$4 A Gallon: National Gas Price Average Reaches Record

NEW YORK — Drivers are paying an average of $4 for a gallon of gasoline for the first time. AAA and the Oil Price Information Service say the national average price for a gallon of regular gas rose to $4.005 overnight from $3.988. But consumers in many parts of the country have already been paying well above that price for some time.

Gas is expected to keep climbing, putting greater pressure on consumers and businesses, because the price of oil is soaring in futures markets. Light, sweet crude shot up nearly $11 a barrel Friday and approached $140 for the first time.

Along with higher fuel costs, consumers are also contending with higher prices for food and other goods because of rising transportation costs.

Comments

[Boboday555]

Sure Americans are starving and can't afford gas to drive to work and are having their homes foreclosed on, and are seeing their wages drop each quarter while healthcare costs skyrocket and America's good name is in the mud but "Least them thar gays can't get hitched" right BUSHIES?

"YEEEEEE HAR!"

[Boboday555]

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Hey Mr. McCain,
Every single one of President AWOL's policies has been an unmitigated disaster.
Be they AWOL Bush's disgusting War Time Tax Cuts for billionaires (while the sons and daughters of the middle class fight and die for Halliburton's bottom line), or be they Vice President Dick WAR DEFERMENTS Cheney Secret Energy Task Force (such a secret that he still hasn't told WE THE PEOPLE who exactly sits on this Task Force...ho­w much would you like to bet there are at least two Saudi Royals) they have all failed miserably.
Real Americans have been brutalized by AWOL Bush's and WAR DEFERMENTS Cheney's 'Government to The Highest Bidder' yet you continue to promise your silly base that you're going to continue down this neo-con road to perdition?
Are you insane Mr. McCain?
Or could it be you don't really want to win in November?
The latter I think.

[nowudont]

Conserve energy as much as possible. Start by driving under 60 mph. It'll save you 13 cents per gallon for every mph that you travel over 60.

[UltraClassic]

And while you are at it, put on one of those dumb sweaters and turn down the heat and shiver like that clown Jimmy Carter did on TV.

But actualy, reducing speed helps big time. My diesel truck does much better between 55 to 60 as well as avoiding jack rabbit starts. I only drive it when absolutely required and spend most my time on my motorcycle.

These long haul truckers that are still drving 70 or more either can still buy fuel, or are not footing the bill themselves.

[chinohillster]

Transition, transition, transition - as a 1958 baby, I'm old enough to remember $0.29 gas/gallon and cars that ran on leaded gasoline..­..Now, people will have to re-adjust, re-think and re-engineer their lifestyles.

Where I currently live, in Southern California, mass transit is against the religion of the vast majority of inhabitants - it is seen as being for the poor, the (literally) unwashed, students and the elderly. Suburban sprawl has also contributed to communites that are not amenable to the type of high-density mass transit that I grew up with in Philadelphia (a "shout out" to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - never thought I'd ever miss SEPTA!)

What works in Nueva York, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. will not necessarily work in Lost Angeles and like cities - I would take mass transit in a _heartbeat_ if it were available between Chino Hills and Brea, where I work, but it's not

[williamg]

Blame that on Ford. If I am correct, Ford bought out all the transit systems in souther Cal, and put them out of business, to force So. Californians to buy Automobiles.

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

Unfortunately, mass transit has a horrid carbon footprint, too. Once study showed it being worse, let me see if I can find it.

Don't get me wrong: I'd love to see CLEAN mass transit take the place of what we have now.

[Nochnoi]

Mass transit would be a great thing..... We need it badly here in Detroit, but of course we don't really have any because people would not buy the cars we used to make here..... now... we can't afford to drive anywhere, but are forced to because there is no mass transit to speak of....

[biglover]

Hi chinohilster. I live in West Los Angeles and have for the past 40+ years. When I first came to LA IN 1965 they were doing studies on rapid transit. Unfortunately any initiatives were always shot down by the people behind the car industry and oil industry. And the people who moved way out of the city to buy a home where they could afford to, their commutes are now bankupting them.

[newworldman777]

Since I am also a 1958 boomer, I can remember the "good old days" as well. This country became disturbingly complacent regarding the "apparent" ready supply of oil and our subsequent use (or abuse) of it. Our leaders seemed to place little concern on the fact that most of that oil came from a region where the people harbor an extreme dislike for America. Additionally, other more populous countries were developing and consequently demanding more oil to better their own lives. It is a shame that we didn't recognize -- long before now, anyway -- the dire need to wean ourselves from a dependence upon oil.

We have structured our entire society around the ample and wasteful use of oil. Unlike many European countries, we placed little interest into constructing systems of mass transit for much of the country. We designed our major mode of transportation around a prevailing system of highways that permitted, and even required, a large segment of our SUV-loving populace to shuttle themselves between their jobs and homes, which are often formidable distances from each other. Our vehicles became larger and heavier, even after the oil troubles of the 70s, which were clear harbingers of things to come. Our leaders procrastinated with adequately preparing our country for approaching oil supply problems, however, because doing so would have required their making unpopular decisions that would have cost us money and sacrifice, detracting from their administrations. We will all pay for our troubling lack of foresight.

