$20 Per Gallon? Say it Ain’t So.

Travel Blog  •  Eva Holland  •  08.04.09 | 9:28 AM ET

A recent New York Times interview with Chris Steiner, author of the new book $20 Per Gallon, has caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere. Andrew Sullivan buys into Steiner’s argument that higher gas prices could jump start innovation and be, on balance, a good thing, while Outside the Beltway’s James Joyner thinks that $20 per gallon “would really, really suck”:

Now, it’s quite conceivable that the forced innovation would indeed make our lives better in ways that I can’t imagine ... But the transitional impact would be absolutely devastating for most people. Even Steiner admits that whole industries—from airlines to amusement parks to sushi restaurants—would go under. Almost all homes outside urban centers would be simultaneously unlivable and unsellable. Only the independently wealthy would be able to travel abroad. Essentially, we’d set our lifestyles back a hundred years.

Tags: Media Addict, News and Briefs

Eva Holland is co-editor of World Hum. She is a former associate editor at Up Here and Up Here Business magazines, and a contributor to Vela. She's based in Canada's Yukon territory.


1 Comment for $20 Per Gallon? Say it Ain’t So.

Jennifer 08.04.09 | 10:59 AM ET

I agree with James Joyner!!!  Simply raising the price of gas to $20 a gallon just to fuel (no pun intended) innovation is ridiculous and completely unrealistic!  How would people survive in the interim?  It’s not like this would happen overnight!!  Hopefully we will not let gas get to this price “naturally” before realizing that we need to come up with some sustainable and innovative alternatives to gas on a much larger scale than we already have.  And hopefully, we will be smart enough to start using these ideas and save what little oil we have left for “who knows what” in the future!  Seems like a prudent move to me!

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