Saturday, January 29, 2011
Car pooling and the buffalo....
Here, from the NY Times, a piece about the decline of car sharing. In reading this, particularly the figures about the increase in the number of cars - it outstrips the increase in population - it's hard to deny that we're getting what we deserve. Maybe it's the same worldwide, but I don't know that. I do know that we're spoiled beyond redemption.
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4 comments:
Not entirely surprised. Its a trade off between expense vs. convenience. Obviously, its not expensive enough for people to trade the convenience of going it alone.
Gasoline is simply too cheap in the USA, way out of proportion to the costs and damage it does to the environment. Europe was smart to put big taxes on motor fuels in the 70's after the first oil shocks. Now you don't see much waste there, no drive-through, no taxis idling in lines waiting for fares and mostly small, energy-efficient vehicles, while Americans add a third or fourth stall to their home garages to house an ever-increasing car collection. Some said $3 per gallon would change things -- nope. $4 doesn't seem to be doing much either in the areas where the price is that much. $8-10 a gallon might do it -- that's what we pay in Italy these days...we could wipe out The US Federal deficit in no time!
It was eight bucks a gallon in Germany a couple weeks ago. I spent a week in Bremen and don't think I saw a single SUV.
If the shit hitting the fan in Egypt spreads, we might see ten buck a gallon gas soon enough.
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