Worth Civils compares gasoline’s cost per gallon to that of some other liquids:
In Energy Roundup’s post yesterday on a national gasoline boycott, some readers noted that Americans complain about paying more than $3 a gallon for gasoline, but will gladly pony up a lot more than that for a latte at Starbucks.
“Tomorrow, I recommend that we boycott Starbucks. They are charging outrageous sums of money for coffee drinks — from about $18 to $36 per gallon,” commented one reader, Jeffrey Brown. “It is kind of funny when you think about it. Americans will gladly pay up to $36 per gallon for water, some flavoring, a little sugar and some milk, but they are outraged over paying $3 for one gallon of gasoline that will transport them and three or four other people for up to 50 miles in safety and comfort.”
Some readers disagreed, saying gasoline is more of a necessity than coffee (unless you’re not a morning person). But the astute reader piqued Energy Roundup’s curiosity about just how much other items cost per gallon. That’s where Rob Cockerham and his Web site Cockeyed.com come in.
On a page called “The Price of a Gallon,” Cockeyed ranks 47 products from the least-expensive (tap water, $0 per gallon) to the most-expensive (scorpion venom, $38,858,507.46) and everything in between, including Budweiser ($8.88), Red Bull ($30.69), Tabasco sauce ($94.46), Penicillin ($301.49), human blood ($1,514.79) and Chanel No. 5 perfume ($25,600).
Interestingly, the list emerged from a discussion about gas prices, explains Cockeyed, and was created last June — when unleaded gasoline was $3.05 a gallon — to make a point: “Everyone complains when the price of gasoline goes up, but it remains one of the cheapest liquids available for sale.”
Further Reading: Further complicating the issue, due to temperature fluctuations, a gallon is not always a gallon when it comes to pumping gasoline, according to a recent article in the L.A. Times.
Blogalaxia Tags: USA,Gasolina
