Gas Money
August 28, 2005 8:19 AM Subscribe
Gas Money (mp3) Time for somebody to remake this novelty surf/car tune into a top 40 hit again.. ?
JAN & ARNIE'S rocker from 1958.
A perennial favorite covered by goofball/ garage bands like
the Rip Chords, the Skeletons (a.k.a the Morrells), Cousin Al and the Relatives, and the Inner City Unit Above. ... to commemorate the new Gas Crisis. It must suck to be a Hummer Owner. ... unless it's the "Hydrogen Hummer". More covers of the song listed here.
I work for the software company that runs Gastips.com here in Canada. I'm not really trying to self-promote (the site itself costs us more money to keep going than it brings in in advertising, so by posting it here I'm doing my workload no favours), I just want to explain what we see here in Canada about the price of gas.
First and foremost, fully a third of the gas price is in taxes (federal, provincial and municipal). The federal government even applies "tax-on-tax" (Goods & Services Tax applied to the fuel taxes already present), which is technically against the law. No one has gotten up to fight against that however, and while the federal government is about to run the largest surplus ever in the history of the country, our Prime Minister is refusing to change the way this operates.
Second, the difference between the U.S. and Canada for gas prices is glaring.Currently in the Vancouver area we're paying approximately $1.10Ca/litre for gas. That works out to the equivalent of $3.47US/gallon. At the same time, our (mostly American owned) oil and gas companies are selling our resources to the U.S. If it was all about making a profit, they'd be selling it all here, since we pay more. However, strangely enough, we actually import oil and gas since these companies don't produce enough on a constant basis to supply all of Canada's needs. There's something fishy going on.
Third, while Europe and elsewhere whine that we don't have anything to complain about since they are paying $6.00/gallon or more for gas, that really is about supply, demand, and the cost of transport. Most of the oil and gas used in Europe comes from elsewhere in the world, meaning transport costs have to be worked into the equation to a much greater degree than the U.S./Canada situation. Quite simply, it costs more to truck the oil from Venezuela to London than it does to truck it from Calgary to Los Angeles. As well, I'd really like to see how much of that $6.00 is tax in these socialist democracies.
Anyway, the point is that the U.S. really is paying an artificially low gas price but that the gas prices elsewhere have 'good' reasons why they are so high. Hearing Americans complain about the high cost to fill up their SUVs makes me cringe as I watch the SmartCars roll on by on Vancouver streets.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:29 AM on August 28, 2005
First and foremost, fully a third of the gas price is in taxes (federal, provincial and municipal). The federal government even applies "tax-on-tax" (Goods & Services Tax applied to the fuel taxes already present), which is technically against the law. No one has gotten up to fight against that however, and while the federal government is about to run the largest surplus ever in the history of the country, our Prime Minister is refusing to change the way this operates.
Second, the difference between the U.S. and Canada for gas prices is glaring.Currently in the Vancouver area we're paying approximately $1.10Ca/litre for gas. That works out to the equivalent of $3.47US/gallon. At the same time, our (mostly American owned) oil and gas companies are selling our resources to the U.S. If it was all about making a profit, they'd be selling it all here, since we pay more. However, strangely enough, we actually import oil and gas since these companies don't produce enough on a constant basis to supply all of Canada's needs. There's something fishy going on.
Third, while Europe and elsewhere whine that we don't have anything to complain about since they are paying $6.00/gallon or more for gas, that really is about supply, demand, and the cost of transport. Most of the oil and gas used in Europe comes from elsewhere in the world, meaning transport costs have to be worked into the equation to a much greater degree than the U.S./Canada situation. Quite simply, it costs more to truck the oil from Venezuela to London than it does to truck it from Calgary to Los Angeles. As well, I'd really like to see how much of that $6.00 is tax in these socialist democracies.
Anyway, the point is that the U.S. really is paying an artificially low gas price but that the gas prices elsewhere have 'good' reasons why they are so high. Hearing Americans complain about the high cost to fill up their SUVs makes me cringe as I watch the SmartCars roll on by on Vancouver streets.
posted by Kickstart70 at 9:29 AM on August 28, 2005
Kickstart70, the UK has access to some huge oil fields locally: North Sea Oil. Norway is positively rolling in oil, and it has fairly high prices.
Oh, and hydrogen's a joke. I'd recommend J J Romm's The Hype About Hydrogen for anyone who cares to learn. I hear it's coming out in a waterproof board-book form, especially for Arnie.
posted by scruss at 9:51 AM on August 28, 2005
Oh, and hydrogen's a joke. I'd recommend J J Romm's The Hype About Hydrogen for anyone who cares to learn. I hear it's coming out in a waterproof board-book form, especially for Arnie.
posted by scruss at 9:51 AM on August 28, 2005
Getting back to the music, I heartily recommend the Kinks' "A Gallon of Gas" as a song that should be revived.
posted by Ber at 4:23 AM on August 29, 2005
posted by Ber at 4:23 AM on August 29, 2005
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posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:11 AM on August 28, 2005