Both sides of Atlantic angry about oil
SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images It seems that Americans are finally getting the message: Driving’s a financial drag. For the first time in six years, U.S. consumers said they would drive less this past Memorial Day weekend. The U.S. Department of Transportation also reported that March showed the steepest decrease in driving since 1942, when the government ...
SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images
It seems that Americans are finally getting the message: Driving's a financial drag. For the first time in six years, U.S. consumers said they would drive less this past Memorial Day weekend. The U.S. Department of Transportation also reported that March showed the steepest decrease in driving since 1942, when the government first started keeping tabs.
Angry voices are even rising in Europe, where consumers have long paid relatively high prices to fill their tanks.
It seems that Americans are finally getting the message: Driving’s a financial drag. For the first time in six years, U.S. consumers said they would drive less this past Memorial Day weekend. The U.S. Department of Transportation also reported that March showed the steepest decrease in driving since 1942, when the government first started keeping tabs.
Angry voices are even rising in Europe, where consumers have long paid relatively high prices to fill their tanks.
British truck drivers blocked a highway today and are marching to Downing Street to demand a $1.85 discount on diesel that has now hit $9.00 per gallon. The truckers complain that the higher the gas prices, the greater the government’s profits off the taxes. (U.S. consumers pay a flat 18.4 cent federal tax per gallon, but Britain adds about 50 pence onto each liter plus a 17.5 percent VAT on top of the total cost.)
In France, fishing boats blocked ports last week to prevent oil shipments to refineries. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is proposing a tax cut on fuel, though he says the measure should be EU-wide.
All this talk of fuel tax completely misses the point — only an increase in supply will make a difference in the long run. Brazil has the right idea, announcing it will invest $5 billion in deep water fields, ships, and rigs. That’s the kind of government intervention that matters.
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