Obama Green Plan Will Push Gasoline To $7 A Gallon

By Susan Thompson on March 8, 2010, 1:22 pm

President Barack Obama has made green has emissions a priority in his agenda. The problem some people have with this is what it can do to the price of gasoline. The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, at Harvard, said his plan might raise the cost of gasoline to $7 per gallon.

What The Environmental Protection Agency Says Must Happen

It is proposed that America reduce carbon dioxide emissions, specifically in the area of transportation, by 14 percent. This is suggested to be accomplished from 2005 levels by 2020. The 14 percent target was placed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s fiscal budget for 2010.

Is This A Contradiction To The President’s Campaign Promises

When President Obama took office he promised a new, fresh approach to energy policy. This, he proposed, would promote jobs. It would also slash greenhouse-gas emissions. This would make the U.S. a leader in new energy-technology development. However, many of today’s models have assumed an economy-wide carbon dioxide tax. This would start at $30 a ton beginning this year. The price would increase to $60 a ton by the year 2030. In different models the researchers even factored in tax credits for electric and hybrid vehicles, taxes on fuel, or both. It is estimated that vehicle miles will increase by 30 per cent from this year to 2030. This would be questionable, however, if the government increases the fuel taxes.

Fuel Prices Cannot Be Kept Low With Proposals For Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Although there seems to be somewhat of an attempt to stabilize gas prices in the U.S. the fact remains that this will not be a possibility if we also try to significantly reduce oil imports and greenhouse gas emissions. This is inconsistent. However, taxing fuel for transportation seems to always stimulate the biggest reduction in oil consumption. It is reported that tax credits for hybrid and other alternative vehicles are expensive. This approach is not very effective in reducing CO2 emissions. Also, by artificially increasing such popularity in these vehicles it also has an unintended effect: it decreases new conventional vehicle fuel economy.

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