ABSTRACT
The consumption of fuel in our day is so terribly large; it is perpetually increasing, and prices are rising so fast, that many are beginning to believe the long-standing and oft-repeated prophesies of an imminent general shortage of this indispensable commodity. The effects of some technologies have been not to eliminate but to shift the problem from one environmental media to another or from local to global areas. Scandinavia is of particular interest for a comparative analysis because in many ways it is more like the United States than any other world region. Aside from ethnic ties and general cultural values, there are parallels in terms of standard of living, population density, climate, and composition of national output. The Swedish gas tax is perhaps typical of the general focus of Scandinavian energy policy on energy end use, as opposed to the supply/production orientation of US policy.
