Oil Prices Will Rise Regardless of What Happens with the Stock Market; Auto Execs Urge Government to Tax Fuel Up to $8/Gallon

I think by now everyone realizes that "green" and environmental" is the code word for loss of freedom and Socialism. Obama is typing up resources and forcing the cost of food and energy to skyrocket. He and others are engaged in a fierce economic sabotage of this country. Chu (Obama's energy secretary) testified to Congress that Obama and he would like to see gas prices go to $8 per gallon to FORCE Americans into the "Green" initiative -- electric cars, solar and wind. Problem is, planes, trains and automobiles can't efficiently use any of these. And just like ethanol, the results of trying and pushing these failed experiments means disaster to this country. He is subsidizing GE with millions if not billions in "clean energy" money. Jeffrey Imelt made millions in bonuses and GE made $18 billion in profits, but paid no taxes. This criminal of a "president" is waging war on America, and Americans, for greed and power. - justintime

President Obama's fiscal year 2010 EPA budget calls for carbon reductions that would require raising the cost of gasoline to $7 per gallon within the next 10 years. A report released this month by Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs explained that for Obama to reach his goal, he would need to employ a one-two punch approach, hitting both utility and transportation sectors with strong emissions-reducing taxes. [Source]

Oil Prices Rise Amid Global Economic Worries

November 24, 2011

Washington Post - ...The Energy Information Administration said this week that the average retail price of regular gasoline is the highest ever recorded during Thanksgiving week, 49 cents a gallon more than this time last year. AAA says this year motorists are on track to pay a record $490 billion for gasoline, burning a hole in consumers’ pockets.

Recently, prices at the gas pump have tapered off. AAA says that gasoline prices have dropped about 12 cents in the past month to a nationwide average of $3.33 a gallon for regular, giving holiday motorists some reason to give thanks.

But this season is usually a period of relatively weak gasoline demand, and retail gasoline prices are still high by historical standards in the United States. Although U.S. motorists seem to change their driving habits most when gas prices near $4 a gallon, the EIA statistics show that consumption this month has been as low as or lower than any November since early in the previous decade.

Moreover, the prices of other petroleum products have been heading higher. With cold weather starting to set in, home heating oil prices stood at $3.94 per gallon as of Nov. 21, an increase of 83 cents a gallon from a year earlier, the EIA said. The higher prices will primarily affect homeowners in New England, where heating oil is still commonly used.

Diesel prices have climbed, which analysts said was a sign of improved economic activity and constraints on refiners because of the government’s low sulfur requirements. A recent Barclays Capital report said that total miles driven by U.S. truckers was up 3.5 percent over the year before.

Diesel prices Wednesday stood at $3.98 a gallon, up 13 cents from a month ago and up 80 cents from a year ago, AAA said. Diesel prices, closely linked to the trucking business, suggest a disconnect between the economy and the glum mood of consumers.

“The sentiment indicators are gloomy, but the production indicators are pretty good,” said Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank. “If you add up what consumers are spending, the numbers are higher than last year. If you ask them how they feel, they say ‘terrible.’ ”

Behind the retail prices of petroleum products lies a global crude market that is still roiled by geopolitical turmoil and economic uncertainty.

The benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude oil this year has averaged more than $94 a barrel, only slightly below the record year of 2008 before the recent recession, and nearly 50 percent more than levels just five years ago. The more widely used benchmark Brent crude in London has cost more than $100 a barrel since early February. On Wednesday, it fell $1.81, or 1.7 percent, to $107.22 a barrel for January delivery after pessimistic economic signs in Europe.

[...]

Some leading investment banks have been advising clients that oil prices will remain strong, and to some extent that sentiment can be self-fulfilling and reinforce prices by bringing more money into oil markets.

“Despite the notable slowdown in global economic growth, we continue to expect that oil demand will grow well in excess of production capacity growth,” a Goldman Sachs report said this week. “In our view, it is only a matter of time before inventories and OPEC spare capacity become effectively exhausted, requiring higher oil prices to restrain demand, keeping it in line with available supply.”

Auto Execs Urge Government to Tax Fuel Up to $8/Gallon to Increase Fuel Efficiency

November 7, 2009

DailyTech - It’s no secret that when gas prices dropped early in the year and with the recession in full swing, hybrid sales saw their first drop in years. Faced with tough new fuel economy restrictions, auto executives had come up with all sorts of unusual suggestions — such as cutting crash testing — but now had to puzzle over a new dilemma; what if consumers don’t want the higher-priced electric vehicles that they plan to start flooding the market with in less that a year?

At a special Reuters summit in Detroit, numerous auto industry executives are cited as suggesting that the government raise taxes on gasoline substantially to spur the adoption of fuel efficient vehicles.

States Tim Leuliette, chief executive of privately held parts supplier Dura Automotive, said:

“In the United States, we’re afraid to touch the fuel price. We’ve got to continue to raise taxes in the United States so that, by the end of the next decade, gas is about $8 a gallon in today’s terms.”

He adds, "What you have to do is do it in a manner that is slow enough and predictable enough that vehicle selection and choices by people over the cycle can be made in a logical way."

Eight dollars-per-gallon gas? The idea certainly sounds absurd. However, the idea of the government pouring over $100B USD into the auto industry and partially nationalizing GM and Chrysler might have sounded ridiculous a decade ago too.

Mike Jackson, chief executive of AutoNation Inc., offered similar sentiments, complaining:

"The U.S. allows the price of gasoline to go back and forth across this line where the consumers don't care about fuel efficiency and where consumers do care about fuel efficiency."

He suggests a near term fix of taxing gas to around $4 or $5 a gallon to help vehicles like GM's 2011 Chevy Volt EV grab marketshare. Jerry York, a former GM board member and an adviser to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, concurred. He states:

"Unless gas is $3.50 or $4 a gallon, consumers are not going to want to buy those cars."

Hearing such pleas for government intervention and taxation certainly seems a strange one coming from the business sector, which normally argues and lobbies for minimal government involvement. However, a growing number of industry executives feel that a $25B USD advanced technologies loan program and the expensive cash-for-clunkers program just aren't doing enough to boost the sales of clean autos. The solution, they argue, is for the government to hit consumers where it hurts -- in the wallet.

Some are suggesting tax rebates at the end of the year for customers with hybrids and a food-stamp-like subsidy for poor citizens. But at the end of the day the general message is the same; tax fuel. Concludes Dura's Leuliette:

"Energy independence in this country ultimately means that fuel has to be more expensive."