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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Crocodile who wrote (4061)	5/2/2006 11:18:05 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Respond to of 24240

Hard to say, but it appears to be making some changes. Stories from around the country Posted by Yankee on Sun Apr 30 at 12:50 AM EST The New York Times has an article today called As Gas Prices Go Up, Impact Trickles Down. They sent reporters to locations around the country to write vignettes of how high gas prices are affecting people. For example, this bit is from a story about a gas station owner in San Francisco: Many customers understand the dealers are not at fault, but others simply rage at the nearest target. She advises angry customers to contact Conoco. "I tell people, I'm just the dealer. I have no control over the price. I don't even know why the price is going up." From Casper, Wyoming: In an adjoining gas lane, Cindy Wright spoke of the pain high gas prices cause the single mothers who make up many of the clients at the public health clinic in Torrington, where she is a nurse. "They can't afford to drive," she said. In another sign of the times, Ms. Wright said, a relative who owns an auto repair shop arrived at work one morning recently to find that thieves had siphoned gas from vehicles left there overnight. Of course, similar stories elsewhere abound: What's behind $3-a-gallon gas? Gas prices forcing some boaters to rethink plans Gas prices teach life lessons: Parents, help teens figure out how they'll cope with ugly reality of $3 or more a gallon What are you doing differently because of higher gas prices? What about you, TOD readers? Have you substantially changed your normal patterns in the past few weeks? Have you started to make sacrifices in other lifestyle choices in order to keep up with your addiction to oil? (That's a tongue-in-cheek use of the phrase, OK?) 184 comments on Stories from around the country theoildrum.com

To: Crocodile who wrote (4061)	5/4/2006 4:13:51 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24240

Leanan on Wed May 03 at 6:01 PM EST The cover story of USA Today is a good article about how high fuel prices are affecting people across America: Across USA, wave of anger building over gas prices Some of the businesses affected are things I never thought of. Like amusement parks. Car sales are being affected: Gas price dents sales of guzzlers Ford Motor says gas prices, for the first time, are affecting sales of its F-150 pickup, the USA's best-selling vehicle. It's a sign gas price woes are penetrating even the most stable vehicle segments. But Ford thinks it's just temporary: "In some cases, the full-size-truck buyer can sit on the sidelines and defer their purchase," said George Pipas, Ford's manager of sales analysis, discussing April sales results. Still, "We don't see this buyer leaving the market." And for some consumers, gas prices mean nothing" Hummer sales up 231% "Sales are just fine because the people who are buying them aren't concerned about gas prices," he said. Buyers are wealthy people ranging from company CEOs to well-paid laborers with expendable income, he said. The Philadelphia Inquirer has this summation of how energy prices are affecting industry: Industries hit hard by hike in fuel prices Airlines, truckers and railroads under pressure. Factories not yet anxious. Farmers are definitely hurting: Fuel, fertilizer prices expected to keep climbing Fertilizer prices - largely based on energy costs due to the petroleum products comprising fertilizer - have increased 70 percent during the same period. Lori Wilcox, UM Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute economist, expects fuel and fertilizer prices to increase 10 percent to 15 percent this year. In fact, she sees no relief in sight. Her projections show fuel and fertilizer costs increasing for the next 10 years above 2005 levels. Abner Womack, FAPRI co-director, said the trend is unprecedented. In the past, energy prices would come back down following a spike, he said. That last bit says it all, doesn't it? theoildrum.com