I have emailed Congressmen - although I really don't think it will do any good.  Oil is big money - and they know that no matter the price of oil - we will buy it! 

I heard that environmentalist need to loosen up so we can get more fuel from our own country...like Alaska ...but they make it so tough to build a new plant because of what it would do for to the environment.  Supply and demand issues...we need to loosen up.

I drive a diesel excursion. Today I was empty and pulled into a gas station. I put 100 dollars in and I now have a ahlf a tank!!??!! Diesel isn't even refined!!! Seriously I am going to have to start riding my bike or buy a golf cart to do BPO's!!

HI Pam,  They do know we have to have it to do business, to live.  Keep writing and calling it does do some good.  Takes a long time but if enough people would do it and then vote accordingly, things would change.

Chuck,  We can become energy independent and not ruin the environment either.  It's not a trade off.  We can do this.  If our government would create a way for new technology to thrive rather than letting big business squash the creative genius in the little guy.

I will definately keep voicing my opinion.  I do that quite often with my Congressmen.  My husband thinks they will eventually show up one day and take me away, because I email them all the time! :)

One day the shoe will be on the other foot with the Saudi's and a few other counties.  They will be asking us for a favor..

Now, since we can't ever seem to turn anyone down, I would guess we will do it regardless.

Stacie,  Good point you make here.  Diesel used to be cheaper because it wasn't refined.  What Happened?  They are doing this on purpose!  BTW read my update above.

Pam,  Good for you.  I too, wonder about voicing my opinion especially in the past few years. Freedom of Speech is something our forefathers gave us becasue they knew without it any government will become a dictatorship.  We are supposed to be a government by the people for the people.  Our congressmen and senators are SUPPOSED to REPRESENT US.  They forget if we don't keep telling them.  So keep calling and emailing.  Good for you!

Trey,  How did you treat your children when they did wrong?  Did you just keep letting them hurt you and others or did you teach them a better way?  Why don't we raise the price of exports to Saudi Arabia up as much as they have raised the oil?  Better yet, why don't we find out WHY domestic oil is the same price as Saudi oil?  HMMMM  What's wrong with this picture? :)

Great Blog content!

The market is shifting & we must change our strategies & educate our clients as well. **34 states had a decrease in forclosures in 2007 but that did not make the news. Four state are distorting the national average (CA, AR, FL, NV) Now is the time to buy. The market is already showing signs of stability.

Sincere Thanks.

www.bobschorn.com

Ricki, I was with you right up to the part about contacting Congree. Do you actually think they have any clue on how to alleviate or solve this?

Ricki, that's the Thanks we get for building up area's outside our country. Why aren't we utilizing our own oil? Heard we were saving it for the future, FUTURE, what future at this rate? Great post, Don put me onto it, glad he did.

Ricki, Scott and I were talking about this just a while ago! We compared our gas budget between what we were spending last year to this year and it has doubled! The lease on my Caddy was just up and they wanted me to trade it in for another new one.

I told them no thank you. We financed the balance to a much lower note just to keep up with the gas prices! Our lives are changing daily because of this! Thank you for the post. I agree with you 100%.  And, congrats on the feature!

Later in the rain~Deb

Hi Bob,   Now is the time to buy before prices go up because of the price of oil!

Steve,   Not many of them do or even care but it is up to us to put people in there who do know and care.  It's the only thing we can do unless you have other ideas?  Throw them out here and let's talk about them.

Duane,  You are so right.  What future?  A rainy day is here now!  It's time to get real!

Thanks Deb,  Our lives are changing daily like you said because of the oil prices and we've got to speak up and do something about it before our lifestyles are completely changed.

It's a big subject in my area.  We even discussed charging a "retainer fee" before having out-of-town buyers have us take them around.  It's just too expensive these days not to.

Tracy,   That's a good idea.  I have a lot of out of town and out of state buyers and we have a lot of roads to travel to familiarize them with the area.  A retainer fee sounds good to me or even just a fuel fee.  Things have changed and our commissions rarely go up but everything else continues to rise.

