The $6.66-a-Gallon Solution

The New York Times ^ | April 30, 2005 | Simon Romero

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

$6.66, hey no problem? Now we know how they came to be called square heads.

[JOE6PAK]

$6.66-a-gallon solution?

Friggin Euro-wienies!

[JohnPreston]

If you do the numbers, you'll see that we are paying pretty much exactly the same to drive on our new toll roads.

Except that Oslo has toll roads too...

[Always Right]

Strangely, there does not seem to be a direct relation between price and usage. The US of course has the highest GDP per capita and we tend to be more suburbanized so we commute further. Our oil usage will not drastically change even with a large price increase. The main theory of the article is not supported by the facts the presented.

[The Great Yazoo]

These policies have resulted in Norwegians consuming much less oil per capita than Americans - 1.9 gallons a day versus almost 3 gallons a day in the United States- and low car ownership rates.

Give me a break! Norway home to 4.6 million people, has slightly more people than Alabama living in an area slightly larger than New Mexico. Its economy is less than two percent of ours. It should be not at all surprising or worthy of comment that Norway's per capita gas consumption is two-thirds of ours. Is the NYT so stupid as to not understand the impact of a country's size, population, and economic output on its petroleum use?

[xp38]

Basically just a city state....The US is lagging far behind....time to catch up!!! :)

[Mears]

Read the fine print at the bottom of the chart.

[robertpaulsen]

Socialism is expensive.

Last year alone, oil export revenue surged 19 percent, to $38 billion.

With a GDP of $124 billion, that works out to 30%. Without that, they'd be lost.

[BobL]

" Except that Oslo has toll roads too..."

True, and Italy and France are full of them also.

I'm just making the point that the Republicans and many of the FReepers are accomplishing what the Sierra Club and the Dems could only dream of - that being to stop people from driving.

[meatloaf]

Everyone that suggests we follow the gasoline tax policy of Europe seems to forget two things. We are a country in which many have to drive long distances to work. And we're not a cradle to grave socialist nation.

[yerright]

Right on the mark. Typical NYT "news story" which is really an editorial.

[BobL]

"Everyone that suggests we follow the gasoline tax policy of Europe seems to forget two things. We are a country in which many have to drive long distances to work. And we're not a cradle to grave socialist nation."

While that's true, the people pushing for toll roads are, in effect, doing the same thing here - considering that the gas tax can get just as much accomplished at one tenth of the cost per mile.

[sgtbono2002]

What was it Hillary said: We may have to take your money away from you for the common good? Sounds like she is Norwegian.

[ClaireSolt]

Thank God for foreign oil. I appreciate the standard of living it gives us.

[Blackirish]

I have a friend who works for the CIA and travels a whole lot. He say's Oslow has the best looking chicks.

[CurlyDave]

The government created the Petroleum Fund more than a decade ago as a repository for most of the royalties it receives from oil production. The $165 billion fund, overseen by the central bank, is intended for the day when oil resources in the North Sea start to dry up.

Criticise as much as you want, but compare their $165 Billion, in real money, saved against a rainy day, with our completely fraudulent Social Security "Trust Fund", and think about who is going to have the last laugh.

[jimbergin]

"While that's true, the people pushing for toll roads are, in effect, doing the same thing here - considering that the gas tax can get just as much accomplished at one tenth of the cost per mile."

do you have a source for your claim that a gas tax paid for road only costs 1/10th the cost of a toll road?? I find that hard to believe.

[pjsbro]

"At a pub in Oslo, for instance, a pint of beer might cost the equivalent of $12 and an individual frozen pizza $16."

So beer in Oslo is $96 per gallon and gas is $6 a gallon....

[Turbopilot]

What happened to the descendants of the Vikings to turn them into such scared sheep?

[robertpaulsen]

"Thank God for foreign oil. I appreciate the standard of living it gives us."

Foregin oil gives exporting countries like Norway and those in the Middle East their standard of living.

Democracy and capitalism gives us ours.