$105 oil

[Frank Lee]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...060503434.html

An essay on fuel pricing and taxation. I think I agree with it.

[Duffman]

Good article Frank,
That has been my thinking for a while now. If you dont want somebody to do something make it expensive to do and people will do it less. There is one other soft benifit to stiff fuel taxes that most people dont see: If you have 0% tax on gasoline and the price of the raw gasoline doubles then the cost on the consumer has doubled. If the gas is taxed at fixed rate but is close to the price per gallon and the price of the raw gasoline doubles the cost faced by the consumer only increases by 50% instead of 100% when it was untaxed. This has the benefit of insulating the economy from shocks in the price per barrel of oil.

I think we will be getting a carbon tax here in Canada somewhat soon as the oposition party is going to put it in their platform and they will form the next government whenever that happens.

[ttoyoda]

Frank Lee,
I see several problems with that article:
Unless the added revenue from the "gas tax" is balanced by less taxes on other things, the money will just go into that big hole of waste and corruption in DC.

See bridge to nowhere for a small example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6q__0-krUo

The less well off are the ones with less fuel efficient cars. They also live in areas further from work and have no mass transit options. They are the ones to suffer most from a tax on gas.

There is no need for a punishment strategy for the USA to be free of foreign oil. We could easily import ethanol from Brazil, (made from sugar cane), if not for the tarrif on foreign ethanol. Govt. could help (gasp) by mandating that all new cars be flex fuel. That would make flex fuel a world standard, and all of a sudden new cars could burn ethanol, methanol, butanol, etc. or gasoline in any ratio.

Now oil based gasoline would have to compete with alcohol, and oil producing states would no longer have us over the oil barrel. Gas prices would have to go down as a result, so those with older cars would benefit. Biomass based alcohol would be carbon neutral as well.
More info on this idea:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...ZmOWZlMjgzZTg=
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...EyZmU2MTI5YTQ=
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...jBmZmI=&w=Mg==

[Arminius]

^What he said.

[igo]

Originally Posted by LostCause

It's only going to get worse. Like Matt Simmons says, "Gas is cheap, it's only __ cents a cup!"

At what point will Matt Simmons stop saying that? Well, I guess when a cup is over a dollar. That would be over $16 a gallon.

[NeilBlanchard]

Greetings,

Originally Posted by Arminius

Yeah, spending to cut the grass kills me.

Last year I bought a Scotts "Classic" push reel mower for ~$140. It is pretty easy to push -- no harder than my gas mower. Last weekend I also bought a $20 grass scythe -- it has an 8" double-edged serrated blade, and it makes short work of the tall stuff that gets above what the reel mower can handle.

I can do carbon-free lawn care now! (And I don't need to wear ear protection...) It ain't hard, and it might even help keep me in a little better shape...

[Arminius]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Greetings,



Last year I bought a Scotts "Classic" push reel mower for ~$140. It is pretty easy to push -- no harder than my gas mower. Last weekend I also bought a $20 grass scythe -- it has an 8" double-edged serrated blade, and it makes short work of the tall stuff that gets above what the reel mower can handle.

I can do carbon-free lawn care now! (And I don't need to wear ear protection...) It ain't hard, and it might even help keep me in a little better shape...

That would be great for me, even though I have a huge lot. However, the gals (my wife and daughter) love to cut the grass......with a rider.

[LostCause]

Great article, Frank Lee.

Originally Posted by ttoyoda

There is no need for a punishment strategy for the USA to be free of foreign oil. We could easily import ethanol from Brazil...

My only issue is that FlexFuel cars get horrible mileage and importing biofuels from Brazil won't bode well for the rainforest.

Fuel should go on a sliding scale. The first X amount of gallons should be cheap. The next X amount should be progressively more expensive, and so on. Those most responsible in fuel usage win.

Originally Posted by Arminius

However, the gals (my wife and daughter) love to cut the grass......with a rider.

You could make yourself the first electric riding mower in town...

- LostCause

[igo]

a new record. $139.89 and the day is not over yet.

[NoCO2]

Yay it went down!!!

o wait...but only $0.10...

it's now at 139.69...dangit!