[IntelligentDesign]

You mean to tell me that the problem we knew of 40 years ago and did NOTHING about is still a problem today? It didn't just fix itself or go away? All that hoping and praying and passing the buck for nothing!?

Breaking News: Always on the leading edge, GM announced YESTERDAY that they were no longer going to produce huge gas guzzling behemoths

Only in America!

[evilzed]

WOOOOOOO, try doubling that and you have what we pay in New Zealand, currently $2.11 per LITRE
or add another dollar per litre for the UK. Try 10.00 % interest on mortgages.
You guys STILL have it good.
So stop complaining Americans.
Remember, the worlds economy slump recieved lots of its help from the way YOU GUYS consume and the wars you started.
So suck it up.

[gopwreckedusa]

Agree 100%. The idiots that run this asylum have screwed the entire planet. The only bright spot is they screwed themselves in the process.

I believe it is called KARMA.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

New Zealand is a test market for corporate control.

If you guys don't revolt, or shut it down somehow, what happens there will spread everywhere.

[graffen48]

I have no sympathy for people with SUV's. We knew we were going to start running out of oil decades ago. I turn on the TV now, and still see commercial after commercial trying to push these gas guzzling pieces of crap. It's just like people who buy a house on a cliff, and then whine and cry , when the house collapses in a mud slide. Or people that buy a house close to the wilderness, and get all upset because a coyote, or a wildcat comes in and kills their dog. What do these morons expect??? By an SUV, and then whine about gas prices??? No sympathy, sorry!!

[maxdenn]

Wonder how much extra money the Texas oily family, the Bush gang, has taken in over the almost last eight years as a result of sky high oil prices.

[southernsepia]

The reality is that we the people are our own worst enemy.

We are the ones that laughed at Carter as he told us to seek alternatives. We bought into the SUV lifestyle. We built McMansions that suck up energy to feed our egos. We dismissed early climate change warnings from "tree huggers". We rejected a higher gas tax that could have funded alternate fuels. We rewarded short sighted politicians that told us we could continue our wasteful lifestyle forever with no consequences.

The people get the leaders they deserve.
We should be mature enough to realize that we dug this ditch ourselves. There are no quick fixes it will take time and sacrifice from all.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

In a sense you are right, but I would avoid the overuse of the word "we."

Many of us who think for ourselves saw these things from the beginning.

But the corporate media, always against these things, is/was able to turn a huge portion of the population against common sense. They did it then, and are still doing it now.

So once again, if the media did its job, things would be a lot better, and since they don't, things will get a lot worse.

[southernsepia]

Point taken, however the worst thing we could do right now is scream like children until the pols and media put another band aid on the problem. Like drilling in our nature preserves or gas tax holidays.

Oil is running out at the same time more people world wide are demanding it. This is going to happen whether we drill more or not.

It will take time to get off fossil fuels and onto renewable energy. My point is that unless the people have the will, it will never happen.

[Economike]

Speak for yourself like many others I've never done any of the above.

[twinfinfish]

During the Carter administration school children were taught that the planets oil supply would run out in 50 years ... well , that was 30 years ago, so this crisis shouldn't come as any surprise.

[KillTheMessenger]

The fifty year estimate is approx. correct. It's just not the right way of looking at things. Oil will seriously run out a few decades from now but until then there will be less and less available. The market reaction to drive prices sky high happens at the time of peak oil (i.e. around 50% reserves), not when we are down to the last 20-30%.

Now, since we were trying to make things easier to palpate intellectually for our children, we presented energy use models in simplified form without explaining the details of peak oil to them. The failure was not so much that we gave the wrong impression to our children, but that we did not discuss the proper theory of finite resources with out adolescents and adults who could be expected to roughly understand what a nearly symmetric curve with a finite maximum looks like. And that curve happens to peak about now. Smart people knew about it since the 1950s. Not so smart ones, well, they just have to ride down on it to get the picture.

[OkieMon]

oil is still very abundant and the stone age didn't end because we ran out of stones.

[VolvoBirkenstock]

30 years ago, Jimmy Carter had a plan for energy independence.

25 years ago, upon taking office, Ronald Reagan dismantled the plan.

[mexamerican]

gas guzzling morons who bought all those effing suvs and monster trucks are sucking it up now. good. maybe now people can begin to do the right thing, if even for the wrong motivations. support public transportation, hybrids, solar power, wind power. use your legs once in a while. it won't kill you to take a bus occasionally. americans have been arrogant and short sighted about oil, to the point that we've turned a blind eye to the blood being spilled for it in the middle east. now eat it.

[SCG]

It was only a few years, it was after the second oil embargo. Carter put tax breaks for modernizing and energy saving improvments, it didn't last long. Reagan dismantled it all.

