Ecoscraps

2 Comments

1. 1

   Sam t said on May 13th, 2008 at 5:45 am

   Wow… that is so very different from the way we have it in Sweden.
   If you were to do a similar picture for the prices of gasoline here, you would have to switch places on the Crude Oil column and Taxes.
   Not only do we pay VAT on every litre, we also pay environmental/carbon-dioxide taxes on the Gasoline+VAT price.

   After the recent rises in oil-prices, 1 gallon (~3.8litre) costs 52.44 SEK. I USD that would be around $8.7. The diesel this morning climbed towards $9.1.

   No wonder BioFuel- and small cars are selling like butter nowadays.

2. 2

   Timothy B. Hurst said on May 13th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

   Sam-

   Thanks for your comment. Yeah, Americans do not pay all that much in federal gasoline taxes compared to most European countries – I honestly that paying substantially more at the pump would spark technological innovation, increase interest and demand for public participation, encourage carpooling, promote livable communities, etc. Too often, an increase in gas prices is framed as something bad, as opposed to being framed as an opportunity.

   And just imagine- there are some political leaders who suggest suspending the gasoline tax for the summer will somehow spark an economic recovery (with no mention of the environmental implications of such a plan).

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