April 14, 2009 12:05 PM

Road Warning: $7 Gas May Be Ahead

By
CBSNews
(CBS)  A new energy report predicts $200-a-barrel oil in as short a time as two years. If that happens, gas would likely go up to $7 a gallon - and that would have an enormous impact on the way Americans live.

Mitchell Igelko in Miami complains rising gas prices are threatening his 20-year-old landscaping business. His two biggest trucks sit idle - he can't afford to fill them up.

Right now, Igelko's business averages $30,000 a month in gas - at $7 a gallon, that would jump to about $50,000 a month, CBS News correspondent Priya David reports.

"I think at that time, I'm gonna put a sign 'gone fishing,'" he said.

Economist Jeff Rubin predicts the $7 mark will arrive by the year 2010.

Hardest hit will be those for those making less than $25,000 a year. For them, gas will go from 7 percent of their income to a whopping 20 percent.

"People are going to be spending more on gas than they are on groceries," said Rubin. "And that's not a sustainable choice."

In fact, by 2012, higher prices could send an additional 10 million vehicles off the road.

It would certainly ease congestion. Having that many cars come off the roads is like permanently parking twice as many cars as there are in the whole state of New Jersey.

Some look to Europe for solutions to the skyrocketing gas prices.

"They drive these nice little cars which maybe we should start doing," one U.S. driver said.

Expensive gasoline has led Europeans to also drive less than we do. In America, over 90 percent of all households commute to work by car. Compare that to just 60 percent of British households.

"People's entire mindset as to what kind of vehicles they drive, where they live, choices they make on holidays, and vacations are going to be quite different, because it's starting to bite," said Joseph Romm of climateprogress.org.

For Mitchell Igelko, $4 gas is trimming his profits, but $7 gas would be a knock-out blow.

Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved.
Add a Comment See all 247 Comments
by mrbzr1 March 6, 2010 12:56 PM EST
this $7 dollar a gallon fuel isn't due to oil prices, it's due to cap and trade legislation and obama's cabon emission targets, as reported by a harvard study.....looks like cbs is trying to blame the wrong group yet again....
http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2010/03/harvard-study-meeting-obamas-carbon-emissions-targets-will-require-7-gallon-gas.html?cid=6a00e008c6b4e5883401310f58098a970c
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by gaprddesc June 29, 2008 6:20 AM EDT
What stock should I invest in? How can I get a piece of this pie?
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by mrbzr1 March 6, 2010 1:04 PM EST
gim (generation investment management) one of al gores companies...
by edintex June 29, 2008 2:50 AM EDT
Hey tree huggers, liberals and democrats...You just keep on ignoring what the oil companies have to say about whats is causing these high prices and what needs to be done to change it. They warned the U.S. government back in the 1980''s that this day was coming. But you northerners and west coast brainiacs enjoyed the $10/barrel. The automakers REALLY enjoyed good times then too. At the same time, the south had lost hundreds of thousands of jobs. Businesses closed. People were literally jumping out of office windows. No congressional inquiries. No outrage. No help at all. YOU ALL WERE WARNED. You all chose to ignore. Enjoy the $141/barrel oil now. You deserve it and more. Just don''t move down here. The refineries already stink it up enough as it is. Besides, you all have made it clear you don''t like the sight of oil rigs on shore or offshore. ENJOY YOUR VIEWS !!!!
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by EL_OBSERVER June 29, 2008 12:43 AM EDT
All of this stuff is leading directly to the coming of the anti-Christ and the One World Government he will place himself in charge of.

Look to Jesus Christ folks! He is the answer. He will give you the Truth if you invite Him into your heart and He will protect you from the things to come.

PSSSSSSST ... ASK JESUS WHERE I CAN GET $1.90 A GALLON GAS. TELL HIM TO E MAIL ME
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by fiberglass3 June 28, 2008 6:19 PM EDT
Westinghouse headquarters planned for Cranberry Twp.


PITTSBURGH %u2014 Westinghouse Electric Co. will build a new $100 million research center and headquarters for its western Pennsylvania nuclear operations in a new office park north of the city, the company said Tuesday.

Westinghouse, a nuclear power plant designer and builder, had considered expanding its current headquarters in Monroeville, about 15 miles east of the city, but will instead move to a new office complex being built along Interstate 79 in Cranberry Township.

Within five years, Westinghouse expects to add at least 1,000 employees to the 3,450 it already employs in western Pennsylvania.

Westinghouse, which is owned by Japan%u2019s Toshiba Corp., needs to expand to meet the demand for four nuclear power plants in China and 12 reactors it has been contracted to build in the United States.

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by toolmangler-2009 June 28, 2008 6:03 PM EDT
Begin Part (2)
Now the planet is so parched that nothing can grow. Billions have already died and now they have only a few hundred left to propagate the species. Then they all boarded the only means of escape and rocketed into the skies hoping against hope that the third Planet might be able to provide a place to live. They all vowed with one voice to "Never destroy their world again". God slumped and said to himself,"WANNA BET! and a tear fell as he looked at Mars and saw the red dust covering all he had made for them?"

Reply to this comment
by toolmangler-2009 June 28, 2008 6:01 PM EDT
I have a fable for you;
Once upon a time there was a planet that had a thriving civilation. the inhabitants were very intelligent but somewhat short sighted. The industrial moguls were a bit on the greedy side and only looked at the bottom line and not very far into the future. The peoples of this world worked hard and learned everything they could about the world around them. As they advanced, their need for power grew exponentially and they searched the entire planet for more resources of energy but one day, they realized that the reserves were exhausted and they became frantic because no more liquid energy could be found. At this same time, the planet was racked by devastating events like droughts, earthquakes, extreme temperature changes and all forms of illnesses. Water was in such short supply that individuals were being killed and the water recovered from their bodies was sold by robber barons and other gangs. You might ask what happened to the water and receive this answer. "the energy companies pumped it into the ground to take the place of the liquid fuels they were extracting so that the surface of the world would not crash into the gaping holes left when the world was sucked dry."
End Part (1)
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by soldat44 June 28, 2008 2:20 PM EDT
All of this stuff is leading directly to the coming of the anti-Christ and the One World Government he will place himself in charge of.

Look to Jesus Christ folks! He is the answer. He will give you the Truth if you invite Him into your heart and He will protect you from the things to come.

God bless all of you.

Posted by EndTimes22 at 02:12 AM : Jun 28, 2008

God Bless
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by samsel3 June 28, 2008 12:26 PM EDT
In March of 2008 a Cambridge, MA. oil & Gas consulting firm issued a report to Congress. In that report the Congress was told that the laws of supply & demand no longer apply to oil. Demand is constant with only small fluctuations at any given time. Although world demand will increase their is plenty of supply. BIG OIL currently leases millions of acres of oil & gas land & offshore sites that they could be pumping. However, it is not in their economic interest as they have enough supply at this time. Big oil does not want to loose profit by increasing supply , after all selling oil products is their business. Additional offshore and Alaskan wilderness leases are not necessary, Big Oil just wants additional control of these areas for future marketing. The Saudi''s and Big Oil are very happy with the Bush & Cheney energy policy which eliminated Iraqi world oil market manipulation. Saddam kept prices down by selling cheap thus preventing the Saudi''s & Big Oil from getting the prices up. Bush & Cheney opened Pandora''s box & now things will never be the same.
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by fiberglass3 June 28, 2008 11:57 AM EDT
McCain Proposes $300 Million Energy Prize
Ariz. Senator Wants To Give $1 Per American For Developer Of New Auto Battery.

Sure wish that Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton would take a similar position helping to get us away from gasoline and over to electric transportation.
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