Gas Prices Essay
Today, gas price as a national average have risen to 2. 1 dollars per gallon. This is the highest gas price increase since 1990, during operation desert storm. What is the cause of this drastic increase in gas prices? Limited supply of crude oil from the Middle East some say. Others think the cause is high trade tariffs on incoming foreign oil. But what is the solution to this problem? Is it drilling in our national wildlife reserves in Alaska? Dropping the trade tariffs and promoting free trade around the world? Perhaps we should look for alternative energy sources; maybe even a combination of all three.But whatever the solution, it needs to be done quickly.
America’s gas prices are becoming so outrageous that it is becoming more and more likely that our economy will fall into a depression, and our world, so dependent upon gas for transportation, is in danger of losing the luxuries that we take for granted. It also affects people’s daily routines. Not being able to travel due to the prices being sky high. Something needs to be done now! As I look at the chart in this article in the 1980’s gas was about $2. 18. The economy wouldn’t have a problem with that.
That’s exactly where most people would love to have their price of gas to be when it comes to any type of traveling or even just driving around. From 1980-1985 is where the gas prices started to get even higher to a dollar more. 1995-2000 is when the prices just declined. These are the prices that the economy would love to see again. The price of this would not only take less money to fill their gas tank up.
It allows families to be able to take care of their families without having a problem due to no having gas. “In mid-2004, the price of gasoline became the focus of national attention as prices reached record highs.Roughly a quarter of that price consists of various gasoline taxes.
As high gas prices have drawn media and public attention, the issue of gasoline taxes has stirred debate”. In 2005-2010 gas went back up to a dollar more. When will gas just stay at a steady price? Last, are the current years from 2010-present. Gas prices are 3. 60+. “Currently, the gasoline tax imposed by the federal government is roughly 18 cents per gallon.
States add their own gasoline taxes, which vary from state to state. The national average for state gasoline taxes is approximately 24 cents per gallon.Combining state and federal gas taxes, residents of Hawaii currently pay the highest gasoline tax, 54. 7 cents per gallon, while those in Alaska pays the lowest, 26.
4 cents per gallon. Other local gasoline-related taxes can add to the cost gas. ” What causes these gas prices to be the way that they are and when will it change? If the gas keeps going up, then what is the economy going to do? As you see they have now invented electric cars? Is that another reason why the gas prices are going to go even higher? “At the turn of the 20th century, electric cars were more popular than gas-powered cars.Now, nearly a century later, many people want to bring them back, hoping that electric vehicles will at least partially solve a range of problems that have been caused by the U.
S. ‘s use of oil, which are currently the lifeblood of the nation’s transportation system and a principal source of pollution. ” Gas cars pollute the air every single day and have more and more health problems in the world. “Proponents say that mandates for electric cars are needed to force car manufacturers into acting quickly to develop practical electric vehicles. In conclusion, what is going to happen later in life when the gas just gets to an outrageous price and the families can’t afford to pay? Are families going to buy the electric cars, ride bikes, etc.
? As of the prices today, a lot of families still drive regular gas cars and they are slowly moving to the electric cars. The only thing that is good about the electric cars is they don’t pollute the air. That means we will have less health problems in the world, but one major problem about the electric cars is that you can only go so far and once you have gone a certain amount of miles you have to stop and charge the rest.I don’t think that I would like to use an electric car to go on trips. I would prefer gasoline. “Gas prices are approaching record highs, but so far most Americans do not appear to be drastically cutting back their driving or even their spending as they did in 2008. The question, economists agreed, is what happens if prices continue to go up and remain high. Prices for a gallon of regular unleaded gas are topping $4 at more service stations nationwide, revisiting the bleak territory of three years ago, when the average price for a gallon of regular gas reached a peak of $4.
1 on July 17, 2008, according to the Oil Price Information Service. The survey of about 100,000 stations showed gas prices were now averaging $3. 77 a gallon nationwide. The average is already more than $4 in California, Hawaii and Alaska, and analysts at the oil information service said drivers were paying more than $4 at some stations in at least three other states — Illinois, Connecticut and New York. The government’s Energy Information Administration on Monday put the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline slightly higher at $3. 9, up 10. 7 cents from the previous week and nearly a dollar higher than the same time last year.
Even with the higher prices, economists said recent broad data had continued to be positive. ” “Since they entered the U. S. market in 1999, hybrid cars have become increasingly popular. In 2007, nearly 350,000 hybrid cars were sold in the U. S.
alone, with many more sold in Japan and Europe. Hybrid cars are widely expected to become even more popular in the coming years. ” Since September 2010, average monthly gas prices have risen 45 cents to $3. 1 (February month-to-date), an increase of 16.
4%. But during the past four years, there have been several periods where gas prices increased by even more substantial amounts. In 2008, gas prices rose 94 cents — or 33. 4% — to $4. 11 between February 2008 and June 2008. Gas prices also increased 63 cents from February to May 2006, 86 cents from February to May 2007, and 94 cents from December 2008 to June 2009. (http://www. edmunds.
com/about/press/current-gas-price-hikes-dont-measure-up-to-recent-history-says-edmundscom. html).What is going to make the gas prices go back to like they used to be? How long will it take for everyone to be happy like they were back in the day when gas was like a dollar to a dollar and a half? What is happening to this economy to make it to where the gas prices are rising till this day and are decreasing here and there? The cost to produce and deliver gasoline to consumers includes the cost of crude oil to refiners, refinery processing costs, marketing and distribution costs, and finally the retain station costs and taxes.The price paid by consumers at the pump reflect these costs as well as the profits (and sometimes losses) of refiners, marketers, distributors, and retail station owners. Federal, State, and local taxes area large component of the retail price of gasoline.
Taxes (not including county and local taxes) account for approximately 19 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. (www. fueleconomy. gov) Consumers have found alternative ways to spend less on gasoline such as buying smaller hybrid cars or taking public transportation. Electric cars are so much cheaper to operate with than the gas cars, gasoline offers much more efficiency.
