Reader comments
Oil hits $134

So Exxon and Chevron can make more profit.

Welcome to the world George Bush created.

GO, GO, GO UTA! I for one am going to totally cut out unnecessary trips to include vactions. Only going to drive to work and the grocery store (sorry, UTA can't help me there). Sorry resturaunts, Lagoon, Walmart, mom and pop stores, lawn care, boy scout trips, camping, and all other businesses. My money has to support the oil companies. You know, it takes a lot of money to keep corrupt people corrupt. Your buisnesses will just have to donate and weather this out so the all important oil companies can take your profits. I am sure glad you people elected our oil men to office, I don't know what I would do without them, their very lucrative oil buisness and their wars.

Huge oil subsidy we pay $8 Billion per month for the Iraq War to keep the Middle East Oil flowing to the World Market. Our Nation is not the recipient of most of this oil, but if it were not on the Market we would be paying more than the $130 per barrel.

For $8 Billion per month or $96 Billion per year we could build clean renewable alternative power plants, enough to generate 50,000 Megawatts, which would power 17.5 Million Homes. Yes, free electricity for 17,500,000 homes.

Take this and do it for 4 years and we can generate 200,000 Megawatts, enough to power 70 Million Homes, or 61% of all the 115.9 Million Homes in the USA, according to the 2000 Census.

Everyone in the USA could cut their home electric bill by 61%, if we spent the OIL SUBSIDY building these plants, think of the jobs and economic stimulus.

NOW YOU CAN HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN, by asking point blank of anyone seeking your vote --- �Do You Support The Oil Based Economy?�

If their answer is yes, do not vote for that person.

We need to start our own drilling and increase our exploration. Why not let the companies use their profits for that? A major part of the American Dream is that we have cheap fuel and all the benefits that it provides. Why are we any better any other country? The sooner we are less dependent on the Middle East the better off America will be. Everyone knows that, but our lame politicians are afraid to do anything about it, and don't want to upset the mis-lead environmentalists.

Its not just the oil companies to blame, thank the US government for all the taxes on every step of the process ... drilling, trucking, refining, pumping, etc., not to mention not allowing any new refineries to be built for over 30 years or relying on US oil production rather than foreign oil sources. It is the government that has gained exponentially at the cost of the tax-payers.

Of course the price is on the rise.... "they" predicted that the price of gas per gallon would be $4 or more by summer. If the price jumped from $3 to $4 Memorial day weekend people might get the idea that "they" are doing it on purpose and that "they" are trying to make money off summer vacations. It might anger the public if they knew the "truth" of it all.

Bush has ties to oil magnates.
Dick and Lynn Cheney too.
Condolezza Rice has an oil tanker named after her.

CONNECT THE DOTS YOU FOOLS!

"In an unrelated story, Exxon has reported record profits for the umpteenth consecutive quarter."

But seriously, congress was just reviewing the $160 billion tax break given to oil companies. Currupt politicians and currupt oil execs - go figure. GO BUSH !!

Make no mistake. The problem is not the oil companies and it is not George Bush, it is the democratic environmentalists. There are so many regulations that the oil companies can't explore and find new sources of oil right here in the United States. We need to stop worrying about the caribou and polar bear and start worrying about mankind.

I am tired of the GOP trying to sell us DRILL IN ANWAR.
By cutting 60% of the vehicle usage and 50% of the diesel fuel usage by mandating 60% of autos be electric and building a MagLev train system to transport goods and materials, we would lower the daily consumption by 7.556 Million Barrels Per Day (.60 x 9.16 MBD + .5 x 4.12 MBD), approximately 1/3 of the daily total usage of petroleum.
Additionally, 7.556 MBD is 5.4 times as much as the estimated daily output from ANWAR of only 1.4 MBD. By the way the 10.4 Billion Barrels of oil in ANWAR would only cover the 13.15 Million Barrels of Imported oil for 2.17 years. Why spend all those millions on finding, drilling, building a pipeline, shipping, etc, when those millions can be spent on ending our dependence on oil.
The whole point of this matter is that our Country has run out of oil as a sustainable source of transportation fuel. WE USE MORE THAN WE HAVE AND MUST IMPORT IT FROM PLACES THAT DO NOT LIKE AND THAT OPPOSE OUR COUNTRY.

Of course the price is on the rise...demand exceeds production.

"I am tired of the GOP trying to sell us DRILL IN ANWAR. [sic]
By cutting 60% of the vehicle usage and 50% of the diesel fuel usage by mandating 60% of autos be electric and building a MagLev train system to transport goods and materials"

Hey, as soon as somebody invents a practical, affordable electric car I'm sure the market will do that on its own--but then people will complain about the cost of electricity and batteries. And as for maglev systems, they're too expensive. Especially since the government can't even make AMTRAK work.

Treehuggers Huh? It must be tough when you get your facts (talking points) from Rush and Sean!

If all those environmentalists that constantly congratulate themselves on how smart they are would start walking everywhere that would help more then all the ideas smart enough suggested.

If congress wants to know who to blame for the high price of oil all they have to do is look in the mirror. The US has more then enough oil to be fully self-sufficient but congress has blocked development at every turn.

Note how the wacky conservatives change the topic from Oil problems to "tree-hugger" remarks.

And these fools think they are pulling the wool over reasonable-thinking people's eyes with that Rush Limbaugh-ish BS.

What a childish group of people!

Who is Rush and Sean? I don't even know who you are talking about. I do know who Al Gore is and all you fruit loops think you can save the Earth by making corn into fuel. In the mean time the world is starving to death. Good work treehuggers.

Who is Rush and Sean? Yeah, right.

A dead give-away. And more proof the neocons' ship is sinking like a (blanking) stone.

Most of the reasons given for the high price of oil in the comments are ridiculous. The US dollar continues to decline in value vis a vis other currencies. Oil is bought and sold in US dollars. The price of oil will continue to rise as long as the US dollar loses value.

Oil companies are not gouging any one. Their margins are much lower than many industries. Look at their financial statements and calculate the financial ratios and you will see. People lash out at the oil companies because their is nothing they can do to change the situation in the short term. Our country was designed around cheap oil, and those days are coming to an end.

Drilling in ANWR makes me laugh. People talk about it like Jed Clampett is going to go up there shoot at a caribou and "up through the ground comes a bubblin' crude" and oil prices come down. It is a relatively small amount of oil and will take 8-15 years for the first barrel to reach the market. Our efforts are better spent on becoming the world leaders in alternative fuels and their associated technologies.

Our efforts are better spent on becoming the world leaders in alternative fuels and their associated technologies.