THANK YOU!!  With friends like that who needs enemies.  Want to come over for dinner tonight?  I am going to charge you restaurant prices to eat in my home!

The western US has been doused in an energy crisis since late 2000.  Our electrical rates are insane when we have the resources (sun and wind and ocean waves) to produce solar, wind and geothermal power.

I would think that we should get ourselves to a point where instead of having nothing in our fridge for dinner that we should go to the grocery store and begin feeding ourselves.

If we redirected our sources here instead of battling a losing war (sorry for bringing that up but its true) and installed photovoltaic, solar, geothermal and nuclear (yes I said that too) options for our power it would put less pressure on the oil supply we do get.

Oh yes, if we quit buying Chinese goods we could make that country poor again and they wouldn't be importing so much oil.

We stabbed ourselves in the back, what else can I say?

I have been trying to walk and bike more. Gas prices are becoming a factor and forcing me to exercise more.  I live about 2 miles from my office and Davis is a very bike/pedestrian friendly city.

I just traded in my Pacifica, which got 15 mpg for a Toyota Prius, which gets 45 mpg.  I used to fill up 2 - 3 times a week at $60 a pop.  Now I can go a week and a half and fill up for $36!   I LOVE IT!!!

Howdy Ricki

The Saudis have never been a friend to any American, they always act and talk lik they are.

Even the Bush family knows they really are not friend's of theirs, or to the U.S.

For that fact every U.S. President has knowen that to be true of the Saudis.

Thank you Renee',     You totally understand what I am saying here.  There are many topics to be looked at in this post,  but they all lead to the same place, our well being and the future of our country and lifestyle.  It's time to do what is best for the American people for a change.   Thank you for commenting and being so thorough.

AMEN Ricki...GREAT POST!!!!! My question is why are we, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, always there to help others?  What happened to charity starts at home.  SPEAK UP AMERICA... WE NEED TO BAND TOGETHER.  Ricki's right, we need to do something about these gas prices.

Hi Carolyn,  Glad you are walking and biking more.  It is good exercise and good for us if we can do it.  The trouble is I live in Texas and the miles between home and work are 10-15 and biking is not a choice.  I also sell real estate and I don't think I could put my clients on the back of my bike to show them around.  In Texas, it is not feasible to bike on 70 mph highways.  Places are different and mass transit is not an option in Texas.  We must have fuel and more energy efficient vehicles.

Does anyone remember the guy in Florida who created a car that could go 100 miles on a cup of water?  What happened to him and to his car?  Ask the government or the big company that squashed that one!

Hi Connie,   Good for you!  They could actually make cars that get even better mileage than that if they would.

You are right Dale,  Have a great weekend! :)

The average gallon of gas in Alaska topped $4 per gallon last week and if you look at my blog you'll see we are in an electrical crisis and paying 54 cents a KW for electricity so this issue is close to my heart and wallet at the moment. 

If we could open Alaska's oil fields, much of the domestic problem would be taken care of although now it would take a long time to catch up with the demand.  The technology is there to do this in an environmentally responsible manner.

I don't just say this as an Alaskan.  I say this as an American.  It probably wouldn't help me at the pump since there are no refineries here.

Yeah Valerie!!!!!    Let's do band together, there is power in unity!

Hi Ricki.... be careful... don't encorage people to write too many letters to their congressmen or before you know it George Bush will claim that the Saudi's have WMD's and we'll be invading their country too!

Ok, there are a lot of misconceptions and a few urban legends here...

• Big Oil is not buying up patents for the 100mpg car... they couldn't afford to.  They would have to bid against Toyota, GM  and Ford.
• We have an energy independence problem today because Bill Clinton vetoed drilling in ANWR 10 years ago.  And because Nancy Pelosi CHANGED THE RULES to prevent bringing ANWR up for a vote again.  Of course, that oil will take ten years to get the first drop...
• We haven't had a new refinery in the this country since Jimmy Carter was President... there have been some capacity increases, but we need refineries.
• The EPA requires different formulas for gasoline almost anywhere... Atlanta, Nashville and Birmingham require different gas... can't be moved from one to another to help with shortages.
• France gets 75% of their electricity from Nukes... We don't.  That is embarrassing. 
  

