Gas

Surprise!!! Here's something that hasn't been talked about lately. This week's posts will cover current events.

People think they have it bad in the US. Gas here reached the $1.08 per liter mark ($3.40 US per gallon). CNN has been reporting that the national US average is $2.40, so it is about 40% more up here. At first I thought it was because the US subsidised their gas, but now I think it is also because there is more tax on gas here.

It has an interesting effect. People seem to be more conscious about the gas mileage of their cars. Walking down the street this morning, I noticed that probably 80%-90% of the cars were one of the two smallest cars of any car manufacturer (Echo, Civic, Mazda 3, Focus, Jetta, etc.) There are many economy cars on the road and not many SUV's even though SUV's would be better at tackling the winters. Though the larger cars in the US may be due to the fascination with bigger and wider. It has also been suggested to me that Quebecers are very conservative spenders. I guess the US would be also if they were taxed close to 50%. The smaller cars may also be some of that European influence again.