The cost of gasoline

Europeans pay much more for auto fuel than we do. About $8.70 per gallon versus the $4.00 we're paying. Actually, I saw my local fuel stop with $3.85.9 posted just this AM. On Monday when I filled my tank it was $3.99.9 per gallon.

Most of the cost of a gallon (and I do know they sell it by the liter) in Europe is taxes. And taxes is something I've thought could help us. Let's tax the hell out of gasoline (a strict consumption tax) and cut income taxes for individuals, particularly at the lower end. We can fund infrastructure (can anyone say train/subway systems?) and also fund research into fuel alternatives. Other things, too many to mention.

Would such a plan be more complex to administer? Possibly. Would it help the working poor get to and from work? No. If you make too little you pay no income taxes, yet you still have to drive. And with a huge fuel tax you simply won't be able to afford it. That's the difficult thing and the reason we don't do as our friends with the funny accents do.

Why can Europe do this? Well, for one thing they've done a much better job of providing public transportation over time, while we've built up our good-old American road system. We opted to give everyone a car (so to speak) while in Paris, for example, everyone takes the Metro. Besides, only the relatively wealthy Europeans had cars in the beginning (that is, when cars were "new"), and for the most part it's stayed that way. Except that the European middle class has come along and adopted more American methods and standards.

I still think we need to tax gasoline more heavily. We absolutely must do something to create the incentive to change, which, sad to say, is still lacking even in our present situation. I saw an article recently that said consumption is only down 0.6% between gas costing $3.00 and the present $4.00 level. So people aren't using less fuel, even with the price increase. So, I conclude it's not high enough. Let's see where it really starts to change behavior, because until it gets to that point (and do you really want the big oil companies and the sheiks to get all that money?) we won't see real change.

And of course, real change is what we need.