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$20 per Gallon
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$20 per Gallon

How the Inevitable Rise in the Price of Gasoline Will Change Our Lives for the Better

Christopher Steiner
Grand Central, 2009
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Eye Opening

Recommendation

For decades, Americans reveled in cheap gasoline, becoming addicted to the easy life of readily available, relatively inexpensive fuel – but those days are rapidly coming to an end. To explain the impact of rising gas costs, Forbes magazine reporter Christopher Steiner explains how higher gasoline prices will affect American society. Steiner cleverly organizes his chapters according to gas prices, starting at $6 per gallon and rising to $20 per gallon. In the process, he uncovers compelling evidence about the shock such fuel price increases will cause. He bases his conclusions on impressive research about the future of US energy consumption. getAbstract finds this book compelling reading for anyone who is paying attention to America’s energy future – or who is gradually becoming aware that such attention is long overdue.

Summary

How Oil Holds the US Captive

Oil and its main derivative product, gasoline, are essential to modern American life. The US imports two-thirds of all the oil it consumes but uses less than half of that imported oil to fuel vehicles. Manufacturers transform the rest into everyday products – everything from plastics, countertops and cosmetics to building materials, glues and roadways. These products and more depend on the availability and cost of oil. But the reality is that oil prices will continue to rise, and that fact will change the way people worldwide produce and deliver goods and services. Over the past few decades, the US has enjoyed “the cheapest oil in history,” but American society will undergo a significant transformation as gas prices move to $20 per gallon and beyond.

Price increases are inevitable because oil demand is growing globally while oil supplies are becoming more difficult to find and more expensive to extract. Oil demand decreased in 2008 and 2009, but that was only a temporary dip; the longer trend is for an emerging “global middle class” to drive more cars, consume more commodities, and thus need more and more oil.

The oil exploration...

About the Author

Christopher Steiner, a civil engineer, writes for Forbes magazine.

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