09/25/2005   English German
  Edition # 56  
San Francisco, 09-25-2005

Rising Gas Prices
Figure [1]: The gasoline prices are skyrocketing.

I don't really need to tell you in Germany about expensive gasoline. But lately, here in our cheap-gasoline country, prices have been skyrocketing to the point where it makes you dizzy. Especially the owners of gas guzzlers are groaning when the gas station attendant laughs in his booth because the fools are already paying with a $50 bill for the third time in a week.

"Right on!" I say, nothing better could have happened. This way, people at least learn that taking the train and riding a bike aren't so foolish. Or the purchase of a "hybrid" vehicle like the Toyota Prius, which runs partly on electricity and partly on gasoline. By the way, a new law has just passed in California, allowing drivers of these environmentally friendly vehicles to pick up a sticker from the DMV in California, which then allows them to use the carpool lane during peak hours (even without a passenger!) for a speedy commute (Rundbrief 07/2001).

In figure 1, you can see that the cheapest type of gasoline currently costs $3.25 per gallon (0.71 euros/liter). For comparison: In Rundbrief 03/2003 you can see that the most expensive back then cost $2.03 (0.44 Euros/liter) and that even then it seemed outrageous to me?

And figure 2 is a short excerpt from the film "Crimes and Misdemeanors" by Woody Allen from 1989, where the price of gasoline was $1 per gallon. Within 15 years, the price of gasoline has tripled. And as far as I'm concerned, it can keep going. I fill up maybe once a month for $20, even though I commute 30 miles each way every day.

Figure [2]: In 1989, the world was still in order: 1 dollar per gallon.
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