Other “experts” seem to think the average price of gas will reach $4.50 around July 4th. The way things are going it will probably reach that in a couple of weeks.
Bush on his way to Europe said:
“A lot of Americans are concerned about our economy,” Bush said. “I can understand why. Gasoline prices are high, energy prices are high.”
But the Bush administration offers little more than I guess people are concerned about the economy. I think people are more than a little concerned.
This article from the Post talks about the impact gas prices are having at all levels.
Consumers are of coursed being squeezed. They’re having to decide what not to do so they can fill up the tank. I’m glad I can take public transportation to get to work. I can only imagine what the commute from the burbs into DC is costing people these days. But it is not only impacting consumers. It seems some of the gas station owners are being forced out because of high rent and low profit margins.
A little over a year ago I did a post on gas prices and some of things that might be done to help bring them down. My suggestions on what to do is even more relevant today then it was a year ago:
Give a $15,000 tax credit for buying a hybrid car. The person would get $3,000 a year for 5 years.
Give a $10,000 tax credit for HEV (high efficiency vehicle). The person would get $2,000 a year for 5 years. Now what exactly is an HEV? An HEV would be a car that had a high EPA mileage rating. The EPA is now recalculating the mileage standards to better reflect how people drive today. Having said that I’d say an HEV would need to get somewhere between 35-40 miles per gallon to qualify for the tax credit.
Then there is what I call the gas guzzler tax. There would be a minimum mileage threshold. I would put it at 20 miles per gallon. Any vehicle that did not reach that threshold would have a tax of $1,000 added to the price for each mile per gallon it was below the threshold. Take a Hummer which gets 11 miles to the gallon. It falls 9 miles per gallon below the threshold. The sticker price would go up $9,000. The money would go into the social security fund or better yet to the Veteran’s Administration. Now for small businesses buying trucks there would be an exemption. The threshold would be raised one mile per gallon each year.
Most important we need some political leadership.
We need to have a real sense of urgency about this problem.
We are addicted to oil and the oil companies are our dealers.
It is time for an intervention.
It is time to break our addiction.
That won’t be easy.
But it is is possible.
And we need to start now!
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