What are the REAL reasons for the gas price hikes, who can control it (president?, congress?) and WHY are we?

Gasoline is relatively cheap in the US. In Canada it is currently $5/gal (US) and in Europe over $7/gal.

That said, the recent rapid increase in price is a reflection of a range of things. It's partly speculators (i.e. a reflection of uncertainty of supply), but more fundamentally it's a result of the improving economy promoting increased demand (not only in the US, but also in developing countries like China and India), while supply is either static or decreasing. In addition, cheap oil is becoming a thing of the past, as new oil supplies are increasingly expensive to bring on line (e.g. deep sea oil, tar sands, arctic oil).

The bottom line is that as demand exceeds supply prices will inevitably rise (and availability may be next).

As to using coal, it's possible to use coal for generators, but it doesn't help with cars or trucks or heavy equipment. And it has a high environmental (and health) cost. Drilling on US truf, as you put it, is a long term prospect and of limited effectiveness since there simply isn't that much oil to make a big difference (The US already imports over half of the oil it uses, and new domestic sources can, at best, only maintain this ratio as existing sources slowly dry up.

Finally, Congress could subsidize oil but that would be extremely expensive (and have to be paid for through taxes), would be contrary to capitalist principles (interference in the marketplace) and, worst, mask price signals to encourage development of alternatives and reduced demand.

The reality is that low gasoline prices (by world standards) in the US have encouraged the use of gas guzzling SUVs and dissuaded consumers from adopting fuel efficient vehicles.

No matter what you might think about current gasoline prices the current situation isn't any type of emergency. What would be bad is masking the impact and delaying the inevitable day coming within the next few years when gasoline will be $6-$7/gal (or more). get used to it and start to adjust your habits accordingly. It's going to get worse, much worse.

Gasoline is dirt cheap in 3rd world countries.

the tea party is the only rational voice i hear. in 1977 carter allowed the epa to shut down american oil wells. gas was a dollar or less. we began importing oil then. the transfer of wealth to saudi arabia was much like the transfer to china we have in manufacturing. we have enough oil in the destin dome to last 20 years. 3 miles out in shallow water. off limits because destin florida doesnt want oil rigs in site of tourist. the oil in alaska would last 200 years if we could get past the epa. when the exxon valdez spilled its cargo the impact was limited and minor. the media frenzy made people think wildlife would become extinct. its been a consistent propaganda war the last 50 years im aware of. the messages have varied.then results have been the continuous transfer of american wealth to others while our resources and way of life stagnate.

Hello Robert, I cannot answer all those questions ,but it has to be related to money and greed. Read this

information I will supply you with in this news article.When you read this ,it will really blow your mind.Google

website. http;//www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp? ID =1911 I hope the people in this country wake up to all these questions about oil. Good questions,but some people do not want them answered. Good Luck