Dear Americans:
Poor you. With all of the myriad problems You have to worry about, like missing American Idol because You were sent to the grocery store, and not being able to purchase everything You want all of the time because of the generally dismal state of wages/inflation, certainly You don't need to deal with the agony of rising gas prices. Certainly that's just unfair and You deserve better.
(Now, ignoring the fact that gasoline already costs nearly twice as much in Europe--)
Listen: Petroleum is used for more than Your sports utility vehicle. It runs much larger, more communal forms of transportation (like trains and airplanes). It is used in plastic--just think of how much plastic there is in the world, and how quickly it gets turned to waste. Oil is necessary to ship items all over the world--currently, it is absolutely essential for capitalism and globalization and chain stores and animal production and general material usage.
And listen: There is enough oil left in the world to sustain about 30 years more use. The end of petroleum use is near. And with it, our current way of life. Nothing has been even marginally developed to replace oil, and if there is sufficient funding in research to develop an alternative, there is still going to be the chaos of transitioning the entire economic infrastructure to deal with the changes that will take place. The longer the oil crisis is ignored, the more chaotic it will be to radically change.
And listen: As capitalism spreads, and people rise from poverty--as has happened monumentally in recent years, especially in places like China and India--there is a greater demand on oil. People are not only able to afford cars and traveling prices, but they have more expendable income with which to consume. They can buy more products--which tend to be steeped in oil. Can you blame them?
And listen: If you have any belief at all in global warming... than there's that whole global warming thing.
Think. A greater demand. A finite and dwindling supply. Pitiful research into alternatives. Crippling issues that are global in scope.
Do you really deserve lower gas prices?
Really?
4 comments:
To soften the blow of your post, I thought this was a quite humorous addition: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/compared-to-other-liquids-gasoline-is-cheap/
I guess I was a little severe.
Also, incredibly good point... Lipton tea costs more than gasoline?!
Interesting post, though I have these comments about it. A. About fifty percent of a barrel of crude makes gasoline. The remaining percent is used in plastics, and other petroleum products. Hence, the amount of plastic made out of a barrel has no real impact on the amount of gasoline you get. B. The high price of gasoline in Europe is deceptive. Depending on the country, 63-80% of that price is actually fuel taxes, whereas in America, tax makes up about 30-80 cents of the price of a gallon, depending on the state you're in. Just an FYI.
Thanks for the info--I wasn't aware that gasoline was regularly divvied up as such. Still, it makes sense that an increased demand on plastics would created an increased demand on oil in general and thereby have an effect on the price in an indirect way (because of a more limited supply), right?
Interesting point on European taxes... I think this is generally a good idea. Just out of curiosity, where have you gotten your numbers? I'd like more information about it.
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