There are a few things that would do wonders to upset the industry.  There is a company here in GA developing a bio-mass fuel that can be refined on a large scale.  Corn ethanol is NOT the answer.  We have the LARGEST deposits of oil-shale in the world.  In fact, we have 2.5x the total amount of oil used in the world... ever.  Just need to figure out how to capture it. 

The bottom line is that if you want the price of gas to go down, stop staring at the oil companies and start staring at your Congressman and the environmental lobby.  Drill of Florida.  Drill off CA.  Drill ANWR.  Research Bio-gas (not corn).  Research oil-shale.  Build refineries.  Build nuke plants.

Thank you Debbie,   for your thought out response.  You are right, we can drill and still be environmentally responsible.  We need to take care of our planet and we can.  At the same time, take care of our citizens.  America has some of the brightest people in the world that have the freedom to be creative.  We can solve our problems with energy and everything else if we are allowed to have a free market in which to work.

This is a problem that affects all of us and everyone needs to get involved in the solution.

HA HA Steve,    I'd better be careful.

Thank you Lane,   for joining this discussion.  You bring a lot of insight and solutions to the table.  Obviously, you want to blame only one party for this mess but Hello, the other party hasn't helped much either.  This is not a party problem.  It is everyone's problem. 

 Yes, I am asking everyone to contact their elected officials and get changes made to get us out of our foreign oil dependency.  They are drilling the shale reserves here in Texas now and yes we need refineries.  Bio-gas sounds great.  I am in agreement with you.  But as for your first statement about the oil companies not being able to afford to buy a patent, come on, they have made the highest profits of any company in US history in the most recent quarters. You are right they would have to bid against the car manufacturers also and maybe one of them won.  Who knows, obviously someone did.  It's not on the market.  :)

My thought:

The Middle Eastern Oil Countries are now funding their defense against any further American advancement in the area (outside of Iraq) with our money by raising oil prices. 

We are funding them to combat us.  A Catch 22

RK,   Good observation and so true.  We must become independent from them or we will be held hostage from now on.

Governor Brian Schweitzer is the first and only politicianI have heardsaying something I have thought about for years now. We need a leader in the white house to start us on a path to energy independence in the next 10 years. Like Kennedy's initiative to go to the moon. We don't know how but let ujs beging, and we will figure it out on the way.

Ricki  Obviously this is a timely post.  The sentence that stands out to me is We must either change our driving habits or produce alternative fuels or produce more gasoline from our own country.  To me the clear solution should be to change our driving habits.  It could change the world literally overnight as opposed to the other two options which would take months or years to come to realization.  Our freedom of speech is one of our most valuable rights, but actions speak louder than words. 

Ricki, the 100mpg car isn't on the market because it doesn't exist.  That is the point.  It is vaporware.  And actually, VW made one that would do 300mpg... but it also costs a couple million dollars and makes the Space Shuttle look like an overgrown microwave. 

There is no conspiracy to keep some ultra fuel efficient car off the market.

The Republicans certainly have some blame as well, but right now, the Dems have the power and refuse to let Area 10-02 be voted on.  Personally, I think that GWB needs to man up and declare an emergency and tell the oil companies to drill in 10-02... which Congress set aside for drilling in the 1980s.  If the President told the american public the way it was, he probably could get the support to do the right things.

Ricki, it sucks!  Hey I'm getting better with my attempt to be brief :).  Sorry I missed you tonight, I totally forgot it was Saturday night!  For Real.  L

Hi Michael,    There are leaders out there that think out of the box and inspire others to go beyond what they think they can do.  This is how all innovation occurs.  We can meet our challenges.  Let's do it and become the greatest nation on Earth once again.

