Date:         Sun, 23 Apr 2006 21:49:05 -0600
Reply-To:     Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Joy Hecht <jhecht@ALUM.MIT.EDU>
Subject:      FW: Gas price war / costs of road trips
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Ah, you're probably asking for trouble with these questions about why
Americans drive gas guzzlers!

Here's my opinions on the answers (not in order of importance):

1.  The oil industry has a lot of political clout in this country and keeps
Congress from taking actions (like stricter CAFE standards) to get rid of
gas guzzlers.

2.  Many Americans are convinced that they need a big heavy-duty vehicle to
lug stuff around.  Not just the few who really need them - everyone wants
that option in case they ever need to transport anything.  Many American
families also feel that each of them must own a vehicle big enough to
transport their kids' entire soccer teams at once.  This problem is getting
worse - when I was a kid it was fine for a family with three kids to travel
in a modest sedan - now that would be considered way too small.

3.  Gas has always been much cheaper here than anywhere else, so there's
less economic incentive for fuel-efficient cars.

4.  American values in terms of their homes run to single-family homes
surrounded by as much open space as they can afford.  That means few people
are living in communities where public transit is economically viable, and
everyone has to drive everywhere.  Then they complain about the traffic in
suburban areas.  They are not willing to live in high-density housing and
high-density urban areas where cars are unnecessary.  This is, from my
experience, quite different from Europe, where the cool places to live are
in cities and people don't want to live in the suburbs.

5.  Related to point 4 - housing is greatly subsidized in this country, at
least compared to France (I don't know about elsewhere in Europe).  Mortgage
interest is tax-free (not the case in France) and mortgages are regularly 30
years (as compared with 5-10 in France).  This means Americans can afford
MUCH bigger houses than Europeans (or at least French people).  Which makes
them more likely to live in mini-estates in the suburbs, where they have to
drive all the time.

6.  In the 1950s (I think) the oil industry in this country took an active
role in wiping out public transit to force people into cars.  (I'm not
making that up - it's not just anti-car scuttlebutt!)  This took the form of
buying municipal bus companies and then shutting them down. This helped get
Americans dependent on doing everything in cars, with the housing patterns
that followed.

Unfortunately, the evidence seems to suggest that when Americans get better
gas mileage, they respond by driving more, not by driving the same amount
and saving gas and money.  (I just read an article about this in an
environmental economics journal.)  So the solution may be higher gas prices,
not more efficient vehicles.  Also reducing the housing subsidies that
encourage people to live in big suburban places (that will never happen,
though - people are attached to their housing subsidies, though of course
they benefit the middle class, not the poor who can't afford to buy anyway),
and somehow changing values so that people don't all feel their goal is to
live as far from anyone else as they can afford.

Just my two cents!



Joy



****************************************************************
Joy Hecht
and Matilda, 1989 Burgundy Vanagon

For musings about life and the vanadventures:
http://www.joyhecht.net

****************************************************************:::-----Orig
inal Message-----
:::From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
:::Of Andersen
:::Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 1:48 AM
:::To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
:::Subject: Re: Gas price war / costs of road trips
:::
:::Hi,
:::
:::Being from Europe, one thing we dont understand, is why the US doesnt do
:::something drastic about their gas-guzzlers.
:::
:::We cannot understand the american car, huge, heavy, big engine, guzzling
:::gas.
:::
:::Can someone explain why the market isnt shifting - and why people still
:::buy suburbans, explores, F150/250 etc?
:::
:::I agree, some have the need for such a vehicle, but most americans could
:::do with a Peugot 107?
:::
:::Guess that a move from giant gas-guzlers to mini-cars, would be the
:::biggest environmental benefit the US could do?
:::
:::Happy driVWing
:::
:::Jens Jakob
:::From Denmark, where gas just have crept above 1.95$ - pr. LITER!!!!!!!,