Good for the Washington Post's editorial board for injecting some sense into the energy debate in the United States by calling for higher gas taxes to shore up falling prices and encourage smarter consumer choices.
Unfortunately, this falls into the category of "stuff that won't happen, but should." Note that in President-elect Barack Obama's interview Sunday on 60 Minutes, he gave no hint that he is going to risk his political future by calling for a tax:
Kroft: When the price of oil was at $147 a barrel, there were a
lot of spirited and profitable discussions that were held on energy
independence. Now you've got the price of oil under $60.
Mr. Obama: Right.
Kroft: Does doing something about energy is it less important now than…
Mr. Obama: It's more important. It may be a little harder politically, but it's more important.
Kroft: Why?
Mr. Obama: Well, because this has been our pattern. We go
from shock to trance. You know, oil prices go up, gas prices at the
pump go up, everybody goes into a flurry of activity. And then the
prices go back down and suddenly we act like it's not important, and we
start, you know filling up our SUVs again.
And, as a consequence, we never make any progress. It’s part of the
addiction, all right. That has to be broken. Now is the time to break
it.
And yesterday, TNR's Brad Plumer reports, Jeff Bingaman, chair of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said "flat out... that a gas tax or 'floor' on oil prices was never going to happen, because 'the politics are problematic.'"
So, instead of the one tool that we know for a fact spurs innovation and encourages people to change their oil-consumption habits -- higher prices -- we're probably going to get massive, complicated subsidies and tax credits for powerful, well-connected constituencies (e.g. the corn lobby). The U.S. government, rather than the market, is going to decide which technologies to support.
Somehow, I don't think the House of Saud is too worried about that pledge to wean the United States off of oil from the Middle East in 10 years.
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