Something to whet your knifes with
 

I do not agree with the partially polemic tone of the author, but he has some points that are pretty much representative for most of public opinion on things over here.

http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/21/21026/1.html

No diabolic intentions meant :cool:

Re: Something to whet your knifes with
 

You just can't help yourself can ya Skybird?

I propose... ecologic jihad!

And when they found our shadows
Grouped 'round the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then, the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death

ROFL
Some of that was quite astute and amusing ;) won't take it as the last word though...

lol $5 a gallon is still less than what we are paying over here in the UK, quit whining, the last time I checked it was about $7.14 a gallon at the pump here.
And I really like this last bit:
:rotfl: sod you jack I'm alright and looking after me and mine :D

Something to whet your knifes with
 

Americans just don't have the slightest idea what Europeans are paying for gas and energy in general.
However, cheap fuel is not mentioned in the Constitution, so one day that will change...
On the other hand, high gas prices in Europe are caused mostly by taxes and hardly change the behaviour of car drivers. They are accepted as a fact of life.

This is certainly true :) I think it's something like 40% of the cost of the fuel is 'duty', followed by Value Added Tax at 17.5% so all in all two thirds of the price of a litre of petrol/diesel is tax and duty added on by the UK government. This is absurd- but try telling johny-two-jags that. Where does all the money from this and my road tax and the millions of quid cashed in from speed traps go every year? Well I think I know, projects like: the M4 Bus lane! :rock: :rotfl:
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1120542.stm
I think it's a stupid idea and if you look at the pic on the beeb site you can see the bus lane right next to the fast lane of the motorway :o lol classic... :lol:

US Federal, State and local taxes are a large component of the retail price of gasoline. Federal and state taxes (not including county and local taxes) account for approximately 27 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Also, eleven States levy additional State sales and other taxes, some of which are applied to the Federal and State excise taxes. Additional local county and city taxes can have a significant impact on the price of gasoline.

What's the average percentage of taxes per gallon/liter in Europe?

I paid 98.5 pence for a litre of diesel last week. 55litre tank = £54.17 for a full tank, or thereabouts.

Something to whet your knifes with
 

When I was driving the subsim.commers around last week during the Meeting I suddenly had to pay € 97 (about $ 120) for a full tank (but that was after Kethrina & Rita of course)...
Didn't spoil our mood though.
:D

See... this is one of the many reasons I ride a motorcycle. At $2.70/gal, I pay about 7-10 dollars a week for gas and I use the bike to commute and for pleasure in the evenings. I get about 40mpg, and will get about 180-200 miles per tank with a 4.8 gal tank.

I think everyone should convert to 2-wheels.. ;)

I think in the UK at least 60% of the price of a litre of petrol or diesel is tax, maybe more.

You have national health so stop your whining. Try paying for health insurance.

60%? Is that common throughout Europe?

OT.
Sadly the NHS is far from what it was designed to be. If it's not life threatening, some people have waited months or years even- to the detriment of their health - for treatment for things like hip replacements etc. If you can afford it go private, else you'll be in for a long wait, with a good chance of any treatment being postponed or delayed. Even then, my experience of the NHS (with relatives) is that there is such a pressure on bed space that some are encouraged to leave hospital perhaps before they should, to make room fore the next body. This is the kind of thing which seems to get the most attention at the moment- not decent patient care and attention to hospital cleanliness- cheaper is most definitely not better.
It's not all bad, but it's just it's not all that good either when it comes down to it. A percentage of my salary is deducted automatically, as 'national insurance' to pay for the NHS but the chances are I'd get faster, better treatment (if you can afford it ofcourse) by going private. Unfortunately our NHS service is a second rate organisation with second rate funding and management; bloated and inefficeint.

Back to the fuel thingy, I think I'm right in saying the UK has one of the highest (if not the highest) fuel prices in the whole of europe, so our prices are probably the exception, not the rule.

Fuel has two prices, the cost of fuel itself and the artificial cost added in taxes that the government applies to each unit sold. That makes it hard to judge which nation is actually paying more unless you know what percentage of the cost is in taxes.