But what about gas prices? Today the NYTimes reports that oil prices have fallen below the $70 mark for the first time in 16 months. With the markets spiraling downwards, I doubt that many people have looked at the price of oil recently, but it has been on a steady slide since it reached its peak of $145 this summer.

I’m sure most of you remember watching oil prices carefully at the time, what with gas prices soaring to over $4/gallon nationwide and many people cutting back on driving or learning how to ecodrive. However, what you might not be noticing is a fall in the price of gasoline that corresponds to the radical decrease in the price of crude. Oil has fallen because consumption looks to be lower in the future due to the current crisis and possibility of economic recession.

While the Times talks about how these rapid swings in crude oil prices could destabilize the world energy markets, what they do not talk about is how these lower oil prices will affect consumers at the pump. I’m not a fan of cheap gas from an environmentalist perspective, but it’s hard not to notice that the price of gas in my area has only dropped about 50 cents (~13%) in the same period that the price of crude oil has dropped more than %50.

Is this more evidence of price gouging or do you think something bigger is going on? If so, what? Let’s here what you think in the comments.

Oil Prices Plunge to Below $70 per Barrel | Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com

Economy is in the crapper.
Oil prices dropping like crazy.
Gas prices "amazingly" ( ) not doing anywhere near as bad.

But of course, big oil is virginally innocent..

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"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint.
When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist."
--Dom Hélder Pessoa Câmara

We must acknowledge, once and for all, that the purpose of diplomacy is to prolong a crisis.
--Spock, Star Trek

Woldn't bother me if every oil company in the world went bankrupt due to competition with renewable sources.
In fact that is my fervent hope

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Oil companies will never go away...

It's the main ingredient in both plastics and machine lubrication...Taking it away as an energy resource is a big chunk, but hardly the end of oil use...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

Machine lubrication, yes. But we can all do without plastics.

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Yeah, let's have all the oil companies go bankrupt --- then what the hell are we going to run our cars on? Alternative fuels are great but my car runs on gasoline.

http://thecourier.typepad.com/righto...l-everywh.html

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http://rightonthemark.webs.com/

"To educate a man in mind but not in morals is to educate a menace to society." --- Theodore Roosevelt

Mine too. Hopefully our next car will not.

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