True Cost of U.S. Gasoline is $15.14 per Gallon, Report Says - Fuelly Forums

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Old 07-15-2007, 02:33 PM   #1
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True Cost of U.S. Gasoline is $15.14 per Gallon, Report Says

Might be bunk or hype... but I bet there is something to it.
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True Cost of U.S. Gasoline is $15.14 per Gallon, Report Says

by Tom Doggett & edited by The Progress Report staff
So you think you're getting a good deal on a tank of gasoline these days? You wouldn't think so if all the oil industry tax subsidies received from the federal and state governments and other costs that went into producing that gallon of gasoline were included in the pump price.
Such external costs push the true price of gasoline as high as $15.14 a gallon, according to a new report released by the International Centre for Technology Assessment.

"In reality, the external costs of using our cars are much higher than we may realize," the Washington-based research group said in its report.


Publisher's note -- for a deeper look at this, see Clifford W. Cobb's article here.
The report examined more than 40 separate cost factors, the group said, that are associated with gasoline production but aren't reflected by the price of gasoline at the pump.
These external costs total up to $1.69 trillion per year, according to the report.

The group points out that the federal government provides the oil industry with tax breaks and massive corporate welfare handouts, so gasoline is artificially cheap for American consumers.

The Department of Energy is forecasting that the national price for regular unleaded gasoline will average $1.02 during the current quarter, which, when adjusted for inflation, is the lowest price on record for any three-month period.

Artificial, anti-free-market subsidies don't end at the federal level, as the group said most state income taxes are in turn based on oil firms' lower federal tax bills, which result in companies paying $123 million to $323 million less in state taxes.

In addition to tax breaks, the federal government provides up to $114.6 billion to the wealthy industry in giveaways and subsidies annually that support the extraction, production and use of petroleum, such as research and development and export financing.

The federal government also spends up to $1.6 billion yearly on regulatory oversight, pollution cleanup and liability costs connected to the oil industry, the group said.

In addition, U.S. military spending allocated to guard the world's petroleum resources totals $55 billion to $96 billion a year, according to the group.

http://www.progress.org/gasoline.htm
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Old 07-15-2007, 03:42 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by theclencher View Post
Might be bunk or hype... but I bet there is something to it.

True Cost of U.S. Gasoline is $15.14 per Gallon, Report Says


The Department of Energy is forecasting that the national price for regular unleaded gasoline will average $1.02 during the current quarter, which, when adjusted for inflation, is the lowest price on record for any three-month period.

You know it is Not bunk

$15 sounds about right

Now where is gas selling for a 'buck-o-two' ?
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Old 07-15-2007, 08:29 PM   #3
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Hello -

I've been waiting for someone to post this :

Quote:
In addition, U.S. military spending allocated to guard the world's petroleum resources totals $55 billion to $96 billion a year, according to the group.
I had heard that it was at least in the $10 range.

At any rate, I agree that a gallon of gas is heavily subsidized.

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Old 07-15-2007, 09:23 PM   #4
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theclencher -

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Originally Posted by theclencher View Post
Well that throws the E85 critics a curve don't it.
Arghhhhh!!!!!! But I'm an E85 skeptic too! What will I do? Does this mean I have to give up corn chips?!?!?!?!? Are potatoes used in E85? Does this mean I have to eat Ruffles with my salsa instead?

Can't ... keep ... logical paradox ... in head at same time ... BRAIN ............... EXPLODING!!!!!!!!!!!

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Old 07-16-2007, 04:55 AM   #5
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Well that throws the E85 critics a curve don't it.
I thought that one of the criticisms of E85 was that so much fossil fuel was consumed in order to grow-fertilize-harvest-ferment-distill-transport it. If so, then higher prices for petroleum products would have a large impact on the price of E85. I think that was part of the critics' logic, anyway.
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Old 07-16-2007, 04:40 PM   #6
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Gasoline in 2007 really costs between $9.90 and $24.21

Quote:
Originally Posted by theclencher View Post
Might be bunk or hype... but I bet there is something to it.
************************************************** *****

