Are Americans at all justified in complaining about gas prices? As gas prices continue their rise toward $4 per gallon in the USA, a lot of people are complaining.

However, the USA has the worst fuel efficiency requirements of any first world country. We have half the fuel efficiency requirements of Europe. Our gas also remains cheaper than most other countries, and costs less than half as much as in the UK. Many Americans drive unnecessarily large and inefficient cars, trucks and SUVs. Hybrids still make up less than 2% of car sales in the US.

If we%26#039;re unwilling to take steps to improve our fuel efficiency, yet our gas prices are still far below most other countries, are Americans at all justified in complaining about gas prices?

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2008/04...

Don%26#039;t forget Japan. Their fuel economy standard is almost twice America%26#039;s. Where is LittleRobberGirl? I think she said they pay something like 5.50 in the UK.

YES after all we call this chunk of land United States of America, not f***ing UK Japan or any other name.

Since when did we need justification to complain? Like the Nike slogan - Just do it. :)

no

Supply and demand. Less supply, more demand = higher prices.

When you take out the subsidies that hybrid manufacturers get from governments they are actually quite expensive.

And it just doesn%26#039;t make environmental or economic sense to try to put an expensive dual-powertrain system into less expensive cars which already get good mileage.

If you%26#039;re taking the route that America deserves to pay for higher prices because %26#039;everyone else%26#039; already does then it%26#039;s quite a blame America first attitude that you%26#039;re portraying.

I do think we have the right to complain about the prices just as much as you feel it%26#039;s your right to post a question. (and it is your right, this is America)

Overall I think gas is taxed too high thanks to environmental laws, I think we need to drop our independence on foreign oil but we can%26#039;t thanks to the inability to drill for our own oil, I think we need to build more refineries domestically but we can%26#039;t thanks to environmentalists.

I also think it%26#039;d be wise for more wind farms, but don%26#039;t get me started...

Totally justified in complaining about petroleum products. And if you aren%26#039;t complaining then nothing will ever get done about it.

I don%26#039;t know, you bring up many valid points.The USA needs to raise it%26#039;s fuel efficiency requirements to meet the growing need to lower carbon emissions into our poor defenseless planet. I feel that the USA talks alot about how to fix the problem, but that%26#039;s all we do it talk. We%26#039;re not really making any strides or real efforts whatsoever to improve the situation. And look at it this way, if we took a million dollars from every dang millionaire movie star out there, we%26#039;d have plenty of money to come up with a solution that all said movie stars are always rambling about. Or if we cut out a budget for lobbyists in the White House, that would surely shave off some dollars to explore productive ways to improve our environment. What can I say, I love the USA I love where I%26#039;m from, but I do NOT love how it%26#039;s being run. It isn%26#039;t fair to the American people who want to make a difference and a change that people with the power to do so, do nothing, but talk. You bring up a very interesting conversation.

I would have no problem with the price of gasoline in the United States going up in price if the reason was for higher gasoline taxes that are more properly earmarked for transportation/infrastructure improvements (rather than put into a general fund). If the extra higher prices meant better bridge/tunnel upkeep, road repair, and even better funded alternative transportation methods (rail, commuter light rail/bus/subway service, carsharing, carpool matchup services, etc.) or alternative fuel research, I wouldn%26#039;t mind the upward price changes.

However, most of the upward pricing in the US is just market driven. Higher demand = higher prices. Oil companies are touting record profits over the last few years, with higher stock prices and nice dividend payouts. More Americans are owning more cars and driving more miles on those cars than they did in the past. (Add to that pressures from other developing nations, like China, where citizens are acquiring more cars and therefore using more gasoline too, and demand world-wide for gasoline is going up.)

I do think that it is fair to complain that the price of gasoline is going up to just line the wallets of the oil companies (and their shareholders, which includes many of the complaining Americans thanks to mutual funds in their retirement plans) with no other good coming out of it. However, some of the complaining should go farther to point at the real source - the higher demand for the fuel. If Americans demanded more fuel-efficient cars (such as buying the most fuel-efficient vehicle in whatever class that met their needs), and drove with better fuel efficiency in mind (slow down to the speed limit, no jackrabbit start/stops, no idling, combining trips, better maintenance of their car (such as proper tire inflation and regular filter changes), then there%26#039;d be less demand for the fuel and therefore there would be less upward price pressure.

I had to think about this question for a few days, before I decided on my answer.

Yes, I think Americans are justified about complaining about the price of gas.

America is a young country. America is a HUGE country, compaired to most European nations. Even our individual states are bigger than many of the European countries.