Gas Saving ideas
Posted on 09/27/2005 8:26:38 PM PDT by george76
Senator Who Designed Gas Cap May Change Law...
Hawaii's gas prices are headed back up again. State House Democrats estimate the wholesale gas price cap will rise next week by 15-20 cents a gallon.
The chief author of the law said he'll consider changing it if consumers aren't happy by the beginning of next year.
Word of a price hike next week is very disappointing to supporters of the wholesale gas cap law, who were already disappointed at how slowly the prices went down when the cap did.
After two weeks of wide prices differences, competing stations in town tightened up a little Tuesday. Many Honolulu stations settled to about $3.20 for regular unleaded. Gas at Costco was about 10 cents cheaper.
"I'm hopeful that savings will be realized and come January we'll see where we're at and see where we go from there," Menor said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehawaiichannel.com ...
Hawaiian Pols Do a Favor for Economics Professors
The belief in magic never dies.
Politicians in Hawaii apparently believe that ink on paper (backed up by policemen with guns) can keep the cost of gasoline lower than the price that would prevail on the market.
They're wrong. Shortages and queues will result from Hawaii's price controls on gasoline -- shortages and queues that will cause motorists to suffer higher costs than otherwise for each gallon of gasoline they manage to buy.
The silver lining around this politically induced foolishness is that it makes the teaching of economics easier.
I taught my first economics class in the Fall of 1982. All of my students then clearly remembered the gasoline shortage of the summer of 1979 -- the long lines, the five-gallon-maximum purchases, the anxiety of not knowing even if you could find a station selling gasoline, and the crazy rationing schemes (such as selling on some days of the week only to motorists whose license tags ended in even numbers, and on other days of the week only to motorists whose license tags ended in odd numbers).
Because my students in the early- and mid-1980s experienced first-hand and recollected all too well the palpable and highly unpleasant effects of oil-price controls, my job of teaching economics was then easier than it is today, when students have no experiences with, or memories of, any such absurd regulations.
So, while I pity poor Hawaiian motorists, I'll have lots of good, modern pictures of queues at gasoline stations to share with my students -- making my task of teaching the consequences of price controls easier than it would be otherwise.
http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2005/08/hawiian_pols_do.html
God bless your efforts. One of the things this country really needs is more economic training at the high school level. I did not take my first econ class until College and it was a REAL eye opener.
My guess is that, aside from the fact that there are no pipelines running from Texas and Louisiana to Hawaii, the liberal Dims who run Hawaii probably have imposed boutique standards that only a few refineries can fulfill.
Hawaiian Economics
In a repeat of legislative history, Hawaii has shown that its politicians are neither historians nor economists.
As of Wednesday, price controls on gasoline were instituted in Hawaii.
First, they contradict themselves, saying on one hand that they would like incentives for new sources of energy to be developed. Then, on the other hand, they would like for oil to be cheaper. Rather than allowing market forces to negotiate the optimum levels, those supporting the price controls believe that they are the most qualified to make such decisions. Another example of central planning at its best.
Secondly, they contradict themselves again, saying one one hand that they want for gas prices to be more affordable. Next, they ignore the effects of price controls -- that they make the total price much higher by causing shortages and increasing the time that people must spend waiting in line for gasoline. They do not allow bargaining between consumers and suppliers to negotiate a mutually beneficial exchange in which the consumer does not waste his time in line and the producer may profit. Such bargaining, even though both parties benefit, is illegal in a price control system.
There has been some talk of other states adopting Hawaii's policy and instituting price controls of their own. I should hope that the shortages of the 70s are recent enough for most politicians to remember.
http://capitalfreedom.blogspot.com/2005/08/hawaiian-economics.html
It imports its petroleum and petroleum products from Indonesia. Hawaii is a very remote location.
Added it to my blogs to watch list.
Ever notice how all the really smart and really good looking people are on our side?
WHY? The freakin' refineries were shut down for a whopping two days.
Why would they go all the way to Indonesia which is like 2 to 3 times as far as the West Coast of the USA? Or are you just yanking my chain?
The west coast is a net importer of oil. They most of the oil shipped from Alaska. Originally Alaskan oil was not allowed to be exported out of the US, but now some of it is allowed to be sold to Japan.
Have no idea what you are talking about. Regular unleaded in Oregon and Washington is $2.79 now, maybe $2.69 if you're lucky, so the difference with Hawaii is only a little more that 40 cents. Of course Hawaii is 3000 miles from the nearest refinery.
Gas Saving ideas
On a similar Economic Example from the Great One...
It was Friedman who in 1962, with the publication of "Capitalism and Freedom," first proposed the abolition of Social Security, not because it was going bankrupt, but because he considered it immoral.
Friedman calls Social Security, created by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1935, a Ponzi game.
Charles Ponzi was the 1920s Boston swindler who collected money from "investors" to whom he paid out large "profits" from the proceeds of later investors. The scheme inevitably collapses when there are not enough new entrants to pay earlier ones.
That Social Security operates on a similar basis is not really in dispute.
The biggest misconception about the program, he argues, is that workers believe it works like insurance, with the government depositing taxes in a trust fund.
"I've always thought it disgraceful that the government should be essentially lying about what it was doing," he said.
He calls himself an innate optimist, despite the unpopularity of many of his ideas.
When he moved to San Francisco in the 1970s, the city was debating rent control, he recalled.
So he wrote a letter to The Chronicle saying, "Anybody who has examined the evidence about the effects of rent control, and still votes for it, is either a knave or a fool."
What happened? "They immediately passed it," he laughed.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/06/05/ING9QD1E5Q1.DTL&sn=156&sc=587
In the article at the top of the thread it says that the price in Hawaii is $3.20.
According to a chart in the Christian Science Monitor, there are actually two refineries in Hawaii. It says that there are also 5 in Washington and 1 in Oregon, although I have never noticed them. I have never heard of any oil wells near Hawaii so maybe they have to import their crude.
Have you ever noticed Hawaii is a series of volcanic islands? They are made out of igneous rock. If you're looking for oil you should look in sedimentary rock. Ancient burried reefs formed on volcanic islands are often excellent formations in which to find oil.
Maybe someone's already mentioned it, but IIRC there's a refinery on Oahu.
Gasoline and jet fuel are also sent via pipeline in certain areas. There is one such pipeline in Washington state. In 1998 it leaked into a creek in Bellingham, Wa. The subsequent fire killed three people. There is a branch of this pipeline that takes fuel to Portland, Oregon.
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