<b>Why would any oil company actually take part in research and development of anything that would take away from their current livelyhood until that livelyhood is completly tapped out</b> Do you realize that companies have to invest in R&D long BEFORE something is completely tapped out? So if current Intel processors are the best on the market, should they just lay off their engineering staff and wait for their product to become outdated before they continue research again? <b>Action against the problem is the only way . . .</b> Sometimes hasty action creates more of a problem, ever hear of corn ethanol? The bottom line is that most of what we pay at the pump is government taxes. If a higher percentage of these taxes were used to pay for research (on alternate energy that is actually feasible), everyone would be much better off.
Welcome to the Internet. Thank you for not writing in all upper case. Bill Gates will not send you money for forwarding emails. That cookie recipe isn't from Neiman Marcus. The email from the Nigerian Oil Minister is fake. The sick kid really was sick, but he is really, really tired of getting cards. There are no giant internet cleaning servers so you do not have to disconnect your computer from the net on Feb 29th. The rocket car embedded in the side of the mountain is a fake. The overloaded car from Home Depot is real, tho. When all your moron buddies send you emails that say to send them to everybody else, don't read them. Important information is rarely (if ever) disseminated via chain emails. Instead, go to Snopes and see yet another urban legend. http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/nogas.asp
I just don't understand how people like you even have the sense to get up in the morning (well, perhaps you don't). Buying the gas that you would have bought on the 2nd, instead on the 1st or 3rd, doesn't effect the oil companies one freakin' whit. Get a clue. JB
Do you know that the US government gets more of the money from gasoline sales than any of the oil companies? Let me walk you through this: Exxon's profit margin is 11.23%, so at $3.50/gallon Exxon gets 39 cents, this is after the US government taxed their profits; $29 billion from Exxon alone, 41% of their profits. The US government earned 27 cents per gallon off Exxon Then there is the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. State taxes average 28.6 cents per gallon, so in direct taxes on your gas, 47 cents goes to the government. Add in the taxes on oil companies and 74 cents goes to the US government versus 39 cents to Exxon, almost double. So who should the "windfall" profit tax be on? The entity that produces and delivers the gas or the one that does nothing at all? Who is really "gouging" you at the pump? This is after the US and State governments have taxed your income, made you pay for a drivers liscenes and tabs for your car, among many other things. ****Please note the numbers on Exxon assume that all they do is sell gasoline. I still beleive the argument is valid. 5yr