NOTE: All timestamps are in the future because WE are in the future. The care takers of Midnight Ridazz.com reserves the right to remove, edit, move or delete anything for any reason. None of the opinions expressed on these boards represent the Midnight Ridazz nor can anyone purport to speak on behalf of Midnight Ridazz.
The first time ever and analysts say the price will increase exponentially because of the Texas refinery explosion and lack of adequate supplies in the world.
We may be looking down the barrel of a $5.00 a gallon price by June or July.
Bicycles have just become more valuable. So in the coming months, use a U-Lock and bolt cutter-resistant cables.
With the rise in gas prices, this also increases the prices of pretty much everything, from food to airline tickets, and probably the prices of bicycles.
It seems like the big oil companies can find any excuse to raise the price of oil, yet they are making record profits.
why would you hope such a thing?? along with the housing industry drop gas prices going up will very likely have us go into recession. Im not sure how you figure it, but nobody including people that ride their bikes everywhere will benefit from that.
We were all warned over 25 years ago about the finite supply of Petroleum. We just seem to think it wasn't going to happen in our lifetime.
Well it's happened. And we will have to "realign the economy" to the higher gasoline prices and short supplies of petroleum. Yes, there will be a Recession. Yes, there will be short-term suffering. But in the long run, after the realignment, we will be less reliant on petroleum and more reliant on our legs and alternative means of energy.
Our world is not going to come crashing down if we have high gas prices. People will adjust for this by driving less and not at all. We'll have less cheap crap to buy from China too. But the biggest benefit I can see from high gas prices is that maybe just maybe we'll have a chance to stabilize the environment and get a hold of controlling global warming. And another just maybe to being able to stop the pillaging of our futures' resources and the destruction of the planet.
Then again, maybe not. We'll just supplement our addition to fossil fuel with coal.
I believe it's absolutely true that an increase in oil prices will increase the prices of everything. But I also believe those prices will be temporary as we ween ourselves away from petroleum dependency, i.e. If our species even survives.
The people that will suffer the most will be the poor, while the rich wont get affected at all. Sound familiar? So what can we do about it?
1. Nothing.
But I've seen the future & the end of the world. And it looks like F.U.N.
I for one will continue to drive as far I have to, at whatever price I can afford to go, as long as it is "positive community", that is my destination.
Of course one inconsiderate, selfish person, in that community, could make me re-evaluate if that community is truly positive. It is a good thing that the statement "one bad apple, ruins the whole sauce", didn't apply for me, Sunday, with my friends around here.
thanks to everybody at the Salton Sea, who helped me out in my situation, and gave me the encouragement to come out, even if it is was for only one night.
thank you to my self-control, and better judgment, for stopping me from doing something that might have landed me in Prison for a long time, to the person who kicked a ball, super hard, in my elderly Fathers face, not checking on him and not apologizing about it.
Just to be a little more accurate in this thread, the title is rather misleading. Barrels of oil are not at $100..the futures are set at over 100 bucks...whether or not we reach this...only time will tell.
Also, the country is not in a recession right now. The GDP has continued to rise in the last year or so and the projections show that it will continue to do that...but I do agree that the economy is slowing down.
I could already see how oil costs will drive everything else up incrementally.
Driving-wise though, I probably only drive 2-4 times a month.
And this is only the few times I have to go up/down the Cajon Pass for something.
So, if I have to pay a few, extra bucks for steak'n'taters, that's not enough to make me cry.
yeah, I'd ride a bicycle too, cabhauler.
I'd also want a car to carry passengers or cargo or for long road trips.
and, I'd want a motorcycle for speed and fun.
The people that will suffer the most will be the poor, while the rich wont get affected at all. Sound familiar? So what can we do about it?
1. Nothing.
FUCK THAT. That's some tard shit ass crap. Nothing? Howabout helping people learn to ride and saving them $10K a year? Howabout not having a defeatist "can't do anything so why try" attitude?
LAME.
LAME LAME LAME LAME LAME. Responsibility bomb on your ass. Apathy is poison.
Associated Press: The Labor Department said that its closely watched Consumer Price Index posted a gain of 0.4 percent last month, matching the December increase and was higher than economists had expected.
Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, showed an increase of 0.3 percent, the biggest jump in this measure in seven months. The cost of clothing, education, lodging and tobacco also moved higher.
Inflation coupled with a slowing economy is called "Stagflation". We haven't seen that since the Nixon days.
It will be a while before we feel the sting of rising oil prices. What is unfortunate is the effect it will have on Third World Countries where the increase will be felt almost immediately. Whole populations already utilize alternative means of transportation like bicycles, mass transit, animals. etc. and most of them don't even own cars. An increase in oil prices will only affect the prices of the products that are needed for daily survival.
Wishing that gas prices will reach a certain amount to force more people to ride is short sighted since it does not consider all the other people around the world who are already at the poverty level.
At first, bio-fuels seemed like a good thing to me.
Then, after some dumbass decided to apply towards everyday, 4wheeled, personal-cars, all bets were pretty much flushed down the shitter.
