Gas prices rise above $4 in Chicago and Long Island.
By on May 19th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Gas prices rise above $4 in Chicago and Long Island.
Average national gas prices have hit another record high on May 16, climbing to $3.7929 a gallon for regular gasoline. At the same time, average gas prices rose above $4 a gallon in Chicago and New York’s Long Island for the first time. Trilby Lundberg, the editor of the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations, says that gas prices “could rise to $4 a gallon on a national average basis.”
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Just another metric of the failed presidency of George W. Bush.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:32 amI hear Cheney chuckling in his bunker.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:33 amMission Accomplished banner is being unfurled again ; to be used at the next secret energy meeting next week between Dickhead Cheney and the oil companies……….
May 19th, 2008 at 11:34 am“above $4 a gallon in Chicago and New York’s Long Island”
Those aren’t the only places. Gas has been above $4.00 in San Diego for a few weeks now.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:37 amIt’s been over 4 buck for a while where I live in So. Cal., we are among the first hit with the big raises but like anything else, no one cares until it hits home. Welcome home Chicago and NY
May 19th, 2008 at 11:39 amWhile I appreciate the effort at constantly drawing our attention to the rising price of gasoline could this site maybe draw some political conclusions about the staggering rise in prices?
It seems to me that this subject is too complicated, or taboo, or something that I just dont undersatnd to identify just what the mechanism is whereby we are being gouged. De-regulation of futures markets driving the price up? The purposeful devaluation of the dollar?
Could we have a thoughtful detailing of exactly why the price is obscene and not just another gas station sign update?
I’m just saying.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:40 amBy using HIS OWN STANDARDS- Chimpie appeased North Korea about their nuclear program.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:46 amwrong thread- sorry about that.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:47 amI wish I knew where these places in Chicago are that keep bringing down the average because I’ve not seen anything less than $4.00 since well before this past weekend lol.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:48 amMILK is around $4 a gallon (some stores it’s more) where I live.
Which is interesting because although it takes oil energy to process, refrigerate and transport, milk is a domestic product. As the price of milk seems to mirror the price of gasoline in this country, I rather wonder if we shouldn’t in fact be paying MORE for milk, given all the other expenses that have risen. Are the dairy farmers stuck with “what the market will bear”, I wonder?
May 19th, 2008 at 11:50 amPaid $4.05 last Friday and it was the cheapest around. First place we stopped was $4.23 so we moved on.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:50 am“margerine”
that moniker makes me amile. I can’t believe it’s not ‘notbetter‘
:D
May 19th, 2008 at 11:54 amGee, I thought installing a pair of oil men in the Oval Office would get a good deal on gas.
Oh, that’s right — Bush is a failed oil man. He wasn’t able to find oil in Texas. Good thing his friends the bin Ladens were there to bail out his bankrupt company.
May 19th, 2008 at 11:56 amThis Chicago boy says “sorry” USA for us being singled out like we’re something “special”. We ain’t.
I don’t know why this is news, as other posters are pointing out, $4.00 a gallon is occurring nationwide – and will, unfortunately, be the norm soon.
Speculators and sabre rattling by the rightwing warmongers is as responsible for the spike as anything, imo. And of course, disrupting the supply side of the equation by going into the ME with “guns blasting” has accomplished Cheney and Bush’s true mission.
Motherf*****s.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pmlokidog Says:
This Chicago boy says “sorry” USA for us being singled out like we’re something “special”. We ain’t.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
______
I hope you mean “Chicago Boy” in the “person who grew up in Chicago” sense and not the “devotee of Milton Friedman” sense.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:05 pm““above $4 a gallon in Chicago and New York’s Long Island”
Those aren’t the only places. Gas has been above $4.00 in San Diego for a few weeks now.”
It’s right at 4$ for regular here in Thousand Oaks(North of LA)
May 19th, 2008 at 12:06 pmPolitical turbulence (threats to Iran and Venequela don’t help – threat to Venezuela via talk of military base on their border with Colombia for ex.), shortage of sweet crude, not enough refineries, weak dollar, labor problems in Nigeria….the list of things contributing to the situation goes on and on.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:09 pmIn January, I predicted $125/barrel of oil & $4/gallon gas…
I was wrong.
