The Crude Truth

[marmar]

from Grist:



By David Roberts
13 Mar 2012 2:19 PM


About a year ago, when the last episode of Gas Price Mania was gearing up, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) gave an extraordinary speech on the floor of the Senate. He explained that the price of gasoline is tied to the price of oil, the price of oil is tied to events outside America’s control, and the only way to reduce vulnerability to gasoline and oil prices is to use less gasoline and oil. It’s a simple truth, rarely spoken among national politicians.

Last week, Bingaman did it again, using handy charts blown up on poster board. First, he explained that the U.S. has very little control over oil and gasoline prices:

Let me state this as clearly as I can — what I believe is really without dispute among experts. That is, we do not face cycles of high gasoline prices in the United States because of a lack of domestic production. We do not face these cycles of high gasoline prices because of lack of access to federal resources, or because of some environmental regulation that is getting in the way of us obtaining cheap gasoline.

As was made clear in a hearing we had in the Senate Energy Committee in January, the prices that we are paying for oil and the products refined from oil, such as gasoline, are set on the world market. They are relatively insensitive to what happens here in the United States with regards to production. Instead, the world price of oil and our gasoline prices are affected more by events beyond our control, such as instability in Libya last year or instability in Iran and concerns about oil supply in Iran this year.

Second, the price of gasoline fluctuates with the price of oil, across all countries:



(Side note: as the chart shows, U.S. gas prices are actually extremely low by developed world standards; we pay fewer taxes on gas.) ..............................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://grist.org/energy-policy/the-only-solution-to-high-gas-prices-with-charts/

[northoftheborder]

1. Good info and graph.

[taterguy]

2. Man, those Netherlanders are getting screwed

Guess they're too stoned to complain about it.

[SomethingFishy]

3. Great public transportation, lots of bikes

any cars you see are small. As are the distances they travel. They don't complain because they use way less gas than we do.

[marmar]

4. Unless you live in a remote town (and that's difficult in a country that small in area).....

...... a car is an unnecessary headache in the Netherlands. The national train network is superb and cheap, the city transit in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht et all is excellent, and bikes are de rigueur.

[taterguy]

5. If the Netherlands is so small . . .

Why does it have a bridge that was too far?

Did you watch the movie?

It took the Allies FOREVER to get to Arnhem.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. they had to walk

[taterguy]

7. They were in tanks

Did you even watch the movie?

[Motown_Johnny]

8. Not all were in tanks, many were paratroopers

who were trying to secure the bridges for the tanks.

Yes, I have watched the movie, but not lately.