How Much Are We Really Paying for Gasoline?
Certainly we all know the direct cost we pay for gasoline at the gas station, but what about the taxes and lost economic opportunity price we pay for the economic, environmental, and national security implications of gasoline usage? The studies below attempt to quantify these effects. What is clear is that we pay far more for gasoline outside of the gas station, to the tune of an additional $8 to $12 per gallon above the posted price.
- This study, by the National Defense Council Foundation, does not include environmental effects but does a thorough job of analyzing economic effects and military expenditures on a battalion by battalion basis. The conclusion is an estimated additional $8 than the price noted at the gas station for oil imported from the Middle East. (View the full analysis completed in 2003 here).
- While more dated, this study, by the International Center for Technology Assessment, aims to quantify all possible economic, environmental, and national security effects to arrive at an estimated $4.60 - $14.14 above the posted gasoline price.
- Click here to view expert testimony given to congress on the hidden cost of oil on March 30, 2006.
- This report, prepared by the Oakridge National Laboratory, is a more academic discussion of the economic ramifcations of oil dependency.
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