TEXAS: HOUSTON PAPER ADVOCATES GAS TAX

The future is ours to lose; this is a gas tax to save it
Offset higher fuel prices with other tax reductions
STEVE YETIV, September 17, 2006 (Houston Chronicle)
- Across the country, politicians and ordinary citizens want to lower taxes on gasoline to ease pain at the pump. This idea is tempting, but it is precisely wrong: There is no better time to raise the national gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon than now, if done correctly...

- Each day, the world uses about 84 million barrels of oil. The United States uses one-fourth of that, yet has one-twentieth of the world's population. Using oil worsens global warming, supports oil-rich autocrats, funds terrorism and makes America more inclined to be stuck in the Persian Gulf...
- According to the International Center for Technology Assessment, the real price of gasoline is $5.60 to $15.14 per gallon, when taking into account environmental, health, social and defense costs associated with protecting and using oil...gas taxes work better than anything else in reducing oil consumption and spurring innovation in alternative energies...
- In Europe, high gas taxes have prompted mass adoption of hybrid vehicles that get 30 to 55 miles per gallon. America should join Europe in this regard and, in the process, set an example for India and China...
- The future is ours to lose; answers are available. We can target oil using taxes without hurting the average consumer, and this can be a key piece of the solution to our nation's energy puzzle.