Just curious about what everybody thisn about gas taxes

[scott540]

Just saw a Bush add saying that Kerry would raise gas taxes if elected and it would cost the average family over $600/year. Just wondering what you guys think of a higher gas taxes since some of drive pretty thirsty cars. Part of me says maybe people would drive less if they knew it was costing more but then the other other part of me wonders why we need to raise gas taxes? Or $600 more a year isn't that much for a lot of people but it is for some.

[Bill R.]

article if you actually want to see what occurred and when it occurred.

Just saw a Bush add saying that Kerry would raise gas taxes if elected and it would cost the average family over $600/year. Just wondering what you guys think of a higher gas taxes since some of drive pretty thirsty cars. Part of me says maybe people would drive less if they knew it was costing more but then the other other part of me wonders why we need to raise gas taxes? Or $600 more a year isn't that much for a lot of people but it is for some.

[scott540]

Bill, I didn't say I agreed or believed the ad.(I don't) I just wondered what everybody thought about an increase in gas taxes since we have cheap gas compared to other countries.

[mholbrook]

I don't know about raising gas taxes but I sure think everyone should pay the same for gas across the country. I just filled up this morning at $2.15/gal 91 premium at the Marine Corps Exchange Gas Station, San Diego (cheaper by at least .10/gal). I think energy should be under some control nationwide. Frankly, if it would get the SUV's off the road, I'd be happy to pay $3 or $4/gallon. And I drive one of the more thirsty 535's. I also drive a MB Diesel most of the time that gets much better mileage and is much cheaper to operate. You sure don't see a lot of SUV's in Europe or in most Asian countries. Americans are totally spoiled and have been since the land barges of the 50's.

Just my .02 worth.

Mike Holbrook
Spring Valley, CA

[TheGeak]

I agree with Mike. I would pay $3-$5 a gallon if it would get these *(^%#@ to put down the SUV and maybe get something a little more economical. The M5 was a VERY thristy beast, but thats why I have a daily driver. MkII Golf, gets me about 30-35mpg and is a very practical car (blessed be the hatchback)

It would be interesting to see how much gas supplies would fluctuate if overnight everyone stoped driving SUV's and started driving, say, Toyota Echo's. I wonder how much excess oil we would have the next day (from those 55 gallon barrels...errr gas tanks of the SUV's not needing to be filled)

Once my VW dies, i'm seriously looking into getting a Toyota Prius. I wish they would put some serious money into alternative energy sources. I wonder how much of that is held up because Oil Companies can give LOTS of money to political campaigns....

[rickm]

This morning I was on my way to the mall and the stuff I burn (due to the EAT chip) was 1.94/gallon. We went to the mall then the mrs decided she wanted to go to the outlets in SC. Down the hill we drove. I stopped to fill up, it was 1.79! It's amazing what a 1 hour drive makes. :P

Hopefully the higher prices will push the car companies to develop vehicles that are more efficient. I'm not so anti-suv as to want to bomb them, but sometimes I think they can lull people into a false sense of security. (Don't get me started on the damn train of 5 SUVs I was stuck behind coming into Asheville because they wouldn't fscking pull over!)

We're seriously considering getting something more efficient for my wife to drive. Her Volvo 850 does ok, she wants something in the 40s.

One thing if you're shopping for prices....never buy gas at Sam's Club. I tanked off there a couple of weeks ago because I was in a hurry. My car ran like crap and mpg sucked. Lesson learned, never again.

[Unregistered]

We pay in the region of £4.00 (about $7.50) a gallon. This doesn't discourage us from using our cars, it just means we spend less on other things but we certainly don't go without. I have visited America a few times and will be returning for a holiday to Texas in September and what amazed me is the distances you guys have to travel in order to do the simple things in life like shopping for example. We don't really have that problem in England because the place is so heavily populated, amenities are usually within walking distance so leaving the car at home is viable.

However, I do believe that in a nation where facilities and businesses have been built so far from residences under the illusion that the motorcar will always be available and accessible, it is wrong to compare the US to the UK and europe. So I believe while SUV's are maybe a bit excessive, I don't believe that you should pay high fuel prices like we do. Interestingly the fuel prices in England are pretty much universal and the fuel quality is consistent, 95 RON is the standard with 98 RON available as 'Super'. It's different in Europe though.

My other motivaton is that I have hired a V6 Jaguar S-type which will be waiting for me at DFW airport and I don't want high fuel prices eating my holiday budget!

Jamie Trivett
Plymouth, UK

[rickm]

Geak offered an interesting question. If cars were forced to be more efficient, what would happen to prices? You'd think that prices would drop since there would be more fuel available, but then again if there was more fuel available then folks would wonder why they couldn't get larger vehicles and the cycle would continue.

I just returned from a 526 mile (one way) jaunt. 94 525i, auto, 346# of passengers (the 3 of us), 2 bikes on the roof, a full trunk and most of the interior full. I left late, no traffic (most of the time). I averaged 80 to 85, I estimate that I got 25.5mpg to the gallon. Not too shabby.

Yesterday at this time I was sitting on a towel looking at this (that's my 5yo sitting there):

[Bill R.]

quite a while for it to happen. Since worldwide demand for fuel is going up approx 5% a year and the supply is now starting to drop...
But if cars were forced to be more efficient ( which i personally feel they should) then whether fuel cost drop or not wouldn't matter to most consumers if they more than double their gas mileage...
But when you look at how many things petroleum is actually used for then it seems that if you're going to force gas mileage higher then you better force efficiency elsewhere too.. One of my favorites was the airconditioner requirement that Bush threw out when he first went into office... which required all airconditioners to be 30% more efficient. This was mandated and was going to be law. All the a/c manufacturers already had the new models ready to go and they threw it out claiming that the average cost increase on a 5 ton home ac unit would amount to around 259 more and that this extra cost was too much burden on the average consumer...
Speaking for myself 259 would have been cheap for 30% savings on my electricity use... And multiply that 30% times all the ac units out there being sold daily.. thats a lot of oil not being burned.. Many many other areas where we could save energy and oil if it was mandated...Do like bmw and require that all the plastics used in a car be recyclable. All german cars are made this way.. How much oil is wasted making various things out of plastic that could be something else Enough said, I'll get off my little soapbox

Geak offered an interesting question. If cars were forced to be more efficient, what would happen to prices? You'd think that prices would drop since there would be more fuel available, but then again if there was more fuel available then folks would wonder why they couldn't get larger vehicles and the cycle would continue.

I just returned from a 526 mile (one way) jaunt. 94 525i, auto, 346# of passengers (the 3 of us), 2 bikes on the roof, a full trunk and most of the interior full. I left late, no traffic (most of the time). I averaged 80 to 85, I estimate that I got 25.5mpg to the gallon. Not too shabby.

Yesterday at this time I was sitting on a towel looking at this (that's my 5yo sitting there):

[rickm]

259 is nothing, esp if you're buying a whole house unit. Place these in California, let's see if they help their demand issues. I don't have a whole house a/c, but my next place will.

While they're pushing for more efficient A/C units, follow the lead of Gulf Power in Florida. They're offering home evaluations to help you find make your home more energy efficient. That's a win/win - you can possibly save on your bills and they reduce demand a bit, which can help them during peak times.

Oh, it's not just oil, it's coal and hydro also. Looking up at the sky here I can see that burning a bit less coal couldn't hurt (TVA, are you listening?).