Newfie wrote:Some of the towns have no roads, none of the roads go far or connect to the outside world.
I don't get this part. What would be the point in having roads if NONE of the roads connect to the outside world? You airlift in a car, and only use it to drive around town? In an area where snowmobiles are common, as are dog teams?
I'll certainly agree (as I had stated upthread) that one can imagine bad winter weather causing inability to get fuel and spiking the price.
I was looking at the town of Eagle on a map by Mapquest (where one of the guys on the show citing the high prices lived near - thus my interest in that town). Population about 100, normal looking town. It clearly showed a road along the river, extending well outside both sides of the town. I just checked on Google Maps, and highway 5 from Eagle clearly connects to Taylor Highway, which clearly leads to the outside world. That highway is clearly not a very good road, but it does take you to a "real" road.
So I can certainly believe many tiny Alaskan "towns" are remote enough that they don't even have paved roads or decent roads for normal vehicles. Not so much that the ones with an established network of paved roads leave you unable to get to the outside world at all (weather permitting, of course).
But, I'll agree that the minor roads in Alaska might well be impassable for long periods of time in the winter -- so that might well explain why even in remote towns with "real roads", the cost of things from the outside world, including fuel, is horrendous.
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.