In this Mercury News Op-Ed, San Jose State University Professor Larry Gerston proposes this bold tax for mass transit and alternative energy programs. It yields $175 billion annually and creates green jobs, enabling us to determine our destiny.
"All those discussions of a new paradigm in the form of conservation and alternative sources are washing away in less expensive oil."
[From NYT, Dec. 4: "Oil futures in New York slumped to $43.67 a barrel, their lowest point since January 2005. The price of oil has tumbled by 70 percent since settling at a peak of $145.27 on July 3..."]
"Rather than fall back to our harmful energy habits, this is the time to take bold conservation and alternative energy steps.
We need to add a gasoline consumption tax...the proceeds could be directed into two pots: one for mass transit build-outs and the other for alternative energy research and development.
The money would come quickly. The 20 million barrels of oil imported by the U.S. daily translate into 483 million gallons of gasoline. An energy tax of one dollar per gallon would capture more than $175 billion annually."
Thanks to David Schonbrunn
Read the full story: Opinion: Now is the perfect time for a dollar-a-gallon gasoline tax
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