I underestimated the true greed of big oil, and it’s here a few weeks ahead of my timeline.
How much profit is enough? Can you imagine an oil CEO being asked that question? 40%? 50%? 100%?
Of course, the answer is NEVER ENOUGH. That’s why we must nationalize oil, pharma & insurance. Perhaps credit card companies, too.
They will continue to rape the consumer, bend or break the law, and raise interest rates to levels beyond what even the Mafia ever dreamed of or collected.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:10 pmCorporate greed is killing America. Of course, that’s been the plan all along…
hussein toasterhead says:
I hope you mean “Chicago Boy” in the “person who grew up in Chicago” sense and not the “devotee of Milton Friedman” sense.
Actually, grew up in upstate NY and have been an “immature man” in Chicago for the last 25 years – LOL
I’m not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine” has taught me all I need to know about Friedman.
And I suspect he and Jelly Bean Brain/Ray Gun Ronnie Reagan are blowing each other in Hell right now.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pmI remember not long ago when Bushie-boy scoffed at a reporter who asked about $4/gallon gas, as if the guy were WILDLY uninformed, ha ha ha.
I also remember disbelief at oil topping $60/barrel just a few years ago while today it is hover at ofver $120/barrel. Clearly, DEMAND has not doubled.
Perhaps, some talking head can remind us how this is all Clinton’s fault, right?
/snark off
May 19th, 2008 at 12:14 pmZimzone Says:
Corporate greed is killing America. Of course, that’s been the plan all along…
I agree. It’s for all intesive purposes a return to the robber barons of the 19th century.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:16 pmThanks W for unleashing the Corporate Greed Machine. They are trying to make everyone into serfs, and slaves.
Capitalism, ain’t it grand?
May 19th, 2008 at 12:19 pmTypical lazy librulz can’t find gas for less than $4 a gallon!
Fiscal conservatives such as myself make the effort to drive our 10MPG Hummers up to 100 miles to save 10 cents on the gallon–it’s called ‘personal responsibility’, people!
Besides, transnational oil companies are people too! Even their top executives pay the same price for gas at the pump as welfare queens do. But do THEY complain? Of course not!
The trouble with you librulz is that you expect handouts. The oil multinationals have worked for years and spent tens of millions of dollars to ensure that the oil you need is the oil you need–you needy needers!!!
Jeebus Christ! It’s hard enough posing as the likes of Neil Cavuto, what must it be like actually being like that? I just don’t have the energy to sustain the charade…
May 19th, 2008 at 12:29 pmThanks to mostly oil wealth I believe, we’ll be hearing a lot more from Angola in the days to come:
“At the beginning of this month, a new bank called BIC Portugal opened its doors here in Lisbon with mainly Angolan private capital and the declared aim of serving as “gateway to Angolan investment in Europe.”
Angola has now officially taken over Nigeria for the top African oil-producing spot.
And then there’s the airport strike in Norway threatening to affect their oil platforms.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:31 pmHillary actually said $5/gallon may be in our future.
Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia gas remains at, what, 7/cents/gal?
Whatever happened to Hillary & McCain’s effort to suspend the Federal gas tax?
What happened to Sen. Dorgan’s resolution to cease adding to our Strategic Oil Reserves?
Oh, & who killed the electric car?
May 19th, 2008 at 12:37 pmDigDug Says:
It’s for all intesive purposes a return to the robber barons of the 19th century.
I recently read about a big difference between then and now. Then the barons got rich off the cheap labor that was available, now the bastards are getting richer by eliminating jobs.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pmThe high oil prices have nothing to do with Bush. It’s worldwide and caused by greedy speculators pushing the price up. What needs to happen is a Global set of regulations that forces specualtors to put 1/2 of the money on their bids. Right now they can just bid and sell with no money. Force them to use real money and many to most can’t. This would reduce the price.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pmIn a way high prices are good as it’s forcing auto compnaies to rush and develope alternative fuels. Oil has to go.
