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FUEL COST COMMENTS * USA - Gas tax holiday is not energy policy
Burlington,VT,USA -The Burlington Free Press -4 May 2008: -- Proposals coming from the White House and the campaign trail to suspend the federal gasoline tax this summer are nothing more than an expensive way to encourage bad behavior. The only way to reduce our addiction to imported oil is to change our habits. That is finally beginning to happen as the price of gas edges toward $4 a gallon... Our state would surely benefit this summer if suspending the gas tax were to lead to lower prices at the pump. Vermonters having trouble paying for a fill-up would get a welcome break. More visitors might consider driving to our state for a vacation, helping our tourism economy... But a tax holiday is no substitute for an energy policy. By offering an artificial price reprieve, the federal government will drive up demand for gas, which will further drive up oil prices. In the end, the savings to consumers are likely to be far less than the amount of the tax -- 18.4 cents per gallon -- while federal coffers that are supposed to help maintain the nation's crumbling roadways will suffer... Seeing the price of gas come down by a few cents for a month or two will do nothing to address our fundamental problem, that we are unlikely to be able to afford our current oil-dependent lifestyles over the long term... What makes far more sense is targeted aid for those who are suffering the most as the result of higher gas prices, and a concerted and serious effort to bolster alternatives to our reliance on petroleum for transportation...
Labels: fuel cost troubles
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