What is going to happen when gas prices exceed $4 per gallon this summer?

People are going to scream about price gouging.

Congress will pass a law or two relating to the matter.

Those email forwards about how we’ll break the back of the oil companies if we all boycott one or if we all don’t buy gas on a particular day will be sent around even more.

More people will consider fuel-efficient cars.

Many people will consider alternate (public) transportation, or vacations that don’t rely so much on driving.

People will scream and complain, but pay the $4 per gallon.

Petrol will nearly be as expensive as bottled water.

Hopefully people will begin to make better decisions regarding their choice of vehicle.

I doubt much will happen. Exxon/Mobil will report record profits. People will skimp on other things so they can afford higher gas prices.

They said the same thing when it was about to hit 3$ per gallon. And everything is fantastic now. Everything will continue to be fantastic when we hit four dollars per gallon.

Seriously.. Expect a significant increase of your grocery bill. And for all the folks that heat your home with heating oil.. Good Luck.

people will continue to complain and pump gas into the car.

I’m gonna buy a Llama and ride it to work.

Hopefully by then, Americans will realize it’s not the price of oil going up, its the value of the dollar going down. I know there are other “factors” that change the price of oil, but if you look at the price of oil in dollars over the past 10 years, it has gone up 3–4 times. The price of gold in dollars, has gone up 3–4 times. If you look at oil in gold, oil has remained almost stable. It is the value of the dollar going down, not oil going up. Inflation has been rampant, but since the govt doesnt include food and oil in out inflation calculation, we are not being told the true inflation rate.

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/1101/what-the-price-of-gold-is-telling-us/

OH yeah, and as long as we are dependent on oil like we are, they can charge whatever they want.

i will start driving the speed limit.

I’m lucky. I live so close to my campus so I don’t need to drive very much.

maybe we will see we need to build more refinerys and drill our own oil

People will learn to walk. It’s a skill I feel is lost the moment the license/use of a car is gained. To use Cat Stevens’ words “From the moment I could talk, I was ordered to listen.” Same thing, only with walking and cars.

I’m with cwilbur; s/he hit all the major points.

In addendum:

• People will adorn sackcloth and mourn and wail. QQ moar, suckers.
• Public transportation will be the new “cool”.

People will get upset. Congress, to show us they are proactively working for us, will immediately pass a $1.00 a gallon tax on gasoline causing the price to go to $5.00 a gallon to protect the consumer.

This question should be ” when gas hits $5.00 a gallon.”

Here in Ca we are paying over $4.00 a gallon now.