Wales looks toward green future
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080514/britain_green_wales.html?.v=1
By 2025, Wales wants to generate all its electricity from renewable sources and even become a net exporter of power.
Wales is betting that two huge projects — a US$30 billion tidal barrage in the Severn Estuary and the largest biomass plant in the world in Port Talbot — will produce most of the electricity needed to reach its 2025 target.
For the rest, the local government is hoping that its natural winds, streamlined bureaucracy, access to skilled labor, proximity to universities and state funding will prove enticing to companies in both the renewables and clean technology sectors.
Going green could make or break Wales following the death of the mining industry in the 1980s. While Cardiff has blossomed from a provincial city into a significant capital in recent years under a retail- and services-led boom, rural Wales has limped along on tourism and agriculture.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:51 pmMary – The reasons you gave for high oil prices are certainly real, except for the issue of shortage of refineries. We have the refineries necessary, the problem is that big oil is only operating them at about 83% capacity. Intentionally.
Zimzone – I heard yesterday that Saudi Arabia is selling gasoline for $.64 per gallon. We basically are paying 84% more per gallon here. State and federal taxes on gasoline haven’t increased nationally that I am aware of, so this cost reflects that per barrel increase for sure.
In 2001, oil was $25/bbl. Interesting history and commentary on this website; article date in Jan. 2008. Prices, of course, have risen even higher since then.
http://www.lilith-ezine.com/articles/politics/Hundred-Dollar-Oil.html
May 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pmDr. Hussein Matt,
May 19th, 2008 at 12:53 pmNice try but it has nothing to do with Bush. Look not everything in the world has to do with Bush, he’s not God, I am! LOL!
Seriously it’s the speculators who have to put no money down on their bids that are causing this. It’s Global Specaluator greed. If Traders are forced to put up real money many can’t. That would cause a price drop.
We need to get away from Oil anyway so higher prices are forcing the automakers to move away from Oil. This needs to encourage. As a Leftist don’t you think it’s a good idea to move away from oil?
Evil Spaniard,
May 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pmGreat article. Instead of complaing about higher ouil prices, we need solutions that move away from Oil. That is something the Right and Left can agree and work on.
I don’t think getting rid of the federal/state taxes will help reduce the price for the consumer. Oil companies will keep prices where they are and keep the savings for themselves. If I’m paying an extra quarter to somebody, I’d rather it went back into our tax pool than into Exxon’s pockets. There needs to be a cap on the amount of money the oil companies can make.
We haven’t really come all that far from the days when a few lords grew richer and fatter from squeezing as much money as they could get from the serfs and peasants like us.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:57 pmAl Da God Says:
Evil Spaniard,
Great article. Instead of complaing about higher ouil prices, we need solutions that move away from Oil. That is something the Right and Left can agree and work on.
May 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
Too bad the right is in bed with the oil industry…
May 19th, 2008 at 12:58 pmEvil Spaniard,
May 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pmSome on the Right are not all on the Right. There is a big split now between the Corporatist/Globalist Right and the Populist/Anti-Corporate Right. Just l;ike on how on the Left there’s a split between the Clintonian-Corporatist Left and the Progressive/Anti-Corporate Left. It’s all nuance as there are differnt factions on both sides.
That’s why the Populist Right and Progressive Left should ally on common interests and take on the Leftists and Rightwing Corporatists.
Although we’ll still have our difference like on Islam and Guns, we do have some common enemies we can unite against.
Sorry to mention it, but here in the San Francisco Bay Area gas has been around $4.50/gallon for weeks now…It’ll only go higher…Price spike is due to market speculation…Demand actually is flat and production has remained at about 80% of capacity for awhile…Investors are betting the market will go up and up…
May 19th, 2008 at 1:29 pmJohn McCain is in Chicago today and nobody cares. Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t have a word to say about oil prices. Economics aren’t his “thing”, he’s more into bomb, bomb, bombing.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:38 pmPeter C: also remember disbelief at oil topping $60/barrel just a few years ago while today it is hover at ofver $120/barrel. Clearly, DEMAND has not doubled
Great comment! DOUBLED is the key word there.
