Maggie Brooks says that she won't cap the county portion of the gas tax. That's a good start. Now, if she starts talking about doubling -- or even quadrupling -- the gas tax, she'd be talking even more sense.
I hate paying $35 to fill the tank of my economy car, and I sympathize with the working poor who have to fund their commute. Nevertheless, I think we all need to realize that gas in the US is dangerously cheap. With the finite supply of petroleum under the control of the most unstable regimes on earth, and with developing countries like China and India increasing their consumption by record amounts, we need to get this monkey off our back.
$3/gallon gas has our friends and neighbors thinking about ditching the Escalade. $5/gallon gas may actually get us to buy more hybrids, and perhaps those hybrids will be pluggable so we can charge them overnight using off-peak electricity generated using nuclear or coal.
Funny that Maggie is one of the few politicians actually making sense on this issue. The rest of them are trying to pretend that a few pennies off a gallon will make some kind of difference in the long run.
Comments (2)
Just being devil's advocate ...
Would the rise of taxes also lead to a rise in cost of hybrids? Also, is there enough hybrid production to meet the possible and likely demand?
Posted by Jason | May 26, 2006 11:17 AM
Posted on May 26, 2006 11:17
Good points. Raising the price of gas would increase the cost of owning a hybrid, and demand would increase, perhaps overwhelming the supply.
But, in the long run, expensive gas will lower the break-even for new vehicle propulsion technology, which should stimulate the research, development and production of gas alternatives. That's a good thing for the USA. Instead of acknowledging this fact, politicians are motivated to appear to do something, no matter how ineffective, to lessen the sting of higher prices.
Posted by Rottenchester | May 27, 2006 8:39 AM
Posted on May 27, 2006 08:39