Imagine for a second that oil prices in the USA today were at the same levels as those in Europe, and have been from the start. And yes. That means gasoline for $8 per gallon.
How would the world look like? Would we have a war in Iraq? Would we have a better climate? Would we have less terrorism? Would the US economy be in a better shape?
Chris Pummer, from MarketWatch, says that the increased gas prices in USA should be celebrated.
He also believes that $8-a-gallon gas would do the USA, and the rest of the world good.
But let’s get back to the question I asked first. How would the world look like if USA had similar gas prices as those in Europe?
Well, besides the war in Iraq and terrorism, we don't really have to wait to see how the world could look like. We can see it already.
SUVs and other gas-guzzling cars have dropped enormous in sales, as well as in value, lately. It's like they have been put on the endangered species list.
Americans are already now leaving their cars at home in favour of public transportation or car-pools.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently released their March 2008 report and it shows a massive decline in driving. In contrast to the trend the past 25 years the 4.4% drop sure says a lot.
Let's hope that the gas prices keeps increasing but also that our politicians helps to ease the pain that comes "before the gain" with smart and long lasted solutions (and not short-sighted and stupid ones).
Image credit: Futureatlas.com. Image licensed under a
Creative-Commons Attribution license.
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