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Cars funny exxon gas station sign, high gas prices

Published on March 3rd, 2011 | by Zachary Shahan

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Funny Exxon Gas Station Sign, but…

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March 3rd, 2011 by Zachary Shahan 

funny exxon gas station sign, high gas prices

The sign above has gotten extremely popular on the internet. It is definitely funny. But it misses some key points, as most news about gas does these days.

I reported on Cleantechnica last July that while the raw price of gas as we see or write it has gone up in recent years, gasoline taxes are relatively low, the lowest they’ve been in decades. Not raising the gas tax causes serious problems for our nation’s infrastructure. I would say it is a key reason why we are so far behind Europe and China in high-speed rail, and it is definitely a reason why municipalities around the nation are struggling to find funds just to maintain their transportation infrastructure.

And there’s one more problem with not raising the gas tax — it is increasing the rate at which we are speeding towards peak oil or falling downhill from it. Transportation is by far the greatest consumer of oil and is rapidly driving the costs of food and other important goods up, as well as the cost of oil-based transportation of course.

We need to realize that oil production has peaked or will very soon peak and delaying progress on other forms of transportation by subsidizing driving is masochistic.

Raising the gas tax would raise the price at the pump even higher, but it would also create funds for investing in highly-needed transportation projects that will lead us into the next generation of transportation.

I know most people flat out aren’t willing to pay more at the pump, but it would help our society in the long-term (and even the not-so-long-term).

And remember, next time you feel like freaking out about the price of gas, the Europeans pay about twice as much for gas as Americans.

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About the Author

spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.


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  • Bilal

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  • Hermancain

    Yea with your thinking about gas taxes you are an idiot-STOP WASTING MONEY on wars that does not involve the USA and there wuld be the money needed for green fuels etc.E+What was you born with a silver spoon-you sure don’t look old rnough to have earned you money-or is the government paying you to spread crap-do not respond cause you make me sick

  • Pingback: 12 Green Groups Push for End to Oil Industry Tax Breaks | ecopolitology

  • Dale

    Of course you’re making the great leap that the money will actually be spent on development of mass transit.  Unlike what has happened in the past, were the funds are usurped for other purposes by politicians or where people have fought against such developments because we don’t want them in our backyard. 

    Having lived in Southern California and Chicago and Europe, I have seen many different takes on this problem.  In Chicago, the elevated rail was built and then people and business moved in around it because it was convenient.

    But in Southern California, for all of their espousing environmentalism, if a high speed rail was being built near the houses of the movie stars you’d hear a mass outcry about the loss of property values.  Plus politicians need to pay off contributors with new projects.  One of the stupidest projects that I saw in LA was the removal of train tracks so a bus route could be built from the subway.  What a waste of money plus a rail system is much faster than the buses.

    In Europe, people just got used to paying higher taxes and the roads were improved (i.e. the Autobahn).

    Increasing taxes does not automatically guarantee that the funds will be used appropriately or wisely.  Maybe a smarter approach would be to give private enterprise the right to enter into these areas (roads, trains, etc), where the profit motive tends to make wiser (albeit not so overboard) decisions.  Why do I need a high speed train to get to work?  My job is 30 miles from my house.  By the time the train got started, it would have to stop.  Sounds pretty but not very practical.  How many people actually live a hundred miles or more from their job?

    The only high speed rail project I have heard of that makes some sense is the LA to Vegas run.  But why should the taxpayers pay for this.  Let those that would benefit pay for it – the casinos and the gamblers.

  • William Hoy

    No, Europeans do not pay twice as much for gas. They pay about the same. The difference is almost entirely taxes, and this leads to the core problem-tax envy on the part of liberals.

    • http://zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan

      William, do people pay for gas before or after taxes?… of course, they pay for it after taxes. so, yes, Europeans pay about twice as much for gas

  • Feargal

    I live in ireland and we pay 1.53 euro a litre. Thats $8.10 a gallon! The US would cry if that’s what ye had to pay! And it will be soon, better get your house in order!

    New cars here are around 45-65 mpg btw

  • Pingback: Koch Industries Makes Billions Corrupting Government – Planetsave.com: climate change and environmental news

  • Len Marshman, Mr.

    High-speed rail is NOT the answer to transportation needs in this country; the U.S. is simply too large, and rail is too costly to make any money without government intervention. Else, why did all of the U.S. railroads jettison passenger rail in the 1960’s? Right now, other than paying for the FAA and airports, if you want to fly from your home to grandma’s in Poughkeepsie, YOU pay for it. With national high-speed rail, I get to pay for your trip, too. Then again, rail, like air, is only a “macro” solution. Unless you and grandma live within a mile or two of the station, how do you get from to and from the depot? The NYC sub-way model does not work for most other defined communities. Then again, if and when petroleum does disappear, no doubt bio-fuels, including the very promising algae-type, will take its place. Finally, how come whenever there’s a political
    up-rising or earthquake in any of the oil-producing regions, it IMMEDIATELY results in higher U.S. fuel prices, even though the argument is, “We get only _% of oil from ______”? Don’t you realize it’s all a big con?

    • http://zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan

      Len, 1) the railroads were run out of town by gov’t support for the automobile, which is still subsidized drastically more than rail; 2) air transport is HEAVILY subsidized by the government — if you had to pay the true cost, you’d never fly anywhere; 3) rail actually brings you in much closer to where people live than planes do, so that argument is also a little backwards; 4) algae biofuels haven’t proven themselves yet. they are promising, but haven’t shown they are THE solution.

  • SAM

    The US has a 200 (two hundred) year supply of natural gas that can be converted to clean, efficient use in personal and commercial vehicles. Of course there is some front end cost for gas stations to make the conversion which would be quickly recovered. Two hundred years from now there will doubtless be alternatives to fuel as well as transportation.

  • Dave G

    All this sounds great in theory, but in practice, higher gas tax ( or any other tax, for that matter ), will only go into the hugh slop trough that congress and the house feed from. Virtually none of it would go to any decent, honorable cause. The Federal Hogs would cry otherwise, but we should know by now better than to believe them!

    • http://zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan

      a gas tax should be directly tied to transportation improvement projects. however, as you seem to hint, with the corrupt Congress we have these days, not much hope of that. but if we want to be realistic about it, what’s the chance they would ever pass a gas tax?

  • http://www.homepowersaver.net Mike at HomePowerSaver

    Thanks for injecting a bit of humor into this serious issue. There are so many easy and painless steps we can take to reduce our gas and oil usage and save money today and position is better for the future.

    Regarding taxes, I completely agree that a small hike makes sense. Our infrastructure needs it if we want to be competitive globally! Improving infrastructure creates jobs and makes society more efficient (i.e. less time commuting, less time in our cars burning gas, etc). Unfortunately the political climate today doesn’t want to consider investments for 5 years from now, much less 10, 20, or 50 years into the future.

    • http://zacharyshahan.com Zachary Shahan

      Thanks, Mike. Yes, the politicians today are not interested in what is better for the country in the not-too-distant future, only in what keeps them in office (most of them)…

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