Gas Now Below $1 A Gallon In Places

Last week the grocery we shop at added 500 "loyal customer" points to the card we use at their gas station. I was able to fill up the truck (36 gallon tank) for $.98 a gallon.

Of course in light of the lower gas prices, the current administration wants to tax every barrel of oil at $10 per barrel, with the money to be used for..............highway maintenance. My question is, isn't that what the existing, ongoing state and federal taxes on gas were for?

That tax is to be levied on oil companies, not end consumers, and I think the point of it is to make the inevitable shift to renewable energy production more attractive in the short term. Revenues from that tax would be put into highway infrastructure.

The 18.5 cents federal highway tax we pay per gallon of gas isn't changing.

The tax will be passed on to consumers so it is the people who once again will pay more, I don't understand why people don't get this...

"That tax is to be levied on oil companies, not end consumers..."


However, the oil companies will pass the increase down to the consumers in some form or fashion.

Here in SC our highways and bridges are falling apart because our state won't raise the taxes on gas. If you drive into NC the roads generally vastly improve because that state has a higher tax on gas. You'll end up paying one way or another. Either you pay taxes to fix the roads or you end up paying more in car maintenance because the roads are so rough.

I get it, but at this point there is less worldwide demand, OPEC is trying to compete with new markets including our own domestic production, and there are a bunch of other factors pointing to oil prices per barrel staying down for a while. If domestic companies raise their prices, they'll price themselves out of the current very low market (which may well be willing to go even lower). At the moment, economically, this tax would have them over a barrel, if you'll pardon the pun.

At least I think that's the theory. These things are never all that elegant in application.

The thing with the oil companies, imo, is that they are like addicts. They have already seen that the general public will pay $3, $4, and even $5 a gallon. Corporate CEO types need their ongoing $$ fix. They could care less how it effects the consumer at the pump. As far as the politicians pushing for the increases, I wonder when the last time was they actually paid out of their own pocket to fill up their government supplied vehicle? Okay, off my rant now. :)

Better fire up that pipeline from Canada. Not.

Everyone is trying to sell off their oil before the demand dries up as we switch to alternatives to meet the carbon limits needed to save the planet.

I agree on raising the gas tax and fixing the infrastructure. If not now, when? Idiotic stubborn stances on not raising taxes bind the hands of "leaders".

If it were a simple domestic market, Greg, you might have had a point. But it's a worldwide market. Of which the US has a very small (but growing) portion. The companies that pull the crude out of the ground are not necessarily the ones that sell it to your local gas station. There are lots of different fingers in that pie, all of which should have a vested interest in remaining competitive in this buyer's market. Basic economics says the time to pad the bill is in times of high demand, not high supply.

Taxes are political so the time to increase the usage tax and bring in some income to fix our crumbling roads is now. But its an election year so logic takes the back seat to "read my lips".

We use 8% of the energy from a fossil fuel at the end point. Meaning by the time we pump or dig and then refine, transport and burn the fuel we have used up the other 92% of the energy in the fuel.

That 8% is often a waste as well.

Photovoltaics have a very low bar to reach to shift us away from fossil fuels. We are now commercially reaching that bar or soon to be well over it. For instance Germany which is at a higher latitude than the Canadian US border now has 35% of its electricity needs met through photovoltaics....solar energy....Germany's PV technology is often outdated to boot.

CO2 in the atmosphere is like burning a carbon element light bulb. It heats up fast. While we have had very little added global heat over the last 17 years we are playing with a very dangerous situation.

I agree with Cynthia's position on the federal gasoline tax. I have to ask when do we get a responsible government? Do we shoot down anyone in govt who acts responsible? So that we can have a cheap thrill in a gasoline powered automobile? Gasoilne was $4/gallon in CT only two years ago. Paying $1.80 or so now. Paying $2.00 would not matter. JMO

US govt budgets both state and federal for highway, bridge and rail repair are way under funded. Our society has a set of major responsibilities to meet. People worried about 18 cent taxes on fossil fuels are expecting to be entitled to far too much from the rest of us. Future generations deserve far more than the one we are trying to get out to sea on the next iceberg.

Dave

OK, I did not intend this to get political. Guess I should have known better, Closing it before it gets out of hand.

Sorry Abbie.