It’s finally happened. Gas is now officially too expensive to use.
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I want to plead with the conservation groups and sierra club members to start thinking about the neighbor living next to you who can’t afford to heat the home for the winter.
It’s time that we start being humanists and think about the human race. We have the technology and the resources to safely drill, provide nuclear and alternative energy to meet our demands. Let’s not put our country in danger by relying on foreign oil.
Comment by david 5eaward — July 16, 2008 @ 6:06 pm
Hell Dave….
The Sierra Club and Conservation/Preservation groups have just about nothing to do with the high price of gas. If we had listened to the conservationists back in the 70’s and worked to decrease the DEMAND for oil in our country we could be largely petroleum free by now - unfortunately all of the conservation measures were blocked economically by the oil industry, and now we are even more addicted than back then.
The reason for high oil prices is the worldwide demand - China, India, etc. The Bush Administration recently released a study saying that their ‘holy grail’ of development, the exploitation of the ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE would not have a significant effect on the price of gas (less than $0.05 cents per gallon in 7-10 years). Of course nobody even mentions that the Oil Industry is only actively producing oil or exploring on less than 20% of the lands that they have leased for production. YES….they are forgoing production so that the price stays high!
Since when did our great nation become so morally and ethically poor that we must exploit our last remaining wild spaces for a bit of oil that isn’t really needed (see the effects of high priced energy in Juneau - a 20% drop in use in less than 30 days) and that will have permanent costs. There is only one small section of America’s Arctic Coastline that is not dedicated to Oil production - More than 80% is (National PETROLEUM Reserve and Prudhoe Bay Unit). Can’t we forgo the irrevelant effects of destroying the wilderness character of this last bit of true American Arctic - or should we leave it to the Canadians and their ‘higher’ moral standards regarding their earth.
The next time you look at the price of gas, look also at the profit margins of the big oil companies and the efficiency that Americans have of their vehicles and homes.
We have met the enemy and he is US!
Comment by Anonymous — July 17, 2008 @ 7:45 am
In the name of transparency….that last post was me :)
By the way….did the city ever give permission to the Butts’ to hook up their non-polluting, wind powered turbine? Or do they think it is more important to keep us on the teet?
Comment by paperman — July 17, 2008 @ 7:48 am
Well .32 a gallon tax does not help. Every time I fill my truck seward gets $7.00, where is this money going?
Comment by JHeitmeyer — July 17, 2008 @ 12:58 pm
Why when the price goes down in the news it doesn’t do anything here. But if the price goes up in the news it goes up here emediatly. Right now the price of oil is lower then it has been in months but the price of gas in Seward is the highest it has ever been. It all seems wrong to me.
Comment by CHeitmeyer — July 23, 2008 @ 7:15 am
Freinds and readers,
I thought that CHeitmeyer’s question “Every time I fill my truck Seward gets $7.00, where is this money going?” was a fair one. I sent this question to the finance director of the City of Seward and got the following response;
“Paul,
The current sales tax rate in Seward is 7%, which reflects the 3% Kenai Peninsula Borough sales tax, plus the 4% City sales tax. Of the City sales tax, a full 1% is directed toward healthcare. When a gallon of gas reaches $4.00, the sales tax per gallon is $0.28 per gallon ($4.00 x 0.07). I do not have information regarding the additional state or federal motor fuel taxes paid by the fuel company, but I would expect that Shoreside Petroleum would be happy to provide that information. Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have further questions.
Kris Erchinger”
Finance Director
City of Seward
Comment by admin — July 23, 2008 @ 1:03 pm
OK….I see this…Instead of $7 per tank, the city only really gets $3 per tank.
I am sure that the city’s fuel costs have risen proportionately to the overall cost of fuel/gas at the retail outlets in town, so that is where some of the funds are going….
But just a few years ago, the city was plugging along just fine with a 3% sales tax (1% of which was dedicated to the hospital, leaving 2% for all other city expenses)….and a price of gas about half what it costs now.
It does seem that the city is experiencing somewhat of a windfall of income as a result of the high gas prices. Instead of discussing the percentages, lets talk about the real numbers….
For example….
lets compare the following costs between the years 2000, 2003 and 2008
Total city funds spent on motor fuel/gas
Total gross revenues from city sales taxes (not including the borough parts)
Total city expenses in dollars
Total city revenues in dollars
I believe looking at the amounts this way will be more useful than looking at the percentages of increases.
Comment by paperman — July 24, 2008 @ 4:42 pm