Reply #21: Six dollar a gallon gasoline is a possibility ...

[spin]

$6 Gas? Could Happen if Dollar Keeps Getting Weaker
Published: Wednesday, 20 Apr 2011 | 1:46 PM ET

A dollar plumbing three-year lows is hitting Americans squarely in the gas tank, and one economist thinks it could drive prices as high as $6 a gallon or more by summertime under the right conditions.

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"All we have to have is a couple badly placed hurricanes which could constrain some of the refinery output capacity in some key locations," says Richard Hastings, strategist at Global Hunter Securities in Charlotte, N.C. "If you get weakness in the dollar concurrent with the strong driving season concurrent with the impact of one or two hurricanes in the wrong place, prices could go up in a quasi-exponential manner."

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Gas prices also have been boosted from turmoil in the Middle East which in turn has triggered a wave of speculation that traders estimate has added about $15 or so to the cost of a barrel of crude , which is now teetering above the $110 mark.

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Should events follow their current course, sharply higher gas prices will burden consumers further as they also cope with the rise in food costs this year.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42683030/6_Gas_Could_Happen_if_Dollar_Keeps_Getting_Weaker

I fully support green energy and a transition from our dependence on fossil fuel. Obviously $6 a gallon gas will cause us to move more rapidly toward the development of solar, wind power and electric powered vehicles. The problem is that Obama and other Democrats will have a hard time getting elected to office in 2012 with high gasoline prices which will allow the "drill baby drill" Republicans to replace them. These Republicans will ignore the development of green energy and favor of the continued use of fossil fuels.

As a country we need leadership that recognizes the necessity to develop an energy policy that will transition us away from fossil fuels. Unfortunately, this will involve time. Democrats need to develop a realistic energy plan for the future that will accomplish this goal without causing the economy to collapse. This will also require some support of Republicans who are currently praying for $7 a gallon gasoline at election time.

With foresight we would have devolved a comprehensive energy policy years and years ago and it would be paying off today. It may well be too late, but maybe we can still find an approach which keeps gasoline prices reasonable while we transition. In 1969 we landed men on the moon. Surely we can find a way to address our energy usage today and solve the problems we face.

I personally fear that neither the Democrats or the Republicans seem to have the interest of our country at heart today. They squabble like children in a play yard or like the Steelers and the Browns in a football game and all that matters is who wins. Both parties seem to represent the big corporations, Wall Street and the banks rather than the citizens that elected them. This has to change if we don't wish to be just another chapter in a future history book rather than a driving force that helps the world become a better place.