Argumentative Essay - Rising Gas Prices: Who Is to Blame?

Despite the real life anecdote described above, a lot of people don't understand why and how gas prices rise and fall. There's an increase in attention to gas prices when they're higher or lower than usual because that directly concerns them as a consumer. Even when gas prices are higher, consumers keep paying because there's not really an alternative out there besides buying a new environmentally friendly car. However, there's currently a much deeper problem in the United States related to gas prices. Today, in particular, gas prices are a lot less than they have been but most Americans brush it off and wonder something along the lines of ""Who is that bad for?"". I mean, fuels costs eat up a large share of earnings in the

Gas is something we need in our day-to-day life to operate vehicles that bring us places we need to go. Without gas we can't go on living our normal lives. Sadly the prices of gas are not pleasant to the consumers at times, but we have to deal with it. Around the year 2012 gas was a staggering $ 3.60 average and was $4.00 at time, the people were asking the government to mandate gas prices. Although if the government were to mandate gas prices, the prices would be more appealing to the consumers, but not for the long run.

Central Idea: Gas prices are on the rise in the US recently because of three major factors: the price of crude oil, the increase in internal regulations, and the increased demand for the gas.

There has been some talk about an “oil-extraction tax.” With this tax in place, it would force companies to fork out more of the tax instead of the consumer. If higher taxes are put in place for the producer ultimately they are not the ones paying the higher price the consumer is. Either way producers will receive revenue and in order to do that they will just raise their prices. The demand for fuel is based on necessity forcing consumers to pay outrageous prices because they need it. In addition to the tax, oil companies would have to disclose more information about their supplies and prices. Since the companies have market power, some believe with the tax in place it would reduce the price of the good.

Almost 95 million barrels of oil and fuel are produced each day in order to provide energy and fuel to people the world over. A major component of the oil industry is the transportation of oil through various means including oil pipelines. These pipelines are capable of transporting thousands of barrels of oil thousands of miles per day. In the United States one possible pipeline has caused a lot of controversy and discussion on the impact it will have on the United States. The difficulty in deciding if the Keystone XL Pipeline should be built is in whether the possibility of economic growth outweighs the possibility of environmental destruction. In order to make a decision, one must first look into the history of oil pipelines. It is crucial

The consumption of the oil cause changes in the supply and demand. The United States produces 11 million barrels of oil every day. We are one of the biggest countries to have a big influence on the production and prices of the oil. The basic supply and demand theory explains that the if a product is produced more, the cheaper it should sell. If a country were to double the output of oil day, prices would fall and the Production is high, but the distribution of oil isn’t keeping up with the market. The United States builds an average of one oil refinery per 10 years. This is a net loss due to the fact construction has slowed down since 1970s. Since 1970s, the United States has 8 less oil refineries today. The reason why we are not oversupplied with cheap oil is because of the other countries’ higher net margin and the only operate at 62% of their capacity. Excess capacity is only there to meet future demand. With demand moving accordingly, oil prices will continue to be set mostly by the market — despite external players’ best efforts. (McFarlane)

“In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources, and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy, and peace (Nobel Peace Prize Medalist Maathai 2004).” A Canadian oil company that goes by TransCanada hopes to build an oil pipeline that would extend an enormous 1,200 miles onto an already gargantuan 2,600 mile long pipeline. Keystone XL represents just under a third of the entire Keystone project, and every other piece of pipe has been built and laid out. In fact, TransCanada 's pipeline system is already shipping hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil from the Canadian oil sands across the U.S. border -- and into Illinois (Diamond). The current proposal would take the pipeline on a journey all the way through to Texas. Extracting crude oil from oil sands would be enormously problematic for the environment as it causes the pumping of about 17% more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than standard crude oil extraction. Tar sand oil has levels of carbon dioxide emissions that are three to four times higher than those of conventional oil, due to more energy-intensive removal and refining processes (Friends of the Earth). The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline would stimulate employment, the effects would be temporary and the whole scheme would produce a negative long term outcome. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline has caused

With an increasing global population and ever industrializing society 's, environmental concern is rarely given priority over economic incentive. But what people fail to realize is that our environmental failures, and relative apathy about it set up a plethora of problems for future generations to deal with. One of the most important decisions president Obama will face in the next year will be whether or not to approve the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, a massively sized, and massively controversial oil pipeline that would stretch all the way from Alberta Canada, to American oil refineries along the Gulf Of Mexico. Despite the economic incentive present, the building of the Keystone XL pipeline should not happen because of the

The origination of this case study begins on one brisk morning back on the 19th of September in 2008 when TransCanada first submitted their application to the U.S. State Department to build the Keystone XL pipeline. The Canadian based energy infrastructure company proposed a 1,179-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline that would transport crude oil from Canada, through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. Along with transporting oil from producers in Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and North Dakota (Figure 1).

In June of 2010, a plan to construct a pipeline that would run from Alberta, Canada through the center of the United States, making its way to its final destinations in Nederland, Texas, and Pakota, Illinois were finally commissioned. As an energy management major at the University of Oklahoma, I was intrigued to research the Keystone Pipeline and the plans that hinge alongside it. The plan to construct the pipeline that would connect the two countries certainly began with good intentions, however many people would disagree. When viewing the plans for construction of what became known as the Keystone Pipeline, it’s apparent that there are numerous benefits that result from building the pipeline. On the other hand, some people argue that

The Keystone XL Pipeline is an oil pipeline system that runs in parts of Canada and the United States. The pipeline runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Illinois and Texas with a distribution center in Cushing, Oklahoma. The pipeline has provided several jobs throughout the two countries. Many people have concerns about spills, emission, and the amount of oil left. This paper explains the location of the pipeline, the problems and concerns that surround it, and the positive outcomes it has created.

Oil is imperative to the endurance of today’s society and plays a major role in the world’s economy. The Keystone XL Pipeline is a crude oil pipeline that is designed to run from “Hardisty, Alberta…to Steele City, Nebraska,” (About The Project). Citizens of Canada and the United States are debating the development of the pipeline. There are two sides to this issue, to either approve or disapprove the Keystone XL Pipeline, and by researching this topic I will form an opinion.

The demand of gasoline has increased steadily over the last twenty years. In 1981 the U.S. averaged 6.5 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. By comparison, in 2004 the U.S. averaged 9.2 million barrels of gasoline consumption per day. For most of this time period, gas prices stayed relatively the same. This is because the U.S. refineries increased their production to meet the demand and maintain the equilibrium price. Also during this same time period worldwide demand for crude oil increased 27%. Crude oil producers also increased their production to meet the demand keeping prices the same.

America must wean itself off of dependence on foreign oil, and one valid solution to this problem is offshore oil drilling and production. America’s economy is heavily based on petroleum, as though it is the nation’s blood; a necessity for survival. About 25% of oil produced in the U.S. comes from offshore rigs. Most of the U.S. coastline has been off limits for oil drilling since the early 1980s. Due to environmental concerns after an oil spill off the coast of California in 1969, an offshore drilling moratorium was imposed. Since then, the U.S. has amplified its energy consumption to where it uses nearly 25% of the world's oil. Meanwhile, the U.S. produces about 10% of the world's oil. That has made the U.S. heavily reliant on imported

Drivers realize that the price of gas is tied to the market value of crude oil, and has a direct impact to their daily commutes, errands, and vacations. However the reality is that the price of fuel has implications much grater than most consumers realize. Fuel prices affect nearly everything we purchase. For example, the price of farm commodities and food increase because farmers pay more for the fuel for their farm equipment and trucking firms pay more for fuel to get the commodities to market. These shipping “fuel surcharges” impact all goods