If Gas goes to just 5.50 a gallon, who wins?

[Stuart G]

Just a couple bucks more per gallon.. Not the 8 to 10 in Europe or Asia. They just raised it a quarter a gallon in my area. Sure, the oil companies. Anyone else wins? Lets hope not.

[global1]

1. As Always - The Oil Companies Are Winners And Come Out On Top......nt

[Stuart G]

2. Do you think public transit would improve if it stayed up there a very long time? nt

[Nuclear Unicorn]

6. I'll say no.

That would require increased revenue to meet increased demand and higher operating expenses. That would require additional taxes which you won't get when every other person / business is suffering the same pain.

And not every locality is a candidate for public transit. Where I live most people commute over 30 miles to go to work.

[1-Old-Man]

3. You will not see $5 gas again in your lifetime.

Not going to happen.

[FSogol]

4. I wouldn't make that bet.

Gas will obviously go past $5 in our lifetime.

[JRLeft]

5. Agreed but not anytime soon.

[Arctic Dave]

16. 5 bucks a gallon is easily achievable.

Hurricane. Saudi uprising. A couple refinery failures.

[Amonester]

7. So called "free-market" speculators, of course.

Their collective paranoia is making them always richer everytime stupid ideas like this pop up.

[reformist2]

8. $5+ has proven to be the breaking point for the economy.

The price might spike up for a little while, but no matter what happens in the Middle East, the price cannot stay over $5 for long without a huge pullback in the US/European economies, and permanent decisions to be made to go toward fuel efficient cars/trucks/trains. The US can get along on a lot less petroleum if it decides to.

[SomethingFishy]

9. Just drove through north Nevada where we paid 5.09 a gallon.

[KansDem]

10. The "Pipeline"

Expect the "it means more gasoline/jobs for American consumers/workers" lie to commence...

[socialist_n_TN]

24. Already done. I actually saw it one here........

A couple of Republican senators and Landreau and Baucus for the Dems. IOW, the neo-liberal chorus.

That's such bullshit. ALL oil is sold on the world market, no matter where it's drilled. So the pipeline oil would ONLY go to the USA AFTER it was priced on the world market.

[dipsydoodle]

11. Those who made the bed.

The rest just lie in it.

[Lee-Lee]

12. The environment and the next generations win

If it stays there and pushes people off fossil fuels.

[Stuart G]

21. The environment needs to win.

It needs all the help possible.

[OmahaBlueDog]

13. Toyota, Ford, Tesla, Chevy, Nissan and other companies making hybrids and plug-ins win

The natural gas companies also win, as it will raise the demand for cars tat run on CNG.

[Chan790]

14. Mass transit activists.

Been arguing for a long long time that the reason Europe has comprehensive mass transit and America does not is the price of gas and no other reason including distance or how spread out rural America is.

Price of gas goes to $5 and stays there...mass transit grows and car-culture dies.

[FarCenter]

15. Real estate owners in close-in suburbs with apartment complexes

The outer suburbs die.

[Initech]

17. Kochs, Exxon, Derivative Traders, Hedge Fund Managers... "the big club"...

[tokenlib]

18. Elio Motors will take off if that happens...they're going to take off anyhow....

A lot of us are sick and tired of the high gas prices and insurance costs for everyday driving..when you don't need loads of extra space. Afraid to say much more for fear of being accused of advertising for them.

[RainDog]

19. We are never going to have cheap gas again

The age of fossil fuels is winding down and resources are such that the cost of using fossil fuel is only going to be more expensive.

Decades ago, forward-thinking Democrats tried to help the U.S. move beyond fossil fuel dependence as a proactive measure, rather than a reactive one. But, of course, the oil industry lobby wanted to extract the last bit of profit and subsidies they could before acknowledging this reality.

New technologies and the rising cost of fossil fuels will eventually force people to move beyond what we have now, and, in the meantime, those with fewer options will, as always, be the hardest hit by these changes.

But, honestly, ask any geologist who has looked at this issue - we're never going back to the era of cheap gas.

[hatrack]

25. Can't change things when it's "Morning In America"

[Saturday]

20. I win.

I'm driving an electric Volt. Love love love the car!

[Iggo]

22. Last time it approached five bucks...

...people out here parked their SUV's and started buying those little half-a-cars.

EDIT: So, bring it on!

[FreeJoe]

23. Lots of winners

Alternate energy sources. Conservation. Public Transportation. The environment. Essentially, higher oil prices mean less oil will be consumed.

Aside from the oil companies, lots of other people are direct beneficiaries. Drilling companies. Engineering companies. Railroads. Pipeline companies. People in communities with high concentrations of oil industry workers, like Texas, Louisiana, North Dakota, etc.

Of course, everyone that consumes oil pays the price.

Personally, I'd like to see a gradually increasing carbon tax that increases the cost of fossil fuels to a level that makes their use sustainable from a climate change perspective.

[DontTreadOnMe]

26. Make gas $10 now!

Watch how fast electric cars hit the market.

[krawhitham]

27. the Cock brothers