In the summer of 2008 , on sept 13 ,Hurricane Ike came ashore and tore thru Galveston and its surrounding Counties .While watching the News about the storms arrival they reported loong traffic jams that ran the distance from Houston to the outer suburbs.As I watched I remember thinking to myself ,why doesnt the Govt make way for cheaper fuel cost as part of an evacuation plan.A bill to be passed for such Govt assistance to help those in dire straits .Its why some of the pooriest people stay put ,they dont have it in their budget for the extra cost.The cost of a gallon back then was $4.85 ,diesel was around the same.The biggest measure of a good govt is how it handles disassters like this one,their were many heros to be thanked but not many in the power of govt.

The government needs to do exactly the opposite, fuel costs are still much too low and consumption (imports) are too high. At a sustained price of $5-6 per gallon, we would probably see a significant decrease in consumption.

Why not $10 a gallon ,then Ill feel much better about having stock in said oil company and ride a cloud of wealth into an early retirement,bla,bla,bla.You Missed the point .

How about requiring the oil companies to maintain proper reserves in preparation for the disasters (hurricane seasons are cyclical) so they can't use them to their advantage and gouge the people trying to flee... If they get heavily fined for shortages created due to lack of planning maybe they would act differently. Granted you can't plan for everything but they sure know how to take advantage of the disasters.

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1987 Mercedes 300SDL; SOLD
1985 Mercedes 300D; SOLD
2006 Honda Pilot - wife's ride; 122K;
1995 Toyota Land Cruiser - 3X locked; 182K

Why not $10 a gallon ,then Ill feel much better about having stock in said oil company and ride a cloud of wealth into an early retirement,bla,bla,bla.You Missed the point .

Because $10 is too high and it would affect growth and drive business elsewhere. I definitely own energy funds, they're a good investment and are likely to up as the dollar weakens (even though I have no plans to retire). IMO, $5-6 at the pump is high enough to change behavior without actually hurting the economy. Doing anything to reduce US energy prices is an extremely bad idea.

If you are concerned about disaster planning, that is an area that could use some help.

I'd be thrilled if more passenger trains were offered in this country.

I would also love to see the buses in Ithaca run ON TIME, when they're late the fare is free and deducted out of the bus driver's paycheck, and run a hours when people actually have stuff to do

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-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

I am not aware of a state in the Gulf coast area that does not have an anti-gouging law.

But there is a faster way to stop gouging. All the Fire Marshall has to do is go to a gas station that is gouging and do an inspection. When a violation is found, and they are not hard to find if you wish to be picky about it, shut the place down.

Of course, after a disaster the Fire department is busy and so the Marshall can mention that he has other things to do, but if the price stays up there for more than five more minutes he just might have to do one.

The price comes back to normal pretty quick.

I have seen this tactic used many times after a disaster in the area. It is a lot faster and cheaper than a court trial.

why should we reduce consumption? America runs on transport, and the free movement of people to wherever they wish to go. Your premise has totalitarian undertones. No one but the individual American public should decide how often and where they go, and the government has no right being involved in raising energy costs to alter that behavior.

Just for fun, let's raise the cost of heating homes in colder climates (like CO) because residents there keep their homes too warm. Tell me, what sense does that make? Energy consumption is a tenet of a free society.

I agree that mass transit could be much better, but I'm not about to use it if I can by gas/diesel for $3-4/gallon. Around here the busses are practically empty and most people are driving trucks/SUVs as their daily drivers. If you want better mass transit, create a situation where a wider cross section of the population uses it.

All this reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw back in about '79 when we had long gas lines and the Northerners were saying that it was causing them to pay too much for heating oil.

The bumper sticker was on a car in California and it said: "Drive 90MPH & Freeze a Yankees A$$!"

Fine, that would give me an incentive to upgrade the windows in my house. As it is, my energy cost is very low (maybe $200-300 per month in the winter) and windows are expensive (probably $10k+ to upgrade them all). You can do the math, I'm in no hurry to write that check because the payback is too slow.

I'm also shopping for a "winter car" for my wife and daughter; probably a w211. Frankly, fuel consumption will not be a consideration because the cost of fuel is tiny compared to the purchase price. If you increase fuel prices enough, you might get me to consider a more efficient vehicle.

people also avoid mass transit because of a few things:

1. The odd people they have to share the space with.
2. Not convenient, a car lets you go where you want, when you want, within reason.
3. Space. Our cities and extra-urban living areas are too far apart.

I loved riding the trains in Europe, but again, the whole of Europe (western) is not as large as the US and the populace is contained mostly in urban areas. Americans will never go for that.

...and how do you propose to fix that with cheap energy in the US?

simple, forget about mass transit in all but the most congested urban areas (and let this be a state or local fix) and let people everywhere drive when and where they wish. If it really seems as if the world is running out of oil, so what? Those big multinational companies by the name of Exxon and Shell, et al will find a new energy source: the money is too good not to do otherwise. leave everything alone and let the market work.