Trump Likes Lower Gas Prices

[Guy Threepwood]

Trump praises record-low July 4th gas prices

I say this is bad public policy because it encourages big government.
Why?
Low prices discourage conservation, wasting resources, & making us more dependent upon
foreign sources. That has traditionally been addressed by regulation (CAFE standards for
automakers).
I'd prefer a fuel tax, one which can fluctuate to make pump prices stable & regularly increasing.
(Regular increases prevent comlacency.) This would provide revenue, & let the market drive
conservation...resulting in less government regulation & potentially better results.

Now, fellow posters, please attack me.
Show no mercy!

You have spent too much time walkin poodles in Ann Arbor!

Have you ever been to Norway? Highest energy prices in the world and the government has rules for how many times you have to chew a piece of bacon before swallowing it.

Hubbert was right (temporarily) about US peak oil, but for the wrong reasons; he thought the physical supply would run out- nobody dreamed the US would restrict it's own access to it's own massive resources- and prefer to send billions oversees to buy other people's, there's more than enough of that stuff here, and those other countries need their oil more than we do

 

[Revoltingest]

You have spent too much time walkin poodles in Ann Arbor!

Have you ever been to Norway? Highest energy prices in the world and the government has rules for how many times you have to chew a piece of bacon before swallowing it.

Hubbert was right (temporarily) about US peak oil, but for the wrong reasons; he thought the physical supply would run out- nobody dreamed the US would restrict it's own access to it's own massive resources- and prefer to send billions oversees to buy other people's, there's more than enough of that stuff here, and those other countries need their oil more than we do

The problem I see with supply isn't related to running out. (That would be mitigated by increasing scarcity leading to higher prices leading to conservation & alternatives.) I'm concerned with our prevailing in a war....and those things do have a way of cropping up every now & then. It's not just about having an adequate domestic source for raw in-the-ground fuel, but also that we have few refineries. Already, if one refinery shuts down temporarily, we see price hikes at the pump. An enemy could take out just a couple, & we'd see transportation suffer.