True Cost of U.S. Gasoline is $15.14 per Gallon, Report Says

by Tom Doggett & edited by The Progress Report staff
So you think you're getting a good deal on a tank of gasoline these days? You wouldn't think so if all the oil industry tax subsidies received from the federal and state governments and other costs that went into producing that gallon of gasoline were included in the pump price.
Such external costs push the true price of gasoline as high as $15.14 a gallon, according to a new report released by the International Centre for Technology Assessment.
The progress report page ignorantly omits any date. I don't even know who the progress report is, but they do the referenced ICTA report a disservice by not linking to it, nor citing the date of the original publication. What they refer to as "new" is in fact from 1998.
I think they mean this one: (PDF warning) The Real Price of Gasoline which says:
Quote:
This CTA report finds that Americans pay between $4.60 and $14.14 per gallon of gasoline in "external" costs not reflected in the price at the pump
Anyway, the real article is actually very interesting, though dated. I wish ICTA would publish an update. That said, it was written when gas was ~$2/gal. (edit: That makes the cost/g at the time between around $6.60 and $16.14.) So, if costs have stayed proportional (and I think they're actually worse now), then I'd multiply by atleast 1.5 to give me a minimum per-gallon "external" cost range today of between $6.90 and $21.21.

So gas then costs between $9.90 and $24.21 including the cost at the pump. Am I missing something?
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Old 07-16-2007, 05:32 PM   #7
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The external costs might not be scalable. No matter what, there is a giant pile of hidden costs in every gallon.
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Old 07-16-2007, 05:47 PM   #8
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Silveredwings -

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silveredwings View Post
The progress report page ignorantly omits any date. I don't even know who the progress report is, but they do the referenced ICTA report a disservice by not linking to it, nor citing the date of the original publication. What they refer to as "new" is in fact from 1998.
I think they mean this one: (PDF warning) The Real Price of Gasoline which says:

Anyway, the real article is actually very interesting, though dated. I wish ICTA would publish an update. That said, it was written when gas was ~$2/gal. (edit: That makes the cost/g at the time between around $6.60 and $16.14.) So, if costs have stayed proportional (and I think they're actually worse now), then I'd multiply by atleast 1.5 to give me a minimum per-gallon "external" cost range today of between $6.90 and $21.21.

So gas then costs between $9.90 and $24.21 including the cost at the pump. Am I missing something?
I went and looked at the PDF. The low to high estimate is a summation of individual low/high estimates. It would be nice if there was a table in the PDF to show the category breakdown. Then it would be easy to talk about each estimate. For instance, it is obvious that the military subsidy has to be revised.

In the Endnotes there are many references to GreenPeace and www.foe.org (Friends of the Earth) as sources of information. For me, Greenpeace is an honest source, but I know that other GasSavers will disagree.

Here is info from the foreword :

Quote:
CTA gratefully acknowledges the contributions of many individuals, organizations, and government entities which assisted in the production of this report. In particular, CTA would like to thank Henry Griggs (Communications Consortium), John A. Harris, Doug Howell (Environmental and Energy Study Institute), Roland Hwang (Union of Concerned Scientists), Todd Litman (Victoria Transport Policy Institute), and Ann Mesnikoff (Sierra Club). CTA offers special thanks to The Changing Horizons Charitable Trust for funding this project.
The CTA was formed in 1994 in order to assist the general public and policy makers in better understanding how technology affects society. The CTA is devoted to fully exploring the economic, ethical, social, environmental, and political impacts of technology or technological systems. Using this holistic form of analysis, the CTA provides the public with independent, timely, and comprehensive information about the potential impacts of technology. The CTA is also committed to initiating appropriate legal, grassroots, public education, and legislative responses relevant to its assessment findings.
The Center is a 501(c)3, non-profit corporation. For more information, contact CTA.
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Old 08-01-2007, 10:30 AM   #9
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So what you are trying to say here is... the more gas I burn, the bigger my "tax rebate?" Heh heh....

Because you know that if they ended the kickbacks and all and charged what this article claims is the true price of gasoline, that they wouldn't reduce or tax bill by a penny. We'd just be paying more for gasoline.
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