For all of you on the south side of the border...gas in Montreal hit a new high of $1.39/L which (considering the dollar for dollar exchange and 3.78L/gal) $5.25/gal...welcome to Canada where we allow our own oil to be pumped, processed and sold to us like it was getting shipped from the other side of the world...
For perspective on this, I have a colleage from Venezuela...his mom just bought a bit 3/4ton extended cab pickup for the farm. It costs a whoppin' $5 to fill...about $0.04/L or $0.15/gal.
I'm afraid as long as we live on the continent with the biggest oil addiction we're going to pay out the nose for the ol' black gold.
The only times that oil has significantly dropped in price was when electric cars were considered a viable option. They still are but this is a well hidden and opposed option. Hopefully as more of the big automakers keep up their efforts in developing mass producable options (i.e. hybrids...which will lead to more plug in hybrids...) we'll see one of two things:
- A drop in price to make these new technologies uneconomical...just like has happened before.
- A real drop in price because of the dropping demand.
I don't have much faith in #1 as the motivating forces for a cleaner environement, whether it be conscience, fear or politics, are not something that will go away anytime soon. In the 90's this drive came from governmental policy...now it'll be consumer driven policy but only once consumers decide it's time to make a choice. A drop in gas prices will be easier on wallets but I [like to] think people have started to wrap their heads around the concept of burning less fuel. Am I naive?
#2, unfortunately, won't ever happen by my opinion. The purchase of smaller, more efficient vehicles by 3/4 of the commuters on the road will simply bring lower fuel prices, making it easier for certain people to continue driving bigger ones...and the average consumption stays about the same.
I heard on the news that, here in quebec, they're contemplating a significant cut in personal income tax and make up the difference in tax revenue with additional fuel tax. This way the consumer pays. EXACTLY the kind of thing to make people think more about car pooling, public transit and clean alternatives! Could be a great success and a good example to other governments as long as public transit networks get significant improvements and these additional taxes are only applicable where public transit is available.
