Would you support a gas tax to fight foreign oil dependency or global warming?
So, you're worried about foreign oil dependency? Or, maybe you're more concerned about global warming? But, are you REALLY ready to do something about it? Or, maybe you're all talk and no action?
"Raising taxes in the United States, say, ten cents a year until they reach $2, would stop people from driving their Hummers to get a quart of milk. For those who would be economically impacted, the extra money they pay in gas taxes could be returned to them as a tax rebate."
"But any system so simple and so fair hasn't got a prayer of becoming law in the current political climate, where politicians quake at the thought of asking voters to make sacrifices. And without incentives, consumers will continue to choose cupholders over good citizenship."
Alex Taylor, Fortune Magazine
Is a gas tax the best way to fight foreign oil dependency, and global warming?
"Raising taxes in the United States, say, ten cents a year until they reach $2, would stop people from driving their Hummers to get a quart of milk. For those who would be economically impacted, the extra money they pay in gas taxes could be returned to them as a tax rebate."
"But any system so simple and so fair hasn't got a prayer of becoming law in the current political climate, where politicians quake at the thought of asking voters to make sacrifices. And without incentives, consumers will continue to choose cupholders over good citizenship."
Alex Taylor, Fortune Magazine
Is a gas tax the best way to fight foreign oil dependency, and global warming?
Labels: Foreign Oil Dependency, gas tax, global warming
posted by Dahcredyns at
1:01 PM
6 Comments:
Why is it that we accept that the governent should artificially manipulate interest rates but should not play a role in stabilizing energy costs. The days of cheap energy are over. Unfortunately, we have built an entire society on the assumption that we will always have cheap energy. Our houses keep getting bigger and bigger. We drive farther to get to work and to shop. In order to spur the development of new technologies to improve energy efficiency, reduce our dependence on energy from unstable regions of the world, and reduce pollution (GHG and other), we must have stable, high energy costs to consumers and businesses. The question is will the oil companies allow it to happen. They seem to be doing remarkably well in the current system.
I believe that past mistakes we have made have directed a lot of hatred toward ourselves. Not necessarily because we did anything evil, mostly because we didn't play our cards as well as we could have. In addition we have made ourselves vulnerable to energy blackmail.
Here is what I would like to see the U.S. do:
1. Stop sending military aid to the Middle east.
We send billions of dollars to the middle east and all that accomplishes is stirring up more hatred toward us and financing the people who want to do us harm.
The military aid we send to Israel angers muslims in general and Arabs in particular. The so called friendly Arab states think we are fools for supporting their military, despise us for our foolishness and hate us for the military support we send to Israel. Israel despises us for our foolishness and gives us nothing in return except bribes paid to our politicians. At the same time we send military aid to nations in the area that would like nothing better than to wipe Israel from the face of the earth.
2. Increase our efficient use of energy. I would like to see an escalating tax on imported energy. ( I'm sure that this will go over like a lead balloon.)
I propose a tax on oil that would be roughly equal to fifteen cents a
gallon of gasoline on imported energy only that would increase by ten cents per year.
Use the money that we save by not sending military aid to the
middle east to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. In particular I would prefer to see the money spent on tax rebates for purchases of energy saving hardware (insulation, high efficiency HVAC equipment etc.) and heating devices using solar, geothermal and renewable energy sources.
Why this probably won't work:
Our president is an oil man. Like
most oil guys I'm sure that his solution is delivering more oil, not conserving it.
Israel won't like this at all. Israel has a very effective lobby and knows how to get what they want from our government. I'm sure that any effort to reduce our aid to Israel will be denounced as an anti semitic plot. As a matter of fact I'm sure this message will be denounced as anti semitic.
Most of us are very short sighted. Any tax increase tends to really get people upset even if we would get the money back several times over. Don't believe you are short sighted? Check your attic if you have less than 8 inches of insulation. Chances are that you are spending a lot more for energy than the insulation would cost you. Not to mention high efficiency HVAC and water heaters. Your short
sightedness in not working to reduce your energy use is resulting in aiding our enemies, polluting our air and wasting your money.
Yes! Yes! Technology will follow after that. It's simple.
A gas tax is another govt hoax to siphon off money from the very people that can least afford it to pay for getting votes from the very people that cant afford the additional tax that the liberals are always advocating.
Another tax accomplishes nothing more than hurting the people who have to travel to get to work in towns and cities.
We moved away from towns because they taxed us to poverty just to live there. Now they want to tax us again because we dont live in towns. The govt is run by people who have mental disease [liberals]. Get those crazy people out of our pockets and let us live our lives without their welfare tax schemes.
Additional taxes will mean we purchase less gasoline. That means less tax revenue for the govt. That means they will raise the gas/road tax to get more revenue. That means we can purchase less gas, and the cycle repeats. Everyone loses!!!
blackdog-
i agree that we're getting screwed by the government, but i believe both parties are equally complicit.
in addition to your liberal rants, lets add the conservative hawks making vast amounts of money off war, wars that have their roots in foreign oil dependency.
still, as far as a gas tax. we're already paying for it. we pay it in deficit spending. it is a fact that it costs tens of billions of year for the US to protect oil shipping lanes, yet this cost is not recovered at the pump. instead, its hidden in military taxes. likewise, bin laden has been very clear about foreign oil's role in 9/11 for instance - the event would result in trillions being spent fighting in the middle east.
those trillions could have easily funded an entire revolution in US energy and automobiles.
paying for these costs upfront, seems better than to let the aholes in Congress and the white house do it behind closed-doors.
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