Gas Tax hike and Its all our fault

personally, i wrote letters to my senators and representatives asking them to raise the taxes and that if they voted for a gas tax holiday i would not be voting for them again...

the culprit is big oil (including opec), not the government, for why our gas prices are higher than necessary

 

the culprit is supply and demand combined with a touch of speculation.
all bubbles will and do burst. this is the age of bubbles if you have not noticed...
tech stocks, housing, commodities... a smart person is deciding what bubble is
next and betting big on it ;-)

i am not a conspiracy fan when it comes to oil...

 

i don't think it's a conspiracy, i just think it's interesting as prices are skyrocketing, we are seeing big oil companies recording record profits... and not just a price adjusted for inflation, but substantial increases.

then there's opec, which, despite increased world demand, decided not to increase production. so yes, supply and demand, which was more directly controlled by opec than anything...

 

You said it, we're going to pay for this one way or the other ...

 

here's to escalating gas prices that wake the country up to the simple fact that we use 6 times more oil than we should...

however, yes, i do think about when gas was $1.29/gallon just 5 years ago... wishful thinking at best

 

The gas tax is miniscule compared to the weekly hike in gas prices caused by futures speculation. The latter clearly has become political, since there are powerful interests making lots of money in the oil futures market right now at taxpayers' expense. Better to mislead the public by calling for more oil drilling in the oceans.

Oil is down to $125 right now, but what will happen if it goes back up? The stock market is watching closely.

 

If we could guarantee that gas tax revenues were spent responsibly and reasonably on alternative energy production, infrastructure, research, incentives, etc, I'd vote for a $2 or $3 / gallon gas tax. Unfortunately, it would probably break the country now. It should have been done a decade ago and phased on in over 5 to 10 years. It would have resulted in people buying and demanding more fuel efficient cars. Even with China's increase, we would not have seen the supply problems that we have now for decades if ever...given that we'd eventually transition off of oil all together. Now it's too late and civilization will end slowly over the next 20 to 30 years as we enter a new dark ages that will last thousands of years. For a time, those in large motorcycle gangs running their bikes off of ethanol distilled on rooftops(security) will rule the world as we enter a Mad Max era for a hundred years or so before it really goes down hill.

 

I like the idea of the feds saying "OK. You're used to $4/gallon gas due to $125/barrel oil. We're going to tax crude so that its price is $140 per barrel (or some relatively high price). Any income from that tax will be used to subsidize any renewable fuel used for transportation.

That way, you generate two very powerful incentives to the development of alternative fuel sources:

1) Keep the price of gas high. This makes it easier for any other fuels to compete when the competition is guaranteed to be stably high.
2) Subsidize alternative fuel development so that they get even MORE money.

Will it be expensive? Yup! You bet! As expensive as PCs in the 70s and 80s.

Will it bring about technological changes that will make it less expensive? Yup! You bet! As expensive as PCs now.

Will it save us money in the long run? Yup. We will be able to let all of those folks who hate us but love our money keep their oil or sell it to someone else.

US energy independence is the _ULTIMATE_ national security improvement.

OK folks. Salute it, or shoot it!

 

Even if we are at peak oil, we can transition away from oil. EVs are coming. T. Boone Pickens' NG vehicles are coming. We will find a way to get the electricity we need to avoid this fate. Hopefully, with a combination of natural gas and coal (yep but only while we have to have it), nuclear (scary for us old-timers), wind, solar, geothermal... cause I think we should see the problem with the "one right answer", i.e. ethanol.

 

The liberals are out of touch. Recently in CA they were trying to add a 50 cent per gallon tax. There is no tax large enough for them.

 

Good point. 50 cents a gallon is far too small a tax to have the necessary results. The tax should be much larger and used to fund public transportation, as is done in Europe.

Tom

 

That would be great, but you forgot politicians are in charge of the funds. Given their vested interest in big oil (yes, GOP and Dems!), there is absolutely NO WAY they are going to let any tax money go toward an alternate fuel, or conservation, or anything in that realm. Never.

I'm not sure of the solution, but I know the answer isn't to give the politicians more of our tax money. Sadly, it would just end up in the pockets of corporate interests anyway.

... Brad

 

Does anyone know what the profit margins are for a barrel of oil? Margins are extremely low. Record profits! If this is how people see it... the oil industry should be nationalized and regulated in price. There are many of you who would agree with that. What's next... nationalize the farm industry? Demand outpaces supply. This is the reason for high prices. In the seventies China and India were merely emerging industrial powers. They are industrial powers now. Their demand for oil is ever increasing. And we think that our small reduction in consumption will drive prices lower. Someone else will pick up the slack.

What we really need is innovation and invention. Need drives invention. When prices are high enough we will have innovation. We will have a viable alternative to internal combustion engines. We are seeing some of that innovation now. I don't think we will see the breakthrough until gas hits the $10/gal mark. GM and Ford have been holding back their really fuel efficient motors.

A friend's father in the early 80's designed a carburator that (his claim) could get 70mpg out of any vehicle. GM bought the patent from him for $200,000 cash and a million dollar garage in California. These are guys we should be pissed at.

 

That's a well knows urban legend, and it is easily disproved by applying a little thermodynamics.

Tom

 

I just observed my German friend and his family in America for a month spending money like drunken sailors (no offense to drunks or sailors intended). They bought computers, clothing and electronics because of the relative weakness of the dollar vs the euro. In relative terms, oil has risen much more dramatically against the dollar than against other currencies. The dollar is weak because of an obscenely expensive war and our leader's inability to develop a practical budget that doesn't require borrowing money to run our economy. Until the dollar reverses, oil will continue to be expensive and there is no better time than now to make a meaningful change in the way we look at energy consumption in America. I remember gas rationing in the late 70s and we squandered a huge opportunity to develop alternative fuels and public transportation technologies that would have left us energy independent. I hate taxes, but I hate being a slave economy even more and I would gladly pay $4/gal. toward energy independence if I didn't think the funds would go to fund another costly and wasteful foreign police action. (Sorry, end of rant.)