05-21-2007, 10:14 PM
Quote:One of the first things a European notices in America is how cars are used for short journeys that would be made by foot in his country.I don't buy this at all. Most people I know are perfectly happy to walk places, but it's not like you can walk 5 miles to the store or something as is the case for most people I know...
Quote:We're just too polite to say so. Americans use more energy per head than any other country; more than twice as much as we do here in the UK for example.I would bet that most of the "energy per head" has to do with how industrialized the US is compared to other countries MUCH more than the way that people individually live their private lives. I can't imagine that the fuel efficiency of cars plays into this so much as the widespread use of electronics (think computers), high energy use industries and all of the travel/shipping to move things around such a large country. As such, I question the use of that statistic in the discussion of gas price difference between Europe and the US.
-TheDragoon