America needs therapy
georgemw at speakeasy.net
georgemw at speakeasy.net
Mon Oct 1 11:57:18 PDT 2001
On 1 Oct 2001, at 11:05, Eric Murray wrote:
> On Mon, Oct 01, 2001 at 09:55:34AM -0500, Harmon Seaver wrote:
> > Besides which, the true cost of gasoline at the pump would be
> > $10-15 @ gallon without all the gov't subsidies to the oil industry.
> >
> > http://www.icta.org/projects/trans/rlprexsm.htm
>
> The study says $5.60 to $15.14, not $10-15.
>
>
> A quick glance find some glaring errors--
>
> -it completely ignores taxes paid by the oil industry.
>
> -under Environmental Health and social costs they count:
> "noise pollution ($6 to $12 billion), and improper disposal of batteries,
> tires, engine fluids, and junked cars ($4.4 billion) also add to the
> environmental consequences wrought by automobiles."
>
> It's quite a stretch to claim those as costs of oil. We'd have
> significant costs for those kind of items even if we all used electric cars
> or even horse and buggy. Although I suppose that unlike
> a car's engine, when your horse fails, you can eat it.
Not to mention things like "travel delays due to road congestion ($46.5 to
$174.6 billion)," which not only would still exist with electric cars, but
is a cost ALREADY paid by automobile users. To call something like
that a "hidden subsidy of the oil industry" should be enough to get this
"study" rejected by a reesponsible reviewer.
George
>
>
> Eric
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