Gas at $5.00+/gallon

[ro-monster]

It's happened. Tonight on my way home from work I saw premium at $5.11/gallon, at the Shell station along 101 just north of SFO.

[x136]

Middletown, CA (About halfway between Clearlake and Calistoga), yesterday.

No, I didn't buy any. 

[Kaveh]

just imagine what it is in Malibu or Big Sur right now 

[Bad Dog]

'Bout $10.00 or more in Germany...crying now ?

[CharliesAngel]

*sigh*

[mostrobelle]

Enzo and I were coming into the City yesterday morning on our commute and noticed that all other lanes of the Bay Bridge were flowing nicely except the carpool lanes.  They were the only ones totally backed up!  There's a bunch of people that I don't normally see on my commute out there, too.  Bunch of inconsiderate, scary riders.  I like the idea of having more bikers on the road, but it would be nice if there was a certain caliber of skill and common sense that was maintained at the same time.  Guess that's asking too much. 

[desmoquattro]

Welcome to the rest of the world, America. Gas is expensive in most other places. Go to Brazil, for instance, and you'll see all small cars with manual transmissions. You'll also see lots of alternative fuels. Pizzas are still delivered on scooters and 125cc motorcycles. And there are a ton of alternate fuels available.

$5 gas is just a sad fact of life and the result of our situation:

1 uncompetitive, heavily-vertically-integrated oligopoly
+ 1 fixed-supply, dwindling resource
+ Greater demand from developing nations
+ A very energy-inefficient US infrastructure
+ A weakening dollar
----------------------------------------------------
= Higher prices at the pump

I keep thinking that the face of the US is going to have to change drastically. No more big cars...possibly even no more personal cars period. No more outlying suburbs or living 40 or more miles from where you work. No more food that travels 1500 miles or more to reach your plate.

I'm not trying to sound like a pessimist. But I think this country has been living with cheap energy for so long that we're going to have trouble adjusting.

[ro-monster]

I keep thinking that the face of the US is going to have to change drastically. No more big cars...possibly even no more personal cars period. No more outlying suburbs or living 40 or more miles from where you work. No more food that travels 1500 miles or more to reach your plate.

I'm not trying to sound like a pessimist. But I think this country has been living with cheap energy for so long that we're going to have trouble adjusting.

Honestly, I'm looking forward to this. It's long overdue. Sure it will be painful for many people but I think that in the long term we'll have a better society for it. I also think we'll finally see a rise in working from home (like they promised us back in the 1960s, heh). We certainly have the technology to make that feasible for many jobs (including mine) now.

[mbalmer]

I remember when my dad was really upset when gas hit 70 cents/gal. We were traveling to Redding, CA and he came unglued. I tease him about it now . When I was really little my older brother ran out of gas in our Vista Cruiser. He scraped up 22 cents and bought almost a gallon of gas (25 cents/gal). Vista Cruiser and $ .25/gal. I'm dating myself.

[Desmostro]

Welcome to the rest of the world, America. Gas is expensive in most other places. Go to Brazil, for instance, and you'll see all small cars with manual transmissions. You'll also see lots of alternative fuels. Pizzas are still delivered on scooters and 125cc motorcycles. And there are a ton of alternate fuels available.

$5 gas is just a sad fact of life and the result of our situation:

1 uncompetitive, heavily-vertically-integrated oligopoly
+ 1 fixed-supply, dwindling resource
+ Greater demand from developing nations
+ A very energy-inefficient US infrastructure
+ A weakening dollar
----------------------------------------------------
= Higher prices at the pump

I keep thinking that the face of the US is going to have to change drastically. No more big cars...possibly even no more personal cars period. No more outlying suburbs or living 40 or more miles from where you work. No more food that travels 1500 miles or more to reach your plate.

I'm not trying to sound like a pessimist. But I think this country has been living with cheap energy for so long that we're going to have trouble adjusting.

+1
This whole conversation is what has been preached in the Architecture and Design world for years now. We all knew it was an inevitability as gas prices have always been Gov't subsidized here. It was like a stack of cards. The entire layout of our cities and architecture is based on cheap energy and gas.
The 'burbs are going to have to turn into small self-sufficient townships. Buying apples from Fiji and New Zealand while we plow our own farms into parking lots has got to end.

Google is moving a lot of its workspace to down town SF instead of running shuttles to the Valley, while other huge companies are moving to smaller towns and taking over.  Maybe city's will turn into cooperate townships. 

It's going to get weird and painful while these changes happen. Those who embrace it first it will profit first instead of getting buried by it all.
Like Desmoquattro said, this is the way its ALWAYS been in most of the world. The lifestyle in those places can also be better not worse. Imagine being able to walk to work in 10 minutes!

Say good buy to light bulbs btw. Next year they will stop making them altogether. Only 10% of their energy goes to light, 90% goes to making heat. CFL's and LED's will be made instead.

Its all for the better. I'm just glad I'm getting 50MPG right now and live in a place I don't need a heater/air-conditioner.

[Ducatiloo]

'Bout $10.00 or more in Germany...crying now ?

Doesn't Germany have a train, bus etc infranstructure?  I would die of old age before I was able to take a train within 20 miles of work.
Same with many people in the US.  I would happliy use a bus or train if it was provided.

[Desmostro]

Doesn't Germany have a train, bus etc infranstructure?  I would die of old age before I was able to take a train within 20 miles of work.
Same with many people in the US.  I would happliy use a bus or train if it was provided.

Remember Los Angeles California had the most advanced train system in the world when they ripped it out and put in freeways. (They being private auto industry companies who bought it from the state.)
In 1921 there were 813 rail cars in LA.  . More than SF now!

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Streetcar_Scandal
http://www.erha.org/railwayhis.htm

[Ducatiloo]

Remember Los Angeles California had the most advanced train system in the world when they ripped it out and put in freeways. (They being private auto industry companies who bought it from the state.)
In 1921 there were 813 rail cars in LA.  . More than SF now!

See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Streetcar_Scandal
http://www.erha.org/railwayhis.htm

This is such a happy thread 

[Desmostro]

This is such a happy thread 

Na, Don't worry. Its a brave new world!

Its up to us to shake things up. Help out new riders, stop buying disposable crap, shop local produce, live near work, let GM go the f' out of business, and ride our bikes everywhere!

I'm saving up for solar panels.    Check out the home made electric bike I saw!

[x136]

But I think this country has been living with cheap energy for so long that we're going to have trouble adjusting.

We're really going to get bitten in the ass by poor city layouts, lack of useful public transportation, general consumerism, and over-reliance on/worship of the automobile. Hey, I love cars, and I love driving, but even I recognized years ago how ridiculous it all is.

I remember when gas hit a buck a gallon, and people were running around like chickens with their heads removed. Nothing (or at least very little) ended up changing. Same thing when it hit $2. Then again when it hit three. Now people are just slack-jawed as it continues to shoot up. Even so, people are doing little, aside from maybe bragging about the 28MPG that their small SUV gets, as if that's an impressive number.

Remember Los Angeles California had the most advanced train system in the world when they ripped it out and put in freeways. (They being private auto industry companies who bought it from the state.)
In 1921 there were 813 rail cars in LA.  . More than SF now!

It wasn't just LA, either. Every once in a while, they'll tear up a road in downtown Sacramento to repave it or whatever, and find a set of old trolley tracks. It'll get a blip in the newspaper, people will oooh and ahh, talk about how nice a trolley system would be, then the old tracks get ripped out and the road gets repaved.