We have attempted to describe how all the costs associated with our profligate importation of petroleum contribute to an actual, per-gallon, "hidden" cost of gasoline of gasoline that is, in fact, higher, far higher, than the posted price at the pump.
In this submission, and in others to follow, we will, as we have earlier, document that fact.
Nearly all of the hidden costs of gasoline evolve, as we have reported, from that fact that we have to import most of our petroleum, and import it from and through unstable, unfriendly countries and regions.
Some excerpts:
"According to the National Defense Council Foundation, the economic penalties of America's oil dependence total $297.2 to $304.9 billion annually. If reflected at the gasoline pump, these “hidden costs” would raise the price of a gallon of gasoline to over $5.28. A fill-up would be over $105."
"Our dependency on oil from countries that are either politically unstable or at odds with the U.S. subjects the American economy to occasional supply disruptions, price hikes, and loss of wealth, which, according to a study commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy, have cost us more than $7 trillion present value dollars over the last 30 years. That is more than the cumulative cost of all of the wars fought by the U.S. since the Revolutionary War. The transfer of wealth to oil-producing countries - $1.16 trillion over the past thirty years - significantly increased our trade deficit. The Department of Energy estimates that each $1 billion of trade deficit costs America 27,000 jobs. Oil imports account for almost one-third of the total U.S. deficit and, hence, are a major contributor to unemployment."
And, an interesting note: You will find that this enclosed report, as do others we will send you, relies on well-aged data. Most of the analyses we have been able to access are ten to twenty years old.