Pain at the Pump
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 16 March 2022
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Spurred by post-pandemic demand and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, gas prices surged past $4 per gallon last week and Americans are suddenly freaking out about "pain at the pump." What a big surprise, right? Not really! In this episode, Slate's Henry Grabar joins us to argue that when it comes to the inherent instability in the global oil market, Americans have the memory of goldfish, locked in a ruinous cycle of dependence on fossil fuels and the authoritarian oligarchs who sell them to us. Have we become a nation whose domestic politics and foreign policy are held hostage to its SUVs?
This episode is sponsored by Radpower Bikes and Cleverhood. Receive 20% off in the Cleverhood store using the new coupon code announced in this episode.
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LINKS:
"Are Gas Prices Too High? Or Is Your Car Too Big?" By Henry Grabar for Slate.
President Richard Nixon to Americans: Drive 55 to save gas. Henry Grabar for Slate.
Gas prices are way up, but the real cost of driving a mile was higher for most of the past century. (MarketWatch)
Russian Fossil Fuel Tracker: Payments to Russia for fossil fuels by European Union nations since the start of Russia's Ukraine war.
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This episode was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. It was produced and edited by Doug. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo was designed by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the war on cars. I'm Doug Gordon and I am here with my co-host Sarah |
| 0:17.2 | Sarah Goodyear and Aaron Napa-Step. Hey what's up? Hey there. On this episode, |
| 0:21.8 | Payne at the pump. |
| 0:23.0 | As we record this, the average price of gas in the United States is $4.32 a gallon, |
| 0:30.0 | according to AAA. |
| 0:32.0 | And that means, of course, that cable... and that |
| 0:35.0 | the cable news is freaking out and some urbanist so-called or feeling |
| 0:41.0 | pretty smug about riding the bus or riding a bike. |
| 0:45.0 | Well I mean Coca-Cola is $8.20 a gallon right now. |
| 0:50.0 | At least the syrup according to this chart. So gas is a bargain. But people who are |
| 0:57.3 | trapped by car dependence, which is basically pretty much everyone who lives in the |
| 1:02.1 | United States of America, are feeling the pain in their |
| 1:05.3 | wallets and all of this has become a you know a fun political football. |
| 1:10.9 | Red Bull Energy Drink $30 a gallon. |
| 1:14.0 | Jamba Juice 2182. |
| 1:18.0 | So what you're saying is we should advise people to fill up their range rovers with Jambajus. |
| 1:23.0 | Definitely. |
| 1:24.0 | That's what the urban elites would advise. |
| 1:26.0 | Yes. |
| 1:27.0 | The future liberals want. |
| 1:28.0 | Robatussen $110 a gallon. |
| 1:31.0 | Okay. |
... |
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