Mariner
Active Member
It was surprising to see the polling results this week, that most Americans would support an increase in the gasoline tax. For years, the majority of both conservative and liberal economists have supported this idea--and when gas became expensive last year, it seemed to confirm their reasoning: SUV sales plummetted, hybrid cars surged, and the prices of food and other items that are trucked long distances began to reflect their environmental and energy impacts (our average foodstuff is moved 1200 miles; bottled water alone accounts for an astonishing amount of oil burned).
Thomas Friedman has been pushing for a geopolitical view of oil, which he lays out succinctly in an op-ed piece in today's Times:
... When the tax was presented as reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, 55 percent favored it and 37 percent said no. And when asked about a gas tax that would help reduce global warming, even more respondents supported it with 59 percent in favor and 34 percent opposed.
And that is without a single Democrat or Republican leading on this issue! Imagine if someone actually led?
Many Americans now understand: the Energy Question is the big strategic issue of our time, overtaking 9/11 and the war on terrorism. If a leader from either party would correctly frame the issue that a gas tax is the single most important geostrategic move we could make today a solid majority would support it.
Taking on this issue is the only hope the Bush team has for producing a legacy out of its remaining years. And it is the Democrats' only hope for taking on the Republicans with a big idea rather than relying on G.O.P. scandals to win.
Sadly, both sides fear the other will smear them if they run on this issue. O.K., say you're running for Congress and you propose a gas tax, but your opponent denounces you as a wimpy, tree-hugging girlie-man, a tax-and-spender. What do you say back?
I'd say: "Oh, really? I guess you think it is smart, tough and patriotic for us to be financing both sides in the war on terrorism the U.S. military with our tax dollars, and Al Qaeda, Iran and various hostile Islamist charities with our energy purchases.
"Now how patriotic is that? I guess you haven't noticed that today's global economic playing field has been leveled and that three billion new players from India, China and Russia have walked onto the field, buying new cars, homes and refrigerators. So if we don't break our addiction to crude oil, we're going to heat up this planet so much faster enough to melt the North Pole and make Katrina look like a summer breeze.
"Now how smart is that? I guess you don't realize that because of this climate change and the rising cost of crude, green technologies are going to be the industry of the 21st century, and a gasoline tax is the surest way to make certain that our industries innovate faster and dominate innovation in green cars, homes and appliances.
"Finally, I guess you haven't noticed that the wave of democratization that seemed unstoppable after the fall of the Berlin Wall has run into a black counterwave of petro-authoritarianism. This black wave of oil-financed autocrats Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Nigeria, Burma, Saudi Arabia has all the money in the world now to turn back the democratic tide.
* * *
Sorry, can't provide a link--it's subscription-only--but it's in today's paper if you want to read the whole thing.
Mariner
Thomas Friedman has been pushing for a geopolitical view of oil, which he lays out succinctly in an op-ed piece in today's Times:
... When the tax was presented as reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, 55 percent favored it and 37 percent said no. And when asked about a gas tax that would help reduce global warming, even more respondents supported it with 59 percent in favor and 34 percent opposed.
And that is without a single Democrat or Republican leading on this issue! Imagine if someone actually led?
Many Americans now understand: the Energy Question is the big strategic issue of our time, overtaking 9/11 and the war on terrorism. If a leader from either party would correctly frame the issue that a gas tax is the single most important geostrategic move we could make today a solid majority would support it.
Taking on this issue is the only hope the Bush team has for producing a legacy out of its remaining years. And it is the Democrats' only hope for taking on the Republicans with a big idea rather than relying on G.O.P. scandals to win.
Sadly, both sides fear the other will smear them if they run on this issue. O.K., say you're running for Congress and you propose a gas tax, but your opponent denounces you as a wimpy, tree-hugging girlie-man, a tax-and-spender. What do you say back?
I'd say: "Oh, really? I guess you think it is smart, tough and patriotic for us to be financing both sides in the war on terrorism the U.S. military with our tax dollars, and Al Qaeda, Iran and various hostile Islamist charities with our energy purchases.
"Now how patriotic is that? I guess you haven't noticed that today's global economic playing field has been leveled and that three billion new players from India, China and Russia have walked onto the field, buying new cars, homes and refrigerators. So if we don't break our addiction to crude oil, we're going to heat up this planet so much faster enough to melt the North Pole and make Katrina look like a summer breeze.
"Now how smart is that? I guess you don't realize that because of this climate change and the rising cost of crude, green technologies are going to be the industry of the 21st century, and a gasoline tax is the surest way to make certain that our industries innovate faster and dominate innovation in green cars, homes and appliances.
"Finally, I guess you haven't noticed that the wave of democratization that seemed unstoppable after the fall of the Berlin Wall has run into a black counterwave of petro-authoritarianism. This black wave of oil-financed autocrats Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Nigeria, Burma, Saudi Arabia has all the money in the world now to turn back the democratic tide.
* * *
Sorry, can't provide a link--it's subscription-only--but it's in today's paper if you want to read the whole thing.
Mariner
