U.S. Energy Policy: Impacts of an Increased Federal Revenue Neutral Gasoline Tax
The future holds significant challenges for the United Stateswith regard to clean, inexpensive, and reliable energy resources. Ofthese energy challenges, issues relating to transportation fuels appearto be some of the most acute and serious. The price of gasoline doesnot reflect the true societal costs due to a variety of marketexternalities. Domestic energy policy must investigate new proposalsthat offer insight into possible solutions.The following thesis reviews geopolitical risks associated withcurrent U.S. petroleum consumption trends. It also discusses the rolegasoline taxes might have in mitigating certain amounts of demandgrowth. The gasoline taxes that are investigated are revenue neutral.This concept entails returning all revenue raised by any increased taxto consumers with reductions in other tax burdens. While this idea issomewhat radical in nature and politically complex, the consequences ofincreased gasoline taxes may be socially beneficial.The following study finds that gasoline is one of the mostimportant products in modern society. As such, reducing its consumptionis extremely difficult. However, increasing the cost of gasoline byraising taxes can influence demand to some degree. An increased revenueneutral gasoline tax could prove to be part of an effective overallU.S. energy policy.
Year of publication: |
2008-05-27
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Authors: | Kraus, Aaron |
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