Atomic City Talk

With the weekly rise in the cost per barrel of oil (up to $114 today) I am somewhat surprised at the still lack of national or even local discussion on ways we might conserve or even more succinct discussion of ways to reduce the out of pocket expenses for low and middle class workers...Some people say that reducing our use of gasoline will reduce the price...In theory this might be true but there are people in China and India waiting to use what we do not...

Please note I am not assigning blame for the high gas prices...I would not even know where or who to start with..It is still wise to conserve and the rising cost of gasoline is hurting all sectors of the economy.

I remember in the 1970s there was a big push for car pooling...I remember almost everyone car pooled to ORNL around 1979...car pooling is still used in some major cities but maybe not as much as back then...Carpooling seems to be almost non-existent in East Tennessee...

Another option I believe should be considered would be for companies to permit more telecommuting or even go to a 4-day work week...I realize that every company would be able to do these on the same level but for the most part I have heard little discussion of these options...

I even see the possibility of schools going to a 4-day week with one hour longer class time eventually...

I am not sure what leaders: civic, company, government are waiting for...maybe we need to take the lead...perhaps gasoline will go to $6.00/gallon sooner than later forcing some grass roots efforts...not that I want to pay that much or could afford it but I would be driving less...

i stopped at Mac donalds the other day . there was a drive by line wrapped around the building waiting for their turn to drive up and order. there was nobody standing in line inside. I wondered how much gas is wasted per day by all the cars that are sitting in line idling away? i for one park and go inside doesn't take much ,besides the walk is good exercise. maybe we should ban drive by windows.. any thoughts??

The 4-day workweek is a great idea that many progressive places are using. Probably the biggest single factor in auto mileage is tire pressure. Another is to get rid of excess weight. Many people haul around a trunkload of crap and that hurts efficiancy. Another "unintended consequence" is ethanol mixtures. Your mileage goes down the more ethanol that the gas contains. The E85 vehicles get somewhere between 15-28% lower mileage compared to gasoline. Of course, our ever wise government has dictated that we will use ethanol, even if it is more expensive than gas and also runs up the price of our food. Wait until summer when they have to reformulate to meet the EPA rules and it is even more expensive!

Speaking of gasoline... anybody know why the Exxon station on the Turnpike has stopped selling gas? Did the tankers get hijacked before they reached OR? I noticed that the car wash was still in operation.

it would be great if all exxon stations crashed, maybe that would send a message , actually they are probably trying to spend those huge proffits exxon has been reporting for the past couple years.

Instead of reducing the amount of gasoline used how about finding a way to reduce the $17 billion dollar profit the Shell and BP posted and reduce the price of gas.

You need to look at their profit margin...Like it or not, making profits are what capitalist companies do...Reducing profits in theory reduces further investment and also research and development (and maybe a yacht or two along with way)...and do not tell me that the oil companies do not perform R&D...haven't you seen those nice looking commercials during Prime Time were they tell us soon.

Even if somehow profits were held to $0, how much do you really think the price of gasoline would go down? Not very much and the politicians should forget the gimmicky 'no gax tax during the summer" gimmick...We do need roads...In reality, gas prices need to go higher, much higher in order to obtain true conservation and to birth real R&D (both private and governmental)...

$17B profit in the FIRST QUARTER. They're on a pace to net nearly $70B this year (or nearly triple the entire U.S. Dept of Energy budget for FY2008).

To post those profits is an insult to the American people. With gas the way it is, $17M would have been an insult. Those people sit in Washington and do nothing about it. I would say lets revolt but you would need gas to get to the protest place.

Didn't know that DOE was a private company competing with oil companies.

Just a question though...do you know the difference between profit and profit margin? The profit of oil companies generally is high because these are the largest companies in the world ...Their margins of profits generally range between 50th and 100th among top US corporations and corporations are in business to provide profits to their investors of which I am not one but maybe that is not a bad idea...Profit margins keep investors pumping money into companies not profits...Without investors companies there would be no one (not the government at this point in time) to fund buying of oil futures which guarantees gas for your car a few weeks later.

Am I taking up for oil companies - no, but there are many reasons for high gas prices.