I’ve been told that energy is expensive. 8 minutes of minimum wage work in France to buy 1 liter of gasoline (30 years ago it was 13). Working time to buy electricity has been divided by 2 in 30 years in France.
Flying over the world for a couple days, wearing a t-shirt at home in winter, drive 50 km to work have become totally banal today. Energy price is so low that we forget about consequences on climate change and geopolitical issues.
13 minutes of minimum wage work in France in 1983 was necessary to buy one liter of gasoline. 8 minutes today. Working time at minimum wage to buy energy has drastically fallen between 1983 and 2015 in France, from 50% for electricity and from one third for gasoline and natural gas.
States invest billions of € to cut off energy consumption without great results (see article on electric cars). One of the most efficient solution is to rise up taxes on energy. No investment is needed and impact is immediate. But it politically requires a lot of courage! (1)
Notes :
(1) According to the French National Institute of Statistics, 5,9 million of households in France would be in a situation of «energy poverty », so about one quarter of households. Rising taxes proportionally to consumption would help to reduce this disparity.