[PixieThis]

Are you criticizing the neocon god? I think the sisters of st. ronnie have a little surprise for you - hold out your hand!

[Nochnoi]

I actually saw long lines for gasoline the other day.... one station was 3 cents cheaper than the one across the street....­. of course people were running their engines while waiting...­. duh..... but it did make me nostalgic about the '70s...... heh

[KQuarksSuperKollider]

I caught most of Obama's speech on the economy today. He wants to move the country in the right direction and the has the right will and plans to change the future for the better. Obama has short term and long term plans for fixing what's really wrong with the economy not just fix the symptoms. Investing in America is the only way to assure our economic future. Investing in education first and then investing in a Manhattan project type of plan to solve our dependence on fossil fuels will maintain long term economic growth. Investments in infrastructure and providing affordable health care for all will make us more competitive on a global basis.

Obama also pounded McBush pretty good. Obama needs to keep pounding McBush on the economy where he is actually worse than Bush. You will hear allot from McBush about fiscal conservatism tomorrow but just don't buy it. If McBush keeps the troops in Iraq as long as he says he will he cannot be a fiscal conservative. That would be an oxymoron.

[amber09]

I also heard Obama's speech and agree with everything you said. Can't say it better than you did! Thank you!

[research]

The "Shock Doctrine" plan is to reduce "us to Hooverville days, so we'll learn to appreciate the blessings of our benevolent robber barons

[andvoodoo2]

I believe it. And, gas prices will NEVER, ever fall. We will NEVER pay less than $4 a gallon again. If you think people are mad now, wait until that reality sinks in.

[RoloTomassi]

This bubble will burst...hi­de and watch if you don't believe...­.

[mexamerican]

by the end of the summer it'll be 5 bucks. bank on it. and by xmas or next summer, 6, etc. better start shopping for mopeds people.

[pjcpa]

Yea, it is out of control and neither Dems nor Repubs are doing anything about it. With a democratic controlled Congress, they should be putting forward just as many alternatives as Bush. Neither group is working in our interest and we the people should stop the complaining and excercise our option of "firing" all of these people in the Elections. And stop complaining about the oil companies. They do not control the price of oil, OPEC does this. The oil companines bottom lines are, percentage wise, in line with most good fortune 500 companies.

[veteran1964]

Yeah, look at us for the friggin remedies. Bush and his oil barrons have created this friggin mess and he is galloping all over the world kissing everyones ass instead of running the country right. LETS just leave the friggin war and the economy in the pits for the Democrats so we can be blamed for the whole friggin mess. You give me a darn solution for this oil problem WHY don't you Republicans get your speculators out of the stock market and gas would go down 80 cents a gallon. It's awful hard to put up 10,000 large windmills in a couple months. Also if anyone that is bitching can come up with the remedy, call Washington and friends of Bush and get it solved.

[comacoma]

And unfortunately bush comes back here... everyone else gets to say goodbye to him forever. Just not fair....

[NoSocialism.com]

If you understand this issue so well, could you explain to me HOW gas prices will go down when Bush is gone? What factors do you feel that he is contributing to the rise in Oil prices? Bush has tried many times to increase drilling in the U.S. and has been stopped by the Democrats in congress EVERY time, so please explain yourself.

[mexamerican]

there is nothing to do about oil prices except lower our consumption and make the transformation to public transportation. no magic bullet.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

Notice how that jackass we call president left the country for his farewell tour.

[biwee]

Do you think Shrub will head for Paraguay when he leaves Europe??

[The Hedonistic Pleasureseeker]

My magic 8 ball says YES: Via Israel (which will not extradite), and in the dead of night.

[avraamjack]

.
Funny how nobody sees the irony.
.
Bush gave Saudi Arabia a huge vote in our Presidential election by not implementing an energy policy.
.
Saudi Arabia is voting against Bush by holding back oil.
.
Oil prices will drop quickly after the November election.
.

[andvoodoo2]

If oil prices ever fall below $4 a gallon, I will eat my laptop.

[rbspickles]

Could it be that OPEC didn't like Bush telling the sheeples that we are too dependent on foriegn oil and that he wants it cut by 20% by 2010? They're going to get their money, one way or the other. Not to mention the fall of the dollar.

[sillyseason]

SAD, SAD, SAD

Sadly, millions of Americns will vote in November to continue down this path of a Repu-blican led destruction of America.

I sincerely hope it's not enough of them.

But who knows... America gave the inept and lying GWB a mandate to govern for 4 more years in 2004... That was after 4 years of his lies and incompetence.

F-E-A-R sells, I guess...

Remember the the terrorist threat color codes that the repubs used right before the 04' election?

I wonder if they'll manufacture a secret video that shows BO is a member of Al Qaeda? I wouldn't put it past them, and I know millions of Americans would believe them.

SAD, SAD, SAD...

[NotGuilty]

Bush cut and ran to Europe. They don't want him, either.