Why We Love High Gasoline Prices

Although we feel a sharp pain shoot up our hip-pocket nerve every time we shell out $70 to fill the tanks of our Telstar Logistics fleet vehicles, it's actually great news that gasoline prices have risen to such vertiginous heights. Here in Northern California, prices have already broken the $4 per gallon mark, and we're giddy at the thought. Bring it on! Remember Hillary and John's pandering plan to temporarily eliminate federal gasoline taxes? Bah! Humbug! We'd rather see a plan to double those taxes, and to do so permanently.

Have we gone mad? Quite the opposite. As firm believers in both the innovative power of the free market system and the immutable laws of supply and demand, Telstar Logistics is convinced that high gasoline prices are a source of pain that will eventually bring us long-term gain. And indeed, an article in yesterday's Financial Times suggests that the high cost of gas is already working its magic.  Check this out:

The US is starting to break its "addiction" to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since 1977.

The country's foreign oil dependency is expected to fall from 60 per cent to 50 per cent in 2015, before rising again slightly to 54 per cent in 2030, according to the head of the Department of Energy's statistical arm.

The net imports of the world's biggest consumer are expected to fall between now and 2030, ending what has been an almost relentless 30-year climb in the use of foreign oil and fall in domestic production.

Mmmmmm.  Those are the kinds of results we like to see.

LINK:
US begins to break foreign oil addiction (Financial Times, May 20, 2008)

(IMAGE: A Union 76 gas station in San Francisco, photographed by Telstar Logistics on May 5, 2008)

Comments

[chromal]

Amen!

[vanderleun]

Those "results' will taste very different to you before, long before, they get to the yummm stage. They may even taste like ash.

[adolfo]

That's dangerous way of life.

No i'm not talking about importing more than half of the petrol you use,

you are not supposed to use electronic devices - such as cameras - on a gas station!

rgrds fm Buenos Aires

[iDevin]

I've been saying this to people for awhile now and they always look at me like I've grown a third eye, or immediately just assume I'm being another smug Prius driver trying to rub it in. While I won't deny that is a part of it (I mean, come on), the main reason I love expensive petrol is that it is doing wonders for the plug in vehicle movement because suddenly more and more people are interested in alternatives and are learning about plug in hybrids and electric cars.

If it weren't for expensive gas, we probably wouldn't be looking forward to the Chevy Volt, the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the Volvo ReCharge, and other exciting vehicles simply because there would be no interest or demand for them. Now if only we could still buy EV1s and RAV4-EVs!

(shameless "plug": if anyone's interested in learning more about or doing more for the advancement of EVs then head over to PlugInAmerica.com)

[Brian Cantoni]

I have to agree with you, even though filling up my GMC Suburban is getting more and more painful.

Hopefully the market (mfg + consumers) will react in a way that benefits us in the long run. Today Ford gave an early warning about changes needed in their vehicle lineup: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080522/ford_cuts.html.

[Soft Cialis]

What is a personal account on effects of high gasoline prices to a family or individual?
In other words, how do high gasoline prices effect you or the average person?