In March 2000 the US national average pump price hit $1.54
(from a $0.92 low in 1999). In oil-energy dependent countries that drive demand population hasn’t gone-up appreciably and energy-dependent consumerism/consumer products overall hasn’t increased beyond predictions and recent historical norms (I think, anyway).
I reckon pure specualation on the oil supply (due to obvious reasons) accounts for a significant proportion of the global price increase and perhaps especially the local price increase.
For instance the UK average price per litre of unleaded petrol was 92.1p in 2006 versus 95.2p a year later in 2007 (about a 4% increase).
In the US the average price per gallon was almost $2.60 in 2006, in 2007 almost $2.80 about an 8% increase (increase as currency per unit cost). This is just before the nosedive of the US Dollar. US prices per unit rose faster than in the UK.
Now the UK price is 115p per litre, in the US it’s $3.72 per gallon. UK increase 2008 over 2007 about 10%. US increase 2008 over 2007 is about 30%.
Interesting.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pmNo one could have predicted $4 a gallon gas under George W. Bush and Dick Cheney’s wise and prudent national guidance!
May 19th, 2008 at 1:54 pmHere in NYC, it’s 4 dollars a gallon. But I’m lucky that I have the glorious MTA to shuffle me around NYC. I know many Republicans feel public transportation is one of the most evil kinds of socialism and should be abolished like the estate tax and Social Security, but I enjoy not having a car and dealing with gas prices, maintainance, insurance, parking, and car payments.
Boy, the MSM sure does know how to pick presidents, don’t they? I wonder if David Gergen will apologise for saying “you don’t have to be smart to be president”, or Andrew Sullivan will apologise for saying “this man is amazing” (referring to Bush).
May 19th, 2008 at 2:10 pmGas prices in the SF Bay area has been over $4/gal for over a month now, at least. But of course we’re ALL liberal, gay-marrying, Prius drivers up her so the media doesn’t consider us anywhere near typical Americans. If you ever, at any time, want to know what the upper end of gas prices are in the US you just call a gas station from Marin to Mountain View. There are refineries across the bay in Richmond but for some reason gas prices are always the highest in the lower 48 right here in liberal country. Always.
May 19th, 2008 at 2:12 pmOK you Californians chill out. It’s been that high in Chicago for a month now too. I could be wrong but isn’t gasoline formulated specially for California because you have higher air quality standards than the rest of the country which is a good thing of course. But if they use your prices than the nutjobs would just dismiss it for that reason, wouldn’t they?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:04 pmAccording to Tracy Lundberg on NPR this morning, the highest gas is in Chicago (where Barack Obama coincidentally comes from) and Long Island (where Hillary Clinton coincidentally comes from) and LOWEST in…you guessed it…Arizona.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:13 pmhttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90041682
Oh and I do agree there is some bias against reporting Bay Area gas prices, but I do see those a lot as the first to X, and don’t most things have very high prices there?
May 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pmThis is a crock but where’s the coverage of diesel, food, and healthcare?
How many gallons of gas are most people using here?
It’s the tuition that gets me. A $1000 increase is nothing, $1000 more for gas in a car is a ton.
May 19th, 2008 at 4:30 pmYeah you’re a typical “compassionate conservative” Zed. You people wear flag pins and think that’s all that’s required to be a good American. You pigs disgust me.
May 19th, 2008 at 7:01 pmZed Lefflin Says:
——————————————————————————–
I just love it when prices go up, doesn’t bother me a bit. I cant wait for $8.00 per gallon gas….neighbor will be stealing from neighbor, BHO will in the white house and could not care less, gangs will be into the illegal fuel business just like drugs because of the profits to be had. Finally, the big chicken will come home to roost. The “greens” will be beaten in the streets by Progressives…..oh man….I cant wait. And on and on and on…………..
Britain already has $8.00 per gallon gas. Only effect I’ve seen is they drive smaller cars.
Sorry to burst your dystopian fantasy.
May 19th, 2008 at 8:48 pmI just paid $4.15 for regular in DC.
May 20th, 2008 at 7:38 pm