Anthony,   Actions do speak louder than words!  Words come first though.  Words produce thoughts  and thoughts produce words, then action takes place.  And it is definitely time for ACTION!

Lane,   Surely you are not so naive that you don't believe that big companies buy out small inventors in order to restrict competition.  A few years ago, our electric co-op sent out a newsletter that told about a new fuel cell that generates electricity without combustion by harnessing the energy created when hydrogen and oxygen are chemically combined.

The residential fuel cell could power the home and  was said to change the way we power our homes forever.  It is only about the size of an office copy machine.  They hoped to sell it to consumers for $3,000- $5,000.   What happened to this model?  For some strange reason, it was developed but not small enough for residential homes.  They decided to only manufacture it for larger applications.

What I'm saying is the technology is out there for solutions to our problems but THEY ( the government, the big companies or whoever)  will not allow it to be released and used by the public.  It might cut into their profits.  The American public already knows this. 

It's just like the engine that was produced in the 1980's in Graham Texas that was going to be used in the Bricklan car.  One of the major car companies bought the company out and shut it down. Their own tests said the engine was 15 years ahead of anything they had, according to reports I've heard.

Hey Liz,  what are you doing up so late!  :)  Sorry we missed eachother, will catch up later.  Have a great day!

Ricki - We need to get our "house in order" and quit worrying about taking care of the rest of the world. We need to drill and take care of our needs. Of course, the environmentalist always seem to have alot of input everytime we want to drill.  Thank you for this very important blog.

I just did a blog last night on an alternative...check it out. The Vespa

Thanks Carl & Ceil,  I will check out your blog.  There is always more than one way to skin a cat.  We don't have to mess up the environment to drill more. 

Ricki,

These are urban legends.  If the oil company (or anyone else) is going to buy out one of these revolutionary ideas, they are going to buy the patents.  But, the patents still exist. 

Fuel cells...  The automakers (all of them) are trying to come up with a fuel cell vehicle.  The powerplant costs about $500,000.  And that is to power a car.  A house uses a lot more power. 

Don't get me started on Bricklin... 

The point is that all of these things that people "know" are mostly vapor. 

Vaporware.

Lane,  I do not want to argue with you.  That would be pointless.  I was talking about two different things.  One:   was a car engine.  My husband personally knew the inventor and I know what I said was true.

Two:  I have the article from our electric cooperative that tells about the fuel cell that could power an entire house and was the size of an office copy machine and would only cost between 3-5,000 dollars.  It is called the Plug Power 7000.  The Department of Energy actually invested 12 million dollars to help develop this and they were to be released commercially in 2000.  It is not an urban legend when an electric company sends you the information in the mail!

You can believe whatever you want but these things are fact.

I think we may need to start charging buyers for driving them to see houses and commercial properties. lol

Why not?  Everyone else charges for their services, right?

Hey Ricki and Don - A late reminder but tonite is the blog-along to spur the Spurs on to Victory (I hope). Brisket and sausage tonite, Dale is the only one that has stopped by with some goodies. I keep getting cut off from AR so hopefully you will get this Reminder.

Howdy Ricki

Heres something that was said about gas prices in Washington D.C. the other day.

Gas up to $7.00 a gallon by med. to late summer, up to $12.00 a gallon by winter.

This is not fun to think about at all my friend.

Carl & Ceil,   Sorry could not get back with you, gone out of town. :(

Dale,  I hope those figures are wrong!  If not, our lives will  drastically change quickly.

Howdy Ricki and Don

I'm a stopen by with your invites to game 3 Spurs vs Lakers, Hope to see ya at the Blog-Along.

Howdy Ricki

I'm a hoppen those figures are wrong also! Ifen they ain't , I really think there will be more for folk's to worry about than just changes. That well be a comen in our live's.

Hi Dale,  It's a long way across Texas.  Even to the grocery store for most Texans, not like in areas that have mass transit and such.  It's just not feasible here.