I came across this this morning. http://toccionline.kizash.com/films/1001/178/ It's funny because it's true! Apologies if this has already been posted. I searched, but didn't see it.
Heh not bad. But how is it we've been able to afford paying three times as much for fuel as those in the US for years? It's a serious case of taking what we have for granted. Everyone knows that fuel is going to get more and more expensive as the supplies get smaller and smaller.
Supplies will last for another 80 years at least! The oil companies lower this figure on purpose to increase prices! There is one thing that is odd, in the US most of the oil for the US is actually imported, why not actually use the oil the US has in the gulf of Mexico and Alaska? Wouldn't that lower prices because of lower shipping costs?
It depends who you ask but some organisations such as the United States Geological Survey estimate we'll have supplies to last us 50-100 years. Other organisations put it at more like 40 years. In any case once the peak oil production level has been reached prices will continually rise as supply dwindles. Some people have predicted that this peak will occur in 2007 and others 2037. Anyway the point is that fuel is something we do take for granted. We'll have to pay for it through the nose sooner or later so why not find ways to reduce consumption like using efficient cars or buying a bike. Also the reason the US imports most of its oil is that it only produces 3% of the world's supply and I'm not certain but I'm pretty sure that it consumes quite a bit more than 3% of the world's supply.
It's not that people here can't afford it. The problem is that at this time last year, prices were under $2.00/gallon and now they are creeping up to $4.00 and two years ago I was paying $1.50/gallon.. It's not the cost of the gas, it's that it's risen so much so quickly. Also keep in mind that this is a large nation which relies on trucking to haul murchendise, groceries and other "stuff". With gas & diesel prices soaring, the cost to ship all that rises significantly which means that retail costs will also rise. Actually, ecologists say that Alaska has the 2nd largest and the Gulf has the 3rd largest deposits of crude in the world behind the Mid East. If we could tap those resources, the US could be a major exporter of crude and still have enough for consumption. The reason that those fields aren't tapped is the same reason that there are very few refineries in the US: liberal enviornmentalists. According to the enviornmentalists, if we drill in Alaska or more in the Gulf, we will damage the eco-system eventhough all the studies prove otherwise. In fact, the people and government of Alaska WANT to drill up there. It will create thousands of jobs and bring in a huge revenue stream for them. About 24%
They can probably make more money exporting it than they could by selling it locally. The reason you guys can afford it easier across the pond it because the majority of the population doesn't drive Three story tall, 1Mpg gass guzzling super polluting SUVs. I really don't understand the appeal of driving one of those. They are hard to park, bad on gas, and in my opinion, ugly as sin. Of course, you'd probably get some major air if you had a head-on collision with one of those small compact cars
