Gas Guzzlers May be the Lesser of Two Evils
By Ben Meisner
Wednesday, August 10, 2005 04:00 AM
It is fair and well for some people to criticize those who run around the area in a 4X 4 pick up suggesting they in fact should be driving smaller cars.
The problem however is much more complex than what first meets the eye in this region.
It is easy to see why fuel consumption is up; the figures that are generally used, reflect the amount of money being spent on gasoline, not the amount of litres going into the pumps. In addition summer is when the general public takes a holiday. Because traveling abroad has become more tenuous since 9-11 and the more recent London bombings, more people are vacationing at home, and there is a valid argument to be made about consumption.
You can make the figures tell whatever story that you wish. There is however one story that crosses that bridge.
If you bought a 4x4 pick up oh say eight to ten years ago, and you have not logged at lot of miles on it, you can do two things given the price of fuel.
1.) Sell it at a fraction of what you paid for it or
2). trade it in on a new truck or better yet a smaller vehicle with excellent mileage.
Either way you will be digging into your pocket for some more money and in many cases paying interest on that money.
So, many drivers are in a catch 22 . Pay another $ 5 to 7 hundred dollars more a year for fuel or pay $8 to 9 hundred in interest . Most people have been settling for the cheaper way out and the sales reflect that.
So blaming everyone who drivers a pick up as being stupid in the gas issue is not quite in line. If the vehicle is bought and paid for, there is a propensity to not go out and create more debt, and so you see at lot of vehicles running around that are older. In addition there can be that age old problem that you don’t have enough money to make the payment and the old beater will have to do.
Painting everyone with a broad brush simply doesn’t work when it comes to gas prices.
That, is one man's opinion.
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Posted by: Opatcho on August 10 2005 9:59 AM
From my perspective we in rural Canada buy far more gas then those who live in urban Canada and take mass transit. Yet the money all goes into the general coffers and is divvied up disproportionately to the urban areas and usualy to pay for their mass transit.
If you own a farm, drive a logging truck, or enjoy a home in the country then you are subsidizing smart urban people with small cars and mass transit to the tune of .39 cents to every dollar of fuel you buy.
If there was a way to calculate the fuel tax paid in this region and keep it here, we would have 4 lane hiways and time & life saving infrastructure. This in turn would bring in less gas taxes, but would create jobs and wealth.
That is arround $17 million a year from the city of PG alone.