New York Times Editorial Board in-Favor of a Gas Tax

Articles — By forcechange on December 27, 2008 4:12 pm

The NY Times editorial board on Saturday followed the lead of co-worker Tom Friedman and endorsed the concept of a gas tax.  Here are the highlights:

“…for all the conditions attached to it, the multibillion-dollar aid package for Detroit’s carmakers approved by the White House (with Mr. Obama’s support) fails to address one crucial question: Who will buy all the fuel-efficient cars that Detroit carmakers are supposed to make?

“The danger is that too few will, especially if gasoline prices remain low. Therefore, it might be time for the president-elect and Congress to think seriously about imposing a gas tax or similar levy to keep gas prices up after the economy recovers from recession.

“Furthermore, even if the government managed to convert General Motors, Chrysler and Ford to the cause of energy efficiency, cheap gas could open the door for a competitor – Toyota, perhaps? – to take over the lucrative market for gas-chuggers, leaving Detroit’s automakers eating dust once again.

“A bitter recession is not the most opportune time to ratchet up the price of energy. But if the Obama administration is to meet its twin objectives of reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and cutting its emissions of greenhouse gases, it needs to start thinking now about mechanisms to curb the nation’s demand for energy when the economy emerges from recession in the future.

“This also would serve as a signal to American automakers and American drivers that the era of cheap gasoline is not going to last.”