Well, thanks to a very astute reader (Thanks, Harvey), I am making a correction on yesterday's blog post where I said that we pay $5.70 a gallon for gas here. That should have been €5.70, which works out to be around $7.90 a gallon (€1.40 per litre).
So, if that original figure was sticker shock, now I am in a coma!
But I really shouldn't be because gas (petrol) around the world can be found for higher prices than in the U.S. It's just that Americans are not used to having to pay such huge prices.
Here, in Germany fuel taxes are €0.4704 per litre for ultra-low sulphur Diesel and €0.6545 per litre for conventional unleaded petrol, plus Value Added Tax (19%) on the fuel itself and the Fuel Tax. That adds up to prices of €1.03 per litre for ultra-low sulphur Diesel and €1.22 per litre (approximately USD 6.28 per US gallon) for unleaded petrol ( Wiki, March 2009).
So, folks, as we dig deeper and deeper into our pockets, I guess the moral to this story is that it can always get worse.
So, folks, as we dig deeper and deeper into our pockets, I guess the moral to this story is that it can always get worse.
6 comments:
I always gasp when we fill our tank (also diesel, because that's the only thing that makes sense here), but I am morally and ethically in favor of increasing taxes on gas and subsidizing public transportation, as most (all?) of Europe does. I hope fervently that the US does the same instead of allowing obscene and windfall profits to accrue to oil producers and middlemen.
You ask what people do when fuel costs a lot (as it really does not in the US). Well, they move closer to their jobs. Have smaller houses (to heat). Use ceiling fans. Put solar on their roofs. Buy a monthly train pass and live on a line.
They change their profligate fuel using ways. And that should be a societal goal, no?
Again the Sbahn is looking good now! I agree use your car for extend trips but other than that the convenience is right outside your door!
G in Berlin, I hear you! I looked up what the U.S. does with the tax monies and this is what "they" said: In the United States, the fuel tax receipts are often dedicated or hypothecated to transportation projects so that the fuel tax is considered by many a user fee. In other countries, the fuel tax is a source of general revenue.
Europe is fortunate to have excellent public transpiration that many take advantage of and appreciate. Bicycles are used here because distances are much closer compared to the U.S. I think Americans are going to have to go back to neighborhood mom and pop stores to encourage people to stop using so much fuel. I too cannot condone our excessive use of fossil fuels.
Frau, you must be clairvoyant. We are moving next month to another suburb of Munich where the U-Bahn is literally outside of our back garden! Can't wait. The Marienplatz will be 10 minutes away!
Hopefully, for any truly longer trips you can still drive into down and hitch a trip on the marienplatz anyway. I think you'll love living at the new digs...it sounds fabulous and relaxing!!
Unfortunately, when one "hypothecates" the tax, or a portion thereof, it seems to be to subsidize highway maintenance. Not public transportation. The plot of Roger Rabbit really is based on a true story- the destruction of public transport by the nascent car industry. And so it has gone ever since.
I love my U- and 10 minutes to Marienplatz is just fabulous!
I wondered about that price when I saw it...when we lived in the UK and the dollar was high at one point we paid over $9/gallon. Fortunately there is public transportation! You can drive when you want to get out of the city : )
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