gas not actually expensive

[nibot]

Somehow I got the idea of searching for inflation-adjusted historical gasoline prices, and I found this.

Comments

[azfactor.livejournal.com]

Interesting idea, but it probably spikes after that.

[dingodonkey.livejournal.com]

I'm curious to see a similar graph depicting average amount of gasoline used per automobile owner.

[jamesla.livejournal.com]

are you kidding? the average is closer to 2.70 right now. I'm paying 2.89 per gallon today.

Well...

[kenfrequed.livejournal.com]

The real problem is that the price at the pump does not reflect the total price of petrol. In America we are deluded into thinking that its the end-all be-all of the situation. In reality we subsidize that price, both directly and indirectly.

Our own petroleum corporations are always running heavily subsidized, either directly by government grants or indirectly by way of tax relief or even illegally in manners similar to some of the energy companies in the south west and in California due to corrupt deregulation and privatization.

We prop up governments willing to provide us with it on the cheap. One example would be Kuwait, who we aided in dodging around OPEC agreements stating limits on the amount of crude they would export and on the prices. Of course this really wasn't enough for Kuwait who engaged in side drilling operations under certain neighboring nations that would have done Monty Burns proud.

Aside from forgiven foreign loans to monarchies we also spend more than any other nation on a massive military to lock down these resources wherever they may be. Some estimates suggest that we spend twice the value of oil securing it. (these estimates were made a few years before the invasion of Iraq)

Aside from the more direct means of subsidizing the cost there are consequences:

We must not forget the long term costs of refining gasoline. The environmental consequences are obvious and hardly need restating. It is no coincidence that areas around these refineries often coincide with cancer clusters.

What is considerably less obvious is the cost in control of our nation. The Saudi government invests much of its oil profits back into the United States. Until recently it made them the largest foreign investor in the US.

[anemone.livejournal.com]

Gas is $3.39 this morning at a nearby gas station. Now, the absolute price is not so interesting, but yesterday, the price was $3.09, and the day before that,it was under $3. Even if the average price today is not out of line with historical averages, the change is price is quite disturbing.