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October 02, 2005
Is this the case? Or is it more wishful thinking about the political fallout of the skyrocketing cost of filling the petrol tanks of our cars?
Matt Golding
Not really. It is a great image, but it is widely accepted that the Howard Government can do little in the face of global demand. And the ACCC has little concern about price gouging by the big oil companies.
The Government can do something about biofuels though. We consumers will buy smaller cars, change our domestic holiday destinations and increase our use of public transport.
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Approximately 33% of the petrol price at the pump is government taxes. The biggest polluter in Au is stationary energy through its use of coal. I cannot find any taxes on coal consumption.
Capitalism makes the scarce abundant through commodification. Oil is going to be cheap for a long time yet. Even governments taxing petrol heavily has not changed that fact. We still use combustion engines.
It will have to be a disruptive technology that weens us off oil.