The other day at Starbucks I heard the these two complaining about gas prices as they drank their $5 a cup coffees.
(rimshot)
(crickets)
Thank you, thank you, I'm here all night. (ok, not really... time for bedtime)
In Germany, people grumble about the prices but it's not really much of an issue. Many people commute by tram, bus or train, others by bicycle or even on foot. Commuters claim fuel costs for travel to and from work against tax, leisure trips are kept to a minimum. Cutthroat competition also keeps trucking costs low. The distances to be covered aren't as great either. However, there are certainly consequences from the price differences. The biggish city of Trier has almost no filling stations still in business, while just over the Moselle river in Luxembourg there are whole streets full of stations, one behind the other. The situation on the Polish border is similar, I hear.
In Britain, there's little chance to get cheap fuel, and public transport is not as well developed as on the continent. So it's more of a hardship there.
US gas prices are ridiculously low by western European standards, and its cars aren't as fuel efficient.
Makes you kinda not feel quite so bad when it comes time to fill-up I suppose. I highly doubt that gas prices will be stop going up anytime soon either. Yesterday, Chavez of Venezuala threatened to cut off supplies of whom we recieve 30% of our oil from, and then, not to mention the powder keg waiting to erupt in Israel and Iran. The future's not looking to good.
I am starting to notice more and more SUV's sitting roadside and in parking lots with a for sale sign in the window. Stock in car companies that sell hybrids are strting to look like they'll be the new tech stocks to get your hands on.