So I always hear people "talk" (complain) about how bad gas prices are but have always observed a pretty stable price, with about a 60-70 cent swing, for a gallon of gas so I thought I'd do some research and find some data.

So this is what I found.  Discuss and enjoy!

BTW anyone remember paying almost $5 a gallon in 2008?!
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Not quite that low, but I do remember hovering around $2

my chart is broken... it shows almost $4 in 2008.

I remember when I was 14 I pumped gas at a place called Pucketts in long creek.  First job, and back then gas was less than a dollar a gallon.  I remember thinking it was insane when it got up to 1.25/gallon and now I pay $4.00 a gallon and don't bat an eyelash at it.  What happened that it became acceptable to pay this much for the same exact product that does the same exact thing.  I mean we have to have it, they could charge us $12.00 a gallon, and we'd still buy it.  It's just crazy to look at it and be able to see how much it has actually fluctuated.  Oh well, I'm just glad I live close to work and my little car gets 36mpg.   

renoirbud wrote on 07/18/13 at 1:39am:


Q4T.  Couldn't agree more.

The Cycle Path wrote on 07/18/13 at 12:00pm:

I bet you two think some old man invented a 100mpg carburetor for his 64' caddy and the oil companies bought it, crushed it and buried the fragment in the middle of a tectonic plate.

Tell the kids working part time after school that 3.50, 4.00 10.00 is good for them and I bet you will get an ear full. sad that they know more about basic economic then 2 grow men that take fuel cost for granted. We can afford it, lower paid people cannot. why is it ok to punish poor people? I say do this. Since 10 is ok with you 2. gas is what 3.50 now so take the extra 6.50 that you would pay and fill up someone's tank for them. You will make their day.

madss wrote on 07/18/13 at 4:57pm:


what is sad is that the only thing a lot of people worry about is the economic aspect. Sounds like Renee and Mark have the bigger picture in mind. 

But that's just how I interpret their comments....because I also agree with them. Enough to make major changes in my own personal life to do something about my reliance on fuel.

madss wrote on 07/18/13 at 4:57pm:


Nope. But improvements can always be made.   

Like Screaming Knees said I'm for the change that a higher gas price would necessitate in fuel economy, transportation infrastructure and this countries perception habits.  We always want everything cheaper. That seems to human nature and Walmart is a glaringly obvious example of that.  Making everything cost less is not the panacea or cure for all that ales financially strapped families.  It unfortunately is only temporary and always cost someone somewhere to do so.

I say a fair and equitable trade of services and goods but our current "currency" base economy is badly flawed in it's current state.

If someone can make a way to really push to make changes and improvements without raising gas prices, then I'm all in, but human nature as it stands now is "Necessity is the mother of invention."

In other words if people have access to cheap fuel, materials, etc., they have a much lower rate of conserving said resource.

The Cycle Path wrote on 07/18/13 at 5:45pm:


Since I'm in an online meeting that is boring me to tears, i'll start.

This goes for both my wife and I.

Major change we made is moving to an area where we can safely avoid driving for most daily activities. We have one car, and have put less than 1,500 miles on it in the last 9 months since we moved. 900 of that was a trip to Moab. We have a trailer for the bigger trips and for heavy items. 

We also do most of our shopping for food at the farmer's market, where they confine the farms who participate to a 50 mile radius from town.

No A/C, don't use the dryer, hang clothes out on the line the old fashion way.

We have our own chickens for eggs and eat mostly local vegetables as opposed to meat. 

We buy in bulk from our local co-op with reused containers. That includes dry food/oils/honey/syrup/soap/lotion/shampoo, etc.

I'm sure there are more things, but they are just built in to our normal way of life so not so obvious. These are the changes we've made since moving. It was not possible, or not as convenient to do most of these things in Charlotte, so take it as you will.

Oh, and we can ride our mountain bikes to a ~100 mile trail system, from our front door. So there's that.

And we buy most of our beer from local breweries using growlers.

My SUV:

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Ditto on the lucky....time to visit Robbie....I'm no where near where he is, but I do simple things like waiting and planning combined errands so I don't have to make multiple trips, buy a fair amount at the local farmers market, programmable thermostat at home and for the most part we run the A/C at night and I just stand under the ceiling fan during the day, my recycle bin is three times as full as my trash bin, and I buy most of my beer from my local brewer, which is ME, and I do my best to get my homebrew ingredients local vs. shipping across the country. 

I'm an extremely frugal person, some say too much, but I've found the frugal and the downsizing your carbon footprint can most times go hand in hand if you work at it. Frugal does not have to mean cheap, i.e. I'd rather buy a nice Patagonia shirt that will last me five times as long as the big Mart stores version, but you gotta do what you gotta do to provide for your family, so this is just my opinion vs. judging.