Like this sign, it seems that lately, gas prices do cost an arm and a leg.
I thought that gas prices were trending down….yeah, right. Is it ever going to go down? This is what pricing is like this week in the Monterey Bay area, California:
I wondered how American gas prices compared to the rest of the world and found this interesting Bloomberg.com article on Highest and Cheapest Gas Prices by Country (article based on gas prices are from Jan. 3-18, 2013 of select countries with a minimum income of $3.50 a day per person).
It turns out, the top 5 highest price per gallon countries are more than DOUBLE what we pay here in the United States. The top five:
- Turkey – $9.89 per gallon
- Norway $9.63 per gallon (and the only large oil-producing country with high gas cost, as they use oil profits for services to the population, e.g., free college for citizens)
- Netherlands – $9.09 per gallon (it is interesting that the Dutch has the most bicycles per capita in the world)
- Italy – $8.87 per gallon (it cost the same for Italians to fill up their tanks each week as it does to buy a weeks worth of food)
- Portugal – $8.82 per gallon (64% of this price goes towards taxes, which went up over 10 years ago to help protect the environment)
And the 5 countries that pay the least per gallon of gasoline?
- Venezuela – $0.06 per gallon, where according to the article, “the cost of filling up the 39-gallon tank of a Chevrolet Suburban in Venezuela is $2.34, compared with $128.31 in the U.S. and $385.71 in Turkey”.
- Saudi Arabia – $0.45 per gallon
- Kuwait – $0.81 per gallon
- Egypt – $1.14 per gallon
- United Arab Emirates – $1.77 per gallon
So…compared to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia…heck yeah we are paying a lot, but compared to Turkey and Italy, hello(!) gas is cheap here in the U.S.
Then again, from a conservation and climate change standpoint, do you think gasoline should cost even more everywhere so we are forced to conserve our resources for the future and reduce emissions (cars emit greenhouse gasses like carbon dioxide, which contribute to global warming).
Or do we rely that the next source of clean energy for our vehicles and replacement to gasoline is already in place, or around the corner? Or is this transition happening way too slow, or worse, too late?
Interested in seeing how gasoline cost in countries like the Philippines, Canada, the United States and 57 others rank? Click here…
What is the gas pricing like where you live?
I photographed this “fence” this morning during a walk. A fence that is not very helpful in preventing an escape, or a break in…
k Sometimes the only escape you need is actually an escape into the present…
I wanted to know more. What exactly do we grow here that produce such high dollar values?
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It is nearing summer time, and I am thinking of cherries and melons and luscious fruits to enjoy this summer, and places to take our grandchildren like “U-Pick” types of farms. The melons pictured on this post are the 
The boys had a blast and yes, we plan to go again today.
Scoot, scoot, scoot, scoot…
A stick, sunshine,and sand in between your toes…what else do you need for a happy, free spirit day?
At first, my grandchildren try to outrun the waves, but later, give in to to enjoy the water — even though the water in our part o the Pacific ocean is rather cold.
This last photo I took at 
