# Why is Gasoline so damn expensive right now ($3.00 US, approx) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 12, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899 "2010-12-12T17:22:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/61 "2010-12-16T03:45:47Z")
Dick Dastardly writes: \> Apparently some fucker at MIT has just rewritten the laws of quantum physics \> and produced a machine where you pour a glass of water in the front and get \> energy out the back. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/62 "2010-12-16T07:40:43Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Dick Dastardly writes: > > \> Apparently some fucker at MIT has just rewritten the laws of quantum physics > \> and produced a machine where you pour a glass of water in the front and get > \> energy out the back. > > **Cite?** Lonestar beer Declan ---
**Author:** ![Walther\_Ego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Walther\_Ego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walther_Ego)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/63 "2010-12-16T08:56:35Z")
Nobody trusts the stated Saudi oil reserves anymore. Therefore the only people in the World who can buy or sell crude without speculating the oil we have are the king and the oil minister. Of course, theey’re not so sure about other countries resources either. I think the crude prices are surprisingly stable and low. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/64 "2010-12-16T16:02:16Z")
Lone Star Beer? Then I demand that Dick Dastardly buy enough for everybody in this thread and get us all drunk to the point that we understand what he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/65 "2010-12-16T16:29:41Z")
If America would simply return to the Traditional Values that prevailed in the 1950s then the price of gas will return to 1950s-era levels. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/66 "2010-12-16T16:31:17Z")
They should probably go back to the gold standard and re-impose segregation and anti-pornography/anti-comic book regulations as well. Plus we need all those blue laws back in place asap… -XT ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/67 "2010-12-16T16:35:37Z")
I know I’ll quickly get shouted down for this, but would it help the economy if the US released a small percentage of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve onto the market? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/68 "2010-12-16T16:39:47Z")
I don’t believe that the price of oil or refined fuels are one of the major components of the current downturn, so my answer would be: No. It wouldn’t help in any meaningful way. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/69 "2010-12-16T16:47:03Z")
Might provide a tiny short term boost. One so small you wouldn’t even notice it. In general, I am decidedly against using the SPR for non-strategic purposes, which this decidedly isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/70 "2010-12-16T17:53:23Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Dick Dastardly writes: > > \> Apparently some fucker at MIT has just rewritten the laws of quantum physics > \> and produced a machine where you pour a glass of water in the front and get > \> energy out the back. > > Cite? A car can do 1500 miles on a litre of water apparently. [http://www.blacklightpower.com/exec\_summary.shtml](http://www.blacklightpower.com/exec_summary.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/71 "2010-12-16T17:55:04Z")
[http://www.blacklightpower.com/introguide.shtml](http://www.blacklightpower.com/introguide.shtml) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/72 "2010-12-16T18:13:56Z")
You _are_ joking, right? ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/73 "2010-12-16T18:15:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You _are_ joking, right? What did you read that makes you think I’m joking? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/74 "2010-12-16T18:20:07Z")
This is the very first sentence in their execute summary: > [@](#): > > BlackLight Power, Inc. is the inventor of a commercially competitive, nonpolluting new primary source of energy that forms a prior undiscovered form of hydrogen called “hydrino” which is very likely the identity of the dark matter of the universe. I would take them more seriously if their new source of energy was Christmas spirit. ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/75 "2010-12-16T18:28:11Z")
Maybe it’s rubbish. I remember reading about it a year or three ago and that the process had been independently verified. It may be a nonstarter but when oil prices do eventually stay at an elevated level for the forseeable future it’ll spur some kind of new tech that solves the problem. ---
**Author:** ![Ramanujan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/51bf81/32.png) [@Ramanujan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramanujan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/76 "2010-12-16T18:33:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > There are a lot of places in the US (here, for example) where there are no buses/trains/subways/taxis available in “bedroom communities” where people live but do not work, which pretty much forces people to drive because walking or biking more than 25 miles a day is unrealistic - even if a person was in good enough shape to do so, the roads aren’t pedestrian friendly even in the nicest of weather. you’ve got your arrow of causation backwards. the roads and other infrastructure are bicycle and pedestrian unfriendly because people drive to work. it wasn’t always the way. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/77 "2010-12-16T19:08:03Z")
Then why are European roads pedestrian friendly? They have cars too. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899/78 "2010-12-16T19:25:28Z")
> [@Dick\_Dastardly](#): > > Maybe it’s rubbish. I find your lack of faith disturbing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-gasoline-so-damn-expensive-right-now-3-00-us-approx/563899.md?page=3)