The Free Market, price of gas, class warfare or socialism?

[JoeRedskin]

More intelligent people have already made fine arguments for the positions I support:
a) price controls on gas are unworkable and would create havoc in the economy (and, of course, would create a HUGE bureacracy to enforce compliance); and

b) $.07 is an incredible amount of profit given the amount of gas consumed in a day by the US, that being approximately 9 Million Gallons a day. (This Week In Petroleum Gasoline Section). Alos for a breakdown of the costs that go into making gas see: Low profits mean gas station owners share your fueling pain (yes, I know it's an old article but you can see the various costs that go into the final cost of gas at the pump - and, please notice, that taxation is already a significant price inflator). Finally, remember, a lot of these oil companies own the downstream refining companies and I am not sure how this works into the $.07 profits.

One other point I'd like to address is the idea that all of a sudden we are going to be out of gas and/or we will end up with such expensive gas that it is simply not economical to use.

The REASON gas is in such high demand is precisely b/c it is an absolutely dirt cheap transportable fuel in comparison to anything else that is currently mass produced. As this ceases to be the case, competitive alternatives will be developed - Not overnight, but as the price escalates. Will there be a few bumps on the way? Sure. But trust that, even now, some innovator(s) is/are out there looking for a cheap way to mass produce and deliver cheap energy. At some point, quite literally, when the price is right, alternatives will be developed.