Real cost of gasoline over $15/gallon

The real cost of gasoline to the US consumer could be as high as $15.14 per gallon, a report by a Washnington-based research organisation has revealed. The average retail price for gasoline in the US is around $1.20 per gallon.


The International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA) report, ‘The Real Price of Gas’, quantifies the indirect costs of using gas in terms of taxes, insurance costs and retail prices in other sectors.

The cost factors associated identified in the study include subsidies for the petroleum industry; tax-funded programmes that subsidise oil production and consumption; the costs of protecting oil supplies; and environmental, health and social costs, including those for global warming.

The study estimates the total subsidies for gas paid by the US taxpayer amount to as much as $1.69 trillion per year.

“The real price of gas has been hidden from the consumer for far too long,” commented ICTA director Andrew Kimbrell. “Some of these costs, including those associated with military actions in the Middle East and with global warming, could skyrocket in the coming years. Once the public understands how much they are really paying for gas, we should see a tremendous increase in political pressure for alternatives.”

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