Gas should cost $15 per gallon

Grist readers know that the "high price" of gasoline in America doesn't begin to capture its true costs. But do you know exactly why that is? The smart, deep-diving folks at the California's Center for Investigative Reporting have made this great video breaking down the reasons why gasoline should actually cost closer to $15 per gallon. You should watch it (it involves cocker spaniels!), but if you can't spare 5 minutes, the highlights are below.

* Every gallon of gas creates 25 pounds of greenhouse gas pollution. That’s the same weight as a cocker spaniel. Imagine adopting a cocker spaniel for every gallon of gas you burn.

* Gas stations smell bad because evaporating gas escapes when diesel tankers fill up the holding tanks, when drivers open their gas tanks, and when people lift the pumps from their handles. That's benzene you're inhaling.

* Three-fourths of the pollution from a gallon of gas comes from the burning the fuel in a car's engine. The other fourth comes from extracting, refining, and transporting it.

* There are other negative externalities to gas production, too: oil spills, water pollution, and illness from poor air quality. Dealing with this nastiness is expensive.