Reply #22: Europe handles it because: [View All]

[Tesha]

> I know they're way higher in Europe, but I'm not sure how they handle it.

Europe handles it because:

1. Their high price is, in large part, a conscious decision to impose taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel. So a lot of the money spent at the pump gets turned back into social investments.

2. Most places in Europe have highly-developed mass-transit systems that work fairly well (and work "remarkably well" by 'Murcan standards). These transit systems are subsidized by those fuel taxes we just discussed.

3. Most Europeans don't see their cars as extensions of their dicks, so they're not dick-headed enough to go buy a 12 MPG SUV just so they can sit alone in traffic on the Autostradde. Fuel prices don't sting quite as much when you're driving a 50 MPG turb-diesel Jetta or Citroen.

4. Most Europeans don't have a daily commute that is nearly as long as all the Americans who accepted "White Flight to gated suburbs" as the answer to all of our urban problems.

5. Europeans also seem to know how to walk and ride bicycles and even motor scooters, all much more fuel-efficient ways of getting around town than an SUV with one person in it.

Tesha