Reasoning for this outlook is the tiny, yet persistent amount of new-bickering regarding the impact of bio-fuel farms vs.food-costs.
I'm assuming that what could be used to feed livestock, is now being used for ethanol/biodiesel production.
Same goes for staple crops that are normally used for bread, cereal, pasta,.etc.
Then there's also chemical-based fertilizers and pesticides used to supposedly, increase crop yields on otherwise, dead-land.
As far as farming goes, the only people that have their shit together, and always will, are the Old Order Amish.
Now that's good eating, no fossil-fuels involved there.
@rbi
I eat at JackInDaCrack all the time.
I've grown quite used to the taco's and JumboSmacks by now.
Although, I do feel as if I've lived quite a few, different lives.
@rbi
Nonetheless, 6-8 of those, 2 Jumbosmacks, and a milkshake keep me fueled.
Not to mention that Franks' Red Hot and the Ranch go good together on those tacos!!!
What does this have to do with oil?
I don't see food like that disappearing anytime soon is all.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve on Wednesday (Feb 20) lowered its projection for economic growth this year, citing damage from the double blows of a housing slump and credit crunch. It said it also expects higher unemployment and inflation.
Inflation, Recession, Unemployment, Stagflation....we have a menu for everyone.
And the outcome of all that is higher crime-rates, higher ER visits,
more people getting sick, and possibly, higher revenues for the alcohol market.
So, fuel-prices aside, if you're a truck-driver, nurse, cop, brewery-worker, or something in the related-field, unemployment is minimal.
Dave -
"I wonder if more people will actually ride a bike to the "bike rides" or continue to drive to the bike rides. We will see."
You also said -
I for one will continue to drive as far I have to, at whatever price I can afford to go, as long as it is "positive community", that is my destination.
Me -
So lets see, you support driving over 400 miles to the desert for a few hours of fun cause it's "positive community", but you don't support a rida driving to a ride because it's not a "positive community"?
Dave -
"thank you to my self-control, and better judgment, for stopping me from doing something that might have landed me in Prison for a long time, to the person who kicked a ball, super hard, in my elderly Fathers face, not checking on him and not apologizing about it."
Me -
I read this yesterday and I asked around last night if someone saw anything. No one saw this. But I'll help you take of this sucka. Why would someone do such a thing on purpose? I think we can kill or injure this guy without you going to prison. Send me an email and we'll plan it out, allanalessio@yahoo.com.
Man and I was sitting right next to your father there for awhile too.
I am actually one that would want to see $10 per gallon gas prices. I consume as does everyone and we are a part of the US, which makes us part of nation that consumes far more per capita than the next country. We can do far more at reducing our energy use and the only way this is going to happen is when the cost goes way up. I don't buy the story that our way of living will be hampered. We have roughly the same standard of living as the Scandinavian Countries and they are currently paying upwards of $8 per gallon.
So what can we do? Improve our efficiency. Take a look at Energy Efficiency In particular the section on Energy efficiency and global warming.
I agree, that in the US, gas is relative cheap, compared to other oil consuming countries, but one also has to consider the per capita income in these countries. If gas is $3/gal but the average person earns $2/day., it makes no difference.
More and more we are in a global economy, everything that affects our economy will be felt across the world. Take the example of the sub prime melt down. Some economists felt that the Chinese, with their regulated currency, and the European Union will not fill the sting that bad but they did.
My concern with the rising oil prices is not the effect that it will have on Americans but other countries that already on the brink of poverty. Sure, a lot of these countries are primarily agrarian and probably have an underground economy but they are still dependent on petroleum. The effect is immediate, all one has to is track the prices of food staples, like meat, rice and fish, as the price of gas fluctuate. The fluctuation follows very closely, often times the government of these countries try to regulate these commodities but it is beyond their control. As Americans, we have it easy.
Alex said: "FUCK THAT. That's some tard shit ass crap. Nothing? Howabout helping people learn to ride and saving them $10K a year? Howabout not having a defeatist "can't do anything so why try" attitude? "
Whoa there, cowgirl! I forgot to put the sarcasm tags on there, so when you read it, you missed the sarcasm. I'm not usually sarcastic so I can see you how missed it. In fact i find sarcasm easy, cheap and stupid. But when really annoying topics come up, the 12 year old in me comes out. Thus the sarcastic remark of us having nothing we can do. If you knew me, you'd know that Apathy isn't in my dictionary. But you also failed see the point of my reply: to express my opinion that price-problems will be temporary as we, or until we ween off of petroleum AND emphasis who do all the suffering during this short term - the poor.
I would know, because I'm from the future.
And there is only one thing I can do about it. (see image).
Only other reason why I don't whine, bitch, and/or moan about "peak-oil" is because of my stepdad.
Since I was eight, he's been consistently pounding the thought of alternative and finite resources into my skull.
It got to the point where I realized this as reality and that there are enough engineers, scientists, lobbyists and business people around to make something viable happen.
The only question is, have those with the money and/or knowledge done enough already, or are they going to let the creative juices flow freely once enough bodies start hitting the floor in areas they least expected?
A slow, weaning process and people shutting their collective pie-holes and accepting reality will do some part in the big job, to make natural-resource deprivation something to worry less about.
