March 29, 2004: Gasoline hits a record high.
You’ve got to make an actual argument–this is just a link.
Here are 2 GD and 1 Pit started in the last month worrying that we are “running out of oil.”
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=241846&highlight=peak
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=242443&highlight=peak
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247074&highlight=peak
Believe it or not, people, the USA is not the entirety of the world. What we’re seeing is merely US gasoline prices reaching levels already present in other developed countries.
Yeah, petrol in the USA is incredibly cheap. Here in Ireland its €0.90 a liter, much more then the US. But oil is an incredibly cheap commodity, thats why the world is so dependant on it.
Why is oil so expensive in Ireland? Maybe it has more to do with taxes than supply.
Its not oili meant, its petrol. And yes, tax is the reason for the price. But it makes no differrence, if we can take high petrol prices, theres no reason the US cant have higher fuel costs without its economy melting down, even if there is an awkward adjustment period.
It’s almost certainly almost ALL tax in most countries. Hell, even in the US, about 40-60 cents worth of the price of a gallon of gas is tax (about 15 cents per liter).
The reason I say this is that gasoline and crude oil are traded on world markets. Barring tariffs, etc… the price has settled at an equilibrium point worldwide.
There are big differences though- Ireland is set up for much more mass-transit and the population density is much higher than in the US. It’s entirely feasible to live in Dublin and not own a car. It’s not even close to feasible to live in Kansas City, Dallas, etc… and not own a car. Daily commutes in the US are frequently above 10-15 miles one way, and in many if not most cases, there’s not even the option to ride the bus. There aren’t different tax rates for consumer/commercial fuels either- I suspect that most countries with high gas prices have these.
Long story short, higher gas prices will impact US people a fair amount more than others, if only because many of our cities and our way of life has evolved around inexpensive gasoline.
I heard on NPR Friday (some news snippet or other) that the price of gas today, adjusted for inflation, is far less then its peak, which occurred in 1981 where the price of gas was $2.95/gallon in today’s dollars.
Here’s a California Dept of Energy page that gives average CA gasoline prices from 1970 to the present, both straight up and adjusted for inflation. It also gives capsule descriptions of the events that substantially affected gas prices along the way.
California isn’t the country, but the ups and downs of CA gas prices should more or less track those of the nation as a whole.
Best way to assure we aren’t in “the final oil crisis” is for the US to tax gasoline at a high enough rate to bring down demand over time. One reason our roads are crowded with SUVs rather than hybrids is that gas is cheap here.
Obviously, that’s political suicide. So what you do is pay people the money upfront for their gas tax: add a 50-cent tax to each gallon of gas, but send a $500 check to every adult citizen in advance to pay for it, kinda like the tax ‘rebate’ checks were done. If they drive 20K miles a year in a vehicle that gets 20 mpg (even a lot of SUVs manage that), they break even. If they drive less, or drive a higher-mileage vehicle, they come out ahead. If they take public transportation and don’t drive at all, they win big.
It would be a net revenue-loser for the government, probably to the tune of $20-30B/year, but that would be OK, if it helped nudge people towards converving gas.