Think Gas is High? Try Europe

Think Gas is High? Try Europe - TIME

Polls show that 70% of gas-rattled British voters are now unwilling to pay higher taxes to combat climate change. That hasn't stopped some European leaders from taking the bitter pill approach, arguing that today's pain over surging gas prices should be used to encourage longer-term environmental gain. "We don't need one-shot measures," French secretary of state for the environment, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet told parliament following Sarkozy's proposal, "but rather to free ourselves from oil." True enough. But that's cold comfort indeed for truckdrivers, fishermen, and summer vacationers who can't afford to fill up in the meantime.