Do you think it's good for our country in the long run for oil prices to stay high?

Question

I think it's in our own long term interest for the oil prices to remain high and hopefully go up even more.

It'll force us to use the vast hydrocarbon reserves that we already have and start importing more oil from friendlier countries like Canada.

It'll also force us to conserve and think about developing alternative energy sources like nuclear, wind, water,etc.

Anyone agree with me.

I say let the oil price go up to $200 a barrell. OPEC will only be hurting themselves!!

Answer 1

Yes, we should drastically reduce our consumption of oil whether it be our own or from another country.  I think life will get better when we are free from the use of oil.

Answer 2

I will go 50/50 with you. In the past when oil prices have increased, the amount of money a barrel increased was well under what is occurring now. Also, Americans income was increased as produce prices increased as well. This stability is long gone. We have spent too much money on costs that are well over Americans heads. The war in Iraq, predicted at 300 billion dollars, ended up costing us 3 trillion (as of NOW). The oil over there is not flowing over here and because of our unconscious spending, Americans will no longer have increased wages as jobs are floating overseas. I know this diverts from your question a bit, but the problem is when exploring alternatives for oil, these tests and overall costs to purchase these vehicles will end up being over priced as American income will not be able to afford these most likely high priced machines.

The first step is to secure ourselves economically through domestic aid and free trade without the restrictions of IO's such as NAFTA or the WTO. These two have become sovereign as America has become its puppet. We must divert from wars for the time being and focus shifting gears to the men and women at home. OPEC is just half the problem, we, America, have to produce the gasoline to use the oil RESERVED in ports nation wide.

While exploring alternatives is helpful and definitely the right direction, it is first the rewind to getting Americans income back to a balance point with the goods the purchase. Until then explore yes, but only release these vehicles, if an alternative is found, at a price affordable in all families.

P.S. Read Ron Paul's The Revolution, very insightful!

Answer 3

well it will reduce drive bys XD

Answer 4

You know, I haven't thought of it like that, and as much as gas prices are hurting me, that makes sense. Maybe it would be a really good thing for our environment.  Good question!

Answer 5

i don't think so because it just gonna make us more angrier

Answer 6

Maybe...and maybe america wont be the fattest country anymore...we will ride bike adn walk more...STARTING WITH ME!!!

Answer 7

I think its better for the enviroment as a whole. More people are going green and being more aware.

Answer 8

Thats very true.

Its already happening!

Answer 9

In principle I agree with you, but with a few caveats.

We actually produce about 25% of the crude oil we consume (5 million barrels/day out of 20 million barrels/day). Canada is the single largest exporter of crude and petroleum products to the US, although OPEC altogether exports more, though no OPEC country individually does so.

The price rise is predominantly due to speculation and there is some talk in financial economics circles that oil prices are behaving like a bubble, suggesting that they have been bartered well above a sustainable level. At the same time, oil is expected to climb in price due to demand factors (notably from the economic growth in India and China).

I'd love to see alternative energy develop, but we'll need quite a bit of new technology to make that happen. Considering the amount of time and cost it takes to build a nuclear power plant, this is not a feasible solution on its own. Likewise with solar - an energy which we primarily consume via biological conversion (ie, fossil fuels and biofuels).

The biggest hurdle is that of mobile-source generation. Gasoline is portable, nuclear power is not, although better electric vehicles would help things substantially.

Ultimately, the more fuel prices rise, the more technological development will take place. Consider that the hybrid Prius was first sold in 1997, but the one-millionth vehicle was sold worldwide only this year. Technology is one thing, but we will need the distribution and marketing channels to propel these. As such, fuel economy and alternative energies must remain a priority among consumers. For that to happen, fuel prices must remain considerable.

If oil goes to $200 a barrel (and gas, presumably, to $7/gallon) we may see widespread unrest, even in the U.S. We will also see a tremendous economic slowdown in India and China, which, if coincided with a US slowdown, may precipitate a devastating impact on the world economy. I'd rather oil stay no higher than $120 - a level at which consumers and companies are already making profound consumption changes.

Answer 10

It depends, how much stock do you hold in Exxon? More seriously though I do agree with you on some points. Yes the higher prices will cause more and more people to drive more fuel friendly vehicles, in fact congress wanted the price of can to just to $6 a gallon for just that purpose since it would in their minds do the above and lower emissions. And yes it has helped spur new technology and bring light back on some technology that we have had for sometime but have not really had a need for since fuel prices were still low, personally I like hydrogen, I mean the only emission is water, and the fuel efficiency is great.

However I think there is a larger problem at had. Just a couple a weeks ago now 3 fairly large trucking companies announced that they were closing their doors – not taking any new loads and not filling the orders they already have. Pretty much everything we have is brought in by tractor-trailers, so having such high fuel prices will make the price of products continue to rise as trucking companies try to keep afloat with the rising fuel prices. Couple that with the fact that most farm equipment is diesel powered, and even if not, the Food prices will continues to grow as well. Who pays for this price mark up? We do. Not to many corporation/chains are willing to take the brunt of the rising price so they can keep their goods low, so we have to pay for the mark up. Now combine that with the fact that our major severe weather season is starting, and think about what would happen if a refinery got hit during a storm, gas would jump to an estimated $10 a gallon. Now depending on where you live and what you do there are a lot of people out there that don’t even make $10 an hour.

People are going to make some hard decisions, especially those in rural areas, if they want to go to work and pay for gas or put food on the table, those who can’t drive a small car out of necessity due to where they live or what they do. Sound’s kind of odd to think about, but there are Truckers making that decision right now. In the end yes, maybe it could make our future a better, cleaner, place to live, the question is how long and at what cost.

Answer 11

that would break the economy of america. we had the opportunity do do those things 30 years ago and didn't....