On 1 Oct 2001, at 11:05, Eric Murray wrote: > On Mon, Oct 01, 2001 at 09:55:34AM -0500, Harmon Seaver wrote: > > Besides which, the true cost of gasoline at the pump would be > > $10-15 @ gallon without all the gov't subsidies to the oil industry. > > > > http://www.icta.org/projects/trans/rlprexsm.htm > > The study says $5.60 to $15.14, not $10-15. > > > A quick glance find some glaring errors-- > > -it completely ignores taxes paid by the oil industry. > > -under Environmental Health and social costs they count: > "noise pollution ($6 to $12 billion), and improper disposal of batteries, > tires, engine fluids, and junked cars ($4.4 billion) also add to the > environmental consequences wrought by automobiles." > > It's quite a stretch to claim those as costs of oil. We'd have > significant costs for those kind of items even if we all used electric cars > or even horse and buggy. Although I suppose that unlike > a car's engine, when your horse fails, you can eat it.
Not to mention things like "travel delays due to road congestion ($46.5 to $174.6 billion)," which not only would still exist with electric cars, but is a cost ALREADY paid by automobile users. To call something like that a "hidden subsidy of the oil industry" should be enough to get this "study" rejected by a reesponsible reviewer. George > > > Eric
