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Huntsman fumes about gas prices

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Sparkes22 | 2:21 a.m. May 23, 2008
Wow, finally a politician who is outraged at the tripling of gasoline prices over the last five years.

Where was he when gas climbed to $2.00 after Katrina in 2005 and to $3.00 in 2007? Huntsman finally got angry when a price for a gallon topped the $4.00 mark.

Welcome aboard Governor. Now, as our leader, what do you suggest we do about it?

Question Time | 6:51 a.m. May 23, 2008
This is a question for anybody who understands this stuff. I, for one, absolutely don't. Can Pres. Bush do anything about this? It seems that there must be some law (or possibility for executive intervention) in the case of certain companies making unprecedented excessive profits at the country's expense. Price gouging, or something??
dave | 7:16 a.m. May 23, 2008
He signed the gore treaty with swarzenegger and now he is mad? Get a clue.
Comments continue below
Dan | 8:59 a.m. May 23, 2008
Uh, Dave, the treaty Huntsman signed with Ahnold has nothing to do with gasoline and most of what they signed hasn't even taken effect yet. The price of gas has nothing to do with any of that stuff.

Maybe you're the one who needs to get a clue.
xsvribe | 10:38 a.m. May 23, 2008
Folks, it's not about gas and oil; it's about the almighty dollar, which carries very little weight these days, thanks for 8 years of a conservative administration, who, by the way, are all making tons of money off the price of oil. Yet somehow people vote for them and think they care about the little guy. Also, $4 gas is quite cheap compared to a lot of European countries; try $6-8 a liter, which is even less than a gallon. This country should have been delving full force into technology that would already have us not dependent upon gas and oil. Wonder why that didn't happen? Rich Republicans!
Unwilling to change | 11:42 a.m. May 23, 2008
Governor Huntsman is outraged at fuel prices but at the same is coddling the road construction budget and rejecting conjestion pricing. What kind of leadership is that? What has he done to get at the core problem?

We don't need the mock-outrage of a super-rich politician. We need solutions, and guess what, they may require changing our profligate ways.
Bush is the cause | 12:29 p.m. May 23, 2008
That's great he's outraged. If he supports Bush and Cheney, how much sense does it make for him to be outraged? If you support the cause, can you really be outraged by the result? That makes no sense.

Remember those secret meetings between Cheney and his buddies in the energy industry to draft the energy policy of the Bush administration back in 2001 or so? The Bush administration did not reveal the content of these meetings, if I remember correctly. 7 years later, and the big oil companies have been raking in record profits. Hmmmmm. Energy execs work with an administration from the oil industry to secretly draft the nation's energy policy, and they make record profits. It does not take a rocket surgeon to connect those dots.

I find it incredibly amazing that this administration has been directly screwing us over to facility record profits for their family and friends in the oil industry, yet some of us getting screwed over still support these people. Unbelievable. How corrupt is that, and how dumb and blind are some of these republicans? Bahhhhh!!! These sheep should have their voting privlidges revoked for not voting with their brains.
Ignorant People | 1:08 p.m. May 23, 2008
So many people like to slam Bush - it's the fashion, I know. But guess what? He doesn't set the price of oil. He doesn't even control the value of the dollar, though his Treasury Secretary has some help with that. Since you people love to find someone to blame, why don't you blame the speculators (not the oil men) who have irrationally driven up the cost of crude? This is a wall street issue. In the meantime, support movements to finding an alternative to oil.
To: Bush is the Cause | 1:09 p.m. May 23, 2008
Those who blame the Govenor and Bush don't have a clue. The oil companies average $0.08 per gallon or 2% of $4.00; the state of Utah taxes $0.24 per gallon or 6% of $4.00; and the Federal Government taxes about $0.18 per gallon or 4.5% of $4.00. The current prices per barrel of oil reported in the news are the prices set by foreign oil futures investors who believe China and India demand for oil in the future will exceed supply. If any one person is to blame for our price of oil today it is Bill Clinton, who vitoed drilling in Anwar ten years ago after congress passed the bill allowing it. Had he signed the bill we would have Anwar oil today helping us to be oil independent. Local oil refineries would be less dependent on the purchase of foreign oil and foreign oil futures prices.
Madman | 2:10 p.m. May 23, 2008
I don't care how much people in Europe pay for gas. I don't live in Europe, and their tax structure is much different than ours. That's not an apples to apples comparison. I'm concerned with what I have to pay for gas.
Theo | 4:18 p.m. May 23, 2008
According to the DOE, ANWAR contains enough oil to supply the US for 6....weeks. This six weeks' worth of oil, if we immediately started implementing drilling schemes, would be available in 5-10...years.

Demand has contributed to the cost of oil.
Futures speculation has contributed.
The current energy policy has failed to help the cost of oil.
ANWAR drilling would fail to lower the cost of oil for longer than a long weekend.
The value of the dollar has contributed to the cost of oil.

Here is something fun to do. Calculate the cost of operating your automobile, not just what it costs to fuel it. Add up your monthly payment, depreciation of the auto, insurance, taxes and registration, routine maintenance (tires, oil&filter, belts, etc.) and finally what you pay monthly for gas. Divide that by miles traveled, and you will see that large increases in fuel cost affect the operation of your vehicle less than one may think. Unless of course the auto is paid off, or MPG is in the toilet or the stratosphere.

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