s great natural wonders, a 10-minute walk from my front door.
you pays yer money and you takes yer choice.
thestip Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 am
Move to walking distance of where you work. After 6 months of commuting to Rochester, that is exactly what I am doing. I’ll have a 6 block walk as of June 1st. Basically all I am saying is stop being so stubborn, and make some sort of a lifestyle change. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Buffalo, but, realistically, I can’t possibly keep commuting. I like to drive, but for pleasure, not really for purpose. So now, my car will reside behind my house, and most travel will be by foot.
Now I know that not everybody can do what I am doing, but there are much smaller things such as combining trips, keeping your car properly maintained, check air pressure in your tires every time you fill up, all very simple. Also, drive to maximize fuel economy. Increase your speed slowly from a traffic light or a toll booth, keep your RPM’s low, I know it is less fun, but it adds up, plus you can make a game out of trying to be fuel efficient. Also, don’t sit an let your car “warm up”, all you really are doing there is wasting gas. Get rid of your automatic car starter, you could live before it was installed, you can live without it again. Real simple stuff.
As to cars, the Prius is a hatchback Alan. Not as usable of a hatchback as others, but hey it has some of the best economy around. I’m not a huge fan of hybrids, but with diesel prices the way they are, they are definitely beating out diesels right now. As for the need for traction control, I used to be obsessed with it when I had my VW, but now that I have been driving the Tiburon for 3 winters, I really haven’t missed it. It all just comes down to good snow tires and careful driving, which I know you know about since we usually have the snow tire post come November. So, if you like the Civic, get it! It’s a great car. I would suggest a Mini Cooper also, but that might be too small for your use. Smart cars disappoint me for their fuel economy. I hear we might get the Mini Diesel next year though. Also, Honda will be rolling out diesels towards the end of the year, beginning of next, so you may just want to wait a bit longer before getting a new car.
Just my two cents! Good luck with whatever you choose to do…
Dan Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
I’ll gladly pay high prices in Buffalo, where fuel and gas stations are far more genuine, authentic and real compared to the soulless, sanitized and plastic liquid that is dispensed from chain fuel pumps in places like Charlotte and Phoenix. Give me an old-school Noco or Mobil anyday over some sterile landscaped Sheetz or Shell station with pretentious short signs, recessed canopy lighting, and foo-foo carwashes.
Also, FWIW, my 2001 Subaru Forester gets 27 MPG on the highway.
Buffalopundit Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 8:50 am
Dan, you always crack me up with that.
dave in Rocha Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
“Dan, you always crack me up with that.”
Actually I was about to say that I’m starting to get sick of that schtick, but it must just be me.
“What, if anything, have you done to deal with ridiculous gas prices?”
I’ve become (even) more acquainted with my bike, commuting to work 2-3 times a week. It’s ~8.5 miles each way, so I don’t do it in really bad weather or when I have to show up at work early for a meeting. I’ve kept track of the distance and whatnot and I estimate I’ve saved over $150 the past year or so.
And before I catch crap from Denizen about how I should move into the city so I’m not so far away, au contraire, I live in the city of Rocha and work out in Henrietta. Not everything is located in cities these days.
Denizen Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Not everything is located in cities these days.
Exactly, I hear ya!
Office “parks” are IMHO the worst aspect of suburbia. I don’t even mind the residential subdivisions so much, just wish they had some sort of sensible connectivity, so kids could walk or bike to school without having to make ridiculous detours through the entropic spaghetti maze of cul-de-sacs.
If the US actually had sound regional planning over the years, suburbs wouldn’t have become the insidious problem they are today. If properly planned, suburbs would have just remained leafy bedroom communities instead of trying to be everything by haphazardly incorporating intensive commercial uses, further perpetuating the need for people to drive every fucking place. With proper planning, suburbs could have been better connected to city cores with strategic mass transit infrastructure instead of just big highway that encourage centrifugal growth that sucks away from the urban cores rather than compliment them.
One last comment on driving: It’ll be a lot more enjoyable when there are a lot less cars on the road!
P.S.
Crude Oil is now 118 a barrel and rising
Dan Says:April 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
> Actually I was about to say that I’m starting to get sick of that schtick, but it must just be me.
Okay. No more talking about the Forester. Sorry about that.
TheRover Says:April 24th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I drive about 40K mile/yr, mostly for work. I have a 25 mile comute to the office. I combat that with a 1996 Plymouth Breeze that gets 28-32 mpg and a 1977 Honda Goldwing getting 40+. I walk to the beach in under 5 minutes, something you people in Buffalo can’t do. Thats why I prefer to drive 25 miles to work.
ABC News Says:June 24th, 2008 at 11:10 am
What do gas prices look like in your hometown? Snap a photo of the prices at your local gas station and tell us how rising costs are affecting your daily commute, summer travel plans and lifestyle. We want to see the prices our viewers are experiencing across the country. Your photos and comments may be used on “World News With Charles Gibson.” Get your videos or pictures in asap and they may be used on ABC News!
http://ugv.abcnews.go.com/player.aspx?id=4199016&tb=1
Island Press Says:July 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Some say that economic factors like gas prices may ultimately shift the trend away from the suburbs and to the cities. Green development consultant and land use strategist Chris Leinberger discusses the “new American Dream” of walkable cities in addition to drivable suburbs at: http://blog.islandpress.org
And check out his book, The Option of Urbanism: http://islandpress.org/bookstore/details.php?isbn=9781597261364