Just to add my two cents on the gas prices drama...

[blackdeathdenia]

Since this topic has appeared several times on my flist today, I thought I'd make a little post on the topic instead of simply commenting, so as not to belittle anyone's concerns (although, I suppose this is mostly in response to Lori's post).

See the article I reference here.

Comments

[call_me_ps]

The thing is, those in the UK and other parts of Europe have access to a better public transportation system than 99.9% of us in the US. This means when gas prices skyrocket, they can start taking public transportation. I WISH I had that option. The other thing is that most of them do not have the daily commutes that most Americans have. As a country, we have longer average commutes than any other country in the world. Therefore, some of us use daily the same amount of gas as people in the UK and other parts of the world use weekly, or even monthly. I'm betting most of my European friends don't regularly make 3 to 3.5 hour round trips (and by that, I mean twice a month), as I do, nor do they make 7 hour round trips (and by that, I mean once a month) as I do. Their lifestyles are different, and since the cost of gas is historically higher over there, anyway, they also have more of their budget dedicated to gas costs than us in the US.

Therefore, while the actual PRICE comparisons are shocking, the reality is that MORE of our net wages are going to gas than are the net wages of those in Europe, because the reality of life in the United States is what it is. Our fault, of course, for continuing to be dependent on cars, and resisting the introduction of mass transit in our cities and in our rural areas, but reality nonetheless.

[blackdeathdenia]

It's true that a lot of places have far better public transportation than the US, and I think it's crap that your area doesn't have better public transportation- even my piddly little area has free transport buses that run every hour or so between Dartmouth and the local towns. I don't know how the economy in the UK and Europe relates to gas prices- they have obviously been dealing with this problem far longer than we have- but I'd be interested to find out. A friend of mine from Brighton suggested that the average yearly income in the UK is 35,000 pounds. I don't know how accurate that is, if it is at all, but that certainly has some interesting implications for gas consumption, and what percentage of income that is, etc.

I suppose the biggest difference is simply in how long we've been dealing with this problem, vs. Europe (and the rest of the world). They've had this problem long enough that while we were getting all hyped up on SUVs and large vehicles, they skipped that whole thing, simply b/c it made no sense. A Passat in England is absolutely massive, and the UK isn't even in the heart of the small car world.

I found a thesis investigating the differences between US and UK car travel, which definitely agrees with much of what you said. Interesting read- http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:GChQiqj2aJoJ:www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/jdargay_wp02.pdf+compare+commutes+countries&hl=en. I'd argue (without having done much research) that the differences are a result of such issues as gas prices, average income (which the study mentioned was much lower than the US; apparently my friend was reasonably accurate), etc., as opposed to being the inverse- the high gas prices were the cause, rather than the response to high usage of public transportation. I think I'm just babbling at this point, and spitting back what the study says, so I'll just recommend that as some good reading if you're interested.

[call_me_ps]

Just to clarify, I was never arguing that their net incomes are less than ours, but more that their gas consumption (because of circumstances such as commute time, car size, etc.) is less than ours, so they spend less per unit than we do, so a raise in gas prices doesn't hit as hard.

The other issue is how QUICKLY. MORE than doubled since the beginning of summer. That's unheard of. I don't think it's gone up that quickly in the UK (but I could be wrong, also having done very little research, and instead just relying on hearsay from those living there). The prices HAVE gone up, but not as drastically as they have here.

[blackdeathdenia]

No, I know you didn't mention their net incomes, but I thought it was an interesting side note, relevant or not. I'm pretty sure gas in the UK (and the rest of Europe, although I'm far less informed in that area) hasn't risen nearly as fast as we have. It's certainly different situations, but I think it might be a glimpse of our future if something isn't done.

[call_me_ps]

I'm perfectly happy to trade in my gas-guzzlers for a small, economy car. Problem is, we don't make that many of them, we don't sell them cheaply, and no one will take my gas guzzlers for trade because I owe so EFFING MUCH ON THEM ALREADY!

Give us 3 years, then I COULD do the smart thing, and trade down in cars. But for the moment, I'm stuck. And what's effing Bush doing about it?

Nothing.

Of course.

[blackdeathdenia]

Of course he's doing something. He's interrupting his vacation in Texas for a vacation somewhere else.

There's an article at Slate that was pretty entertaining- http://slate.msn.com/id/2125224/. Can't really go wrong with Bush bashing and baseball, can you?

It's too late, in a manner of speaking, for most people. The people who CAN do something (trade in their SUVs for Hybrids, etc.) usually don't, because they don't feel the crunch; the people who need to get more fuel-efficient cars usually can't. I admit my mother falls into the first category (even though her lease is up in May, and she could get a lovely little sportscar that she's been wanting for years; but, no, she'll be leasing yet another large SUV). My father, who falls under the second category, is fortunate because he can ride his bicycle to work most mornings, and when he needs to drive 5 hours to pick up my sister from the airport, he can take my car (36 MPG combined, whoo!). Isn't that always the way, though- the people who can, won't, and the people who would, can't. (yet another interesting site- http://www.fueleconomy.gov/)