Gasoline prices...

I just returned from filling up my tank with gasoline at the local gas station. Everyone there was complaining about the price of gasoline. Here are the facts...
In some cities (and towns) there can be as much as a 50 cent/ gallon price difference from one section of town to the other. This is mostly because the less expensive gas stations are in poorer neighborhoods and have less to pay for rent and upkeep. Another reason is that in the more affluent parts of town, some of those people are too spoiled to seek out cheaper gas and are willing to pay the higher prices for the convenience.
Even with gasoline at $3/ gallon, we still are paying less than any other industrialized country. Check out the prices in Europe. 30 years ago, gasoline was over $2.50/ gallon in most European countries and is now over $6/ gallon there.
The real problem is the bleeding heart liberals. How so ? you ask.
(1) Because of the increased expense involved due to mostly ridiculous environmental restrictions, over 200 refineries have closed down since 1970 and the cost of building new ones has increased to over 8 billion dollars from less than $900,000. There is no incentive to build new refineries since the '70s and every incentive not to build them. There is no shortage of oil; only the capability to refine enough to meet demand.
(2) The United States has the largest supply of shale oil in the ground of anywhere in the world (at our present consumption rate, this would be more than a 100 year supply). No drilling is required and getting it out is not as costly as drilling. With all the regulations imposed by well meaning but not practical environmentalists, the cost of getting this oil is prohibitive.
(3) Everyone knows where all the oil is around the planet and it appears that most of it is in this hemisphere, not in the middle east. The reason that the middle east produces more oil than anywhere else is that they don't have any restrictions and every oil company has the incentive to get that cheap oil. There is 1000 times as much oil in the Pacific Ocean (off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington) as in all of the middle east. Regulations prohibit anyone from exploring or drilling there.

If you environmentalists want to be paying $5+/ gallon to the middle east instead of $3.50/ gallon to our local suppliers, that's fine with me. I, however choose to have this country become self sufficient and not beholden to the middle eastern nations that want to shove islam down our throats.

A solution that most of you never took advantage of:
A year ago, when oil was $24-$26/ barrel, all of the newspapers, commodity houses, brokerage houses, newscasters, etc. were telling you that oil would soon get to $80-$100/ barrel. The smart folks went out and either bought stocks in the big oil companies for their IRAs or bought crude oil futures contracts. Those that bought the stocks have made more than enough money to be able to justify the gasoline price increase. Those that bought the crude oil futures are all millionaires now.
If you invest in the things that will be costing more or that there will be shortages of, the increase in the price of those things won't matter.
WAKE UP AND SMELL THE GAS FUMES...we do not need arab oil; we need to get rid of the enemy within...the liberal faction in this country that complains enough so that the gov't. takes away more of our rights and freedoms.
Some of the environmental laws and regulations have nothing to do with the environment whatsoever and should be discarded. As long as man is on the earth, he will be the 2nd largest polluter (nature is the largest).
People, I know you want everything clean and the way it used to be, but that "ain't gonna happen". GET OVER IT.
Imagine giving up the electric grid...nothing that consumes electricity will be usable. That will save billions and billions of barrels of oil each year. Let's stop making things out of plastic....more billions of oil saved each year. No more petrochemical industry....more billions of oil saved each year. Do you want to live without just those three things ? Neither do I. GET OVER IT and quit bitching about the price of gasoline and start bitching to your liberal do-gooder about how they've caused most of this problem; ask them what they've given up to "save the planet". No matter what we do, the rest of the world will still be polluting anyway...it makes no difference.
GET OVER IT !