Why we Need to Pay $4 for a Gallon of Gasoline

Hurricane Katrina showed how vulnerable the United States is to oil shocks. Government needs to do more to encourage conservation.

1 minute read

September 15, 2005, 9:00 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley


"Hurricane Katrina's message is clear: We are vulnerable to any major cutoff of oil. This cutoff came from a natural disaster, but the larger menace is a political cutoff. Two-thirds of the world's proven oil reserves lie around the Persian Gulf; these countries, led by Saudi Arabia, now provide about a quarter of today's oil supply. This flow could be interrupted at any time for many reasons -- terrorism, war, domestic upheaval, deliberate cuts...Until oil's geography changes, a prudent society would respond to this unavoidable insecurity...Hence the need for a stiff oil tax. Government needs to foster a market for fuel efficiency. The tax should be introduced gradually -- paralleling tougher fuel standards -- and, perhaps, tempered if global oil prices rise sharply. One way or another, Americans should know that the era of cheap gasoline is history."

Monday, October 3, 2005 in The Washington Post

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