[ExI] EP and Peak oil

[John Winters]

On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 4:19 PM, BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:
>  Gasoline prices are already about three times higher in the UK (mostly
>  due to tax) and our economy is doing just fine, thanks.

Yes, but 1) the UK is much smaller and goods don't have to be
transported as far, and 2) you have highly developed public
transportation.  Other than the northeast corridor and major cities,
the US does not.  Population density is far lower than Europe, making
public transportation and freight transportation more difficult.

>  The price of everything just ratchets upwards.

That's a bit of an understatement don't you think?  The price of gas
at the pump has doubled in five years in the US.  This is a direct
response to a *changing* supply-demand ratio.

> If wages don't keep up,
>  then you'll end up a bit poorer. Then people will buy more economical
>  cars that do more miles per gallon, or just drive less. In the UK the
>  over 60s get free travel on local buses (and trains in the London
>  area).

That transportation in the US needs to be overhauled is indisputable.
How this will happen is yet to be determined.

JW