How much is enough going to be ?

[Dsouthw524]

Are all of you forgetting that we had a fuel crisis in the 70s. People sold off the gas hog cars and their RVs for very little money. In the years since we have again people driving 5-6 mpg cars to get 1-2 people to work,shop, etc. we instead blame everyone else. While you contemplate this problem remember that almost everything we buy uses plastic either in production or packaging besides the shipping. Now think about all of your expenses and the effect of the oil demand and speculators.

[Rick A]

Since I was between 1 and 9 years old in the 70's I do not remember the fuel crisis. What I see now is increasing cost of gas and increasing profits by the oil companies. That tells me the increase in cost is coming directly from the oil company and no where else. I think they could afford to forgo some of these record profits and pass some savings onto the consumer. As for paying $3.00/Gal for soda from a vending machine, I do not drink a gallon of soda for every 18 miles I drive. To compare the cost of soda, milk, bottled water to the cost of a gallon of gas is apples and oranges. If the increase in oil costs only cost me $800/YR in increased fuel costs, that would be one thing. But take into consideration increased cost of everyday goods that we use that are increasing because of increased fuel costs. I work in a manufacturing enviroment. The bonus I have received every year is in jeopardy this year because of incresing material costs as a result of rising oil costs and increased transportation costs to get material and to get product to market. Not to mention, where is the cost cutting going to come from in next years budget to compensate? My educated guess, SALARIES! Okay, we pass the increases onto our customers. Then the Lowes, Home Depots, and Walmarts pass it onto their customer, ME. A vicious cycle where the consumer gets it from all sides. It's not just a couple hundred daollars at the pump that's at stake here.

[Canuck]

Tomcat, you said "there is no simple fix to this problem." I'd like to suggest that there may actually be something that we RVers can do. If you think that there are approximately 10,000 members of IRV2, we could all agree that we would only by gas/diesel from one particular refiner, and I don't care which one. In and of itself this may not provide a wakeup call to refiners that "we've had it" with their market manipulations, however, if we were to individually email the non-chosen refiners that we are no longer purchasing their products I'm willing to bet that this would get their attention.
Canuck