And the last thing I'm tired of hearing is "Oil will be gone, we'll all die after we revert to the stone-age!!"
Shit could get bad, but not so bad to where there isn't some type of "Rennaissance".
People who think like that make me appear sane and competent to stand tria......Whoa, too much info there.
But, that's my take on the whole subject anyway.
Is it coincidence that the downward trend of midnight ridazz forums and all of these Future & Apocalyptic rides are happening at the same time?
I really do see the end of the world, as we know it. 2012 is coming a lot earlier than planned. Considering all the days & years i've been mixing up since I came back, I really don't know what year it is.
but what if he can get to the ice cream store, will there be enough energy to keep the ice cream from melting, or do we have to go to the cold part of town. The only part of town that they will have ice cream in the future. Should we get parka's now, so we can get ice cream in the cold part of town.
Please don't delete this, this is serious to me. Ice creams and bicycles.
I'm quite sure there will still be enough resources available to get needed goods moving around.
Despite the number of trucks on the freeway, there are still much less of them than there are personal, 4wheeled cars.
Diesel engines, especially ones like the CATs, Detroits, and Internationals, could very easily run off of the aforementioned bio-fuels.
Bio-Diesel itself shouldn't be wholly depended on to run everyone and their mother's Diesel, personal vehicle, but there should be enough resources allocated for the transport of food and other goods.
Hey, I'm just saying that if people still want shit bad enough, they'll be more than willing to pay the money.
As far as fuel costs go, they'll just be passed along to the consumers, but only so gradually that it won't be noticed all too often.
Not to mention truck-driving itself is a pretty, high-turnover industry as it is.
Sometimes a company has already prepped itself for fuel costs and has fine equipment, but not enough drivers to grind the gears and pop the clutches.
Many drivers have families they can't go long without seeing, and some just can't handle simple, DOT-regulated, tasks.
Hell, I recently found out from Swift Transportation, that I'm already on the "Eligible For Rehire" list.
So, in the case of trucking, it comes down to those that can actually hack it out there.
I'm ready to step back in anytime now.
Yeah, I read that piece while I was doing nothing at Vons one day.
I perused and looked at all the interesting pictures, diagrams, and whatnot.
This seemed astronomical to me at first, but then again, not a whole, lot of people enjoy living in that particular region of Arizona.
So, given enough time and effort, I could see this type of thing working.
Another thing I'd like to see is the "Microwave-transfer" of electricity.
Or, some other way to eliminate the need for power-lines.
Yeah, microwave is getting a lot of press but the transmission capacity needed is on the order of a gigawatt (1,000 megawatts) per line to be able to do the work of replacing oil all over the country. That means gigawatt microwave beams criss-crossing the country. Each beam would be the equivalent of one million microwave ovens with their doors open, cooking. I get in the way of THAT and my pizza's COOKED!
Microwaves can be carried in buried metal waveguides but the same amount of metal could carry much more power and lose less of it if the power were gigawatts of DC rather than AC or the high freq AC that microwaves are (skin effect and reactive losses are AC problems, but not for DC). Gigawatt DC transmission could be buried in the ground to avoid the unsightliness of transmission towers.
@tbong:
Arrgh, 5 Megawatts, gone! At least the solar panels are all getting resused. Any left to buy? I want some, and so do a some Ridazz I know!!! Seriously, the failure of that pure-private-sector approach shows the need for that $400 billion in government price supports indicated in the proposal above. It was a drop in the price of oil and other alternatives that killed ARCO Solar's ventures. And though oil is $100/bbl now, as alternatives begin to diplace our oil demand, the price of oil may well drop! (Less demand means lower prices, right?) Ultra-predatory business practices may even attempt to force down oil prices before enough alternative supplies come on line to make the move permanent. Such was the fate of ARCO Solar, done in by cheap oil... consider the irony of ARCO's main business.
Yeah, oil prices may drop but but oil's *cost*, in global warming and geopolitical measures, will be as expensive as ever.
Riding bikes is simpler than all this, but we do have to consider it.
Rising oil prices is primarly due to Peak Oil and the nature of supply not keeping up with demand. Peak Oil is one of the main issues facing our planet. Other big issues include mass extinction, global warming and over population - all covered in this documentary:
Which L.A. Post Carbon and C.I.C.L.E. happens to be screening March 1st. at 7 PM in Pasadena.
www.lapostcarbon.org
The U.S. consumes 21 million barrels of oil a day, far more than No. 2 China (which consumes 6.9 million barrels a day) and No. 3 Japan (at 5.4 million), said Neel Kashkari, senior advisor to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson at the Cleantech Forum taking place in San Francisco. - CNET article February 2007
Imagine if everyone in this country, the largest oil consuming country in the world, rode a bike ( or walked or used the subway or buses) one day a week instead using their car.
We could save approximately 80 million barrels of oil a month... or nearly a billion barrels of oil a year. Almost two months worth of petroleum that we currently use.
We need to build solar and find alternative energy sources....but in the meantime, we can make a difference. If we get people to stop using their car for one day a week. We can change the equation.