Reply #176: We don't live in a command economy or a dictatorship in the United States...

[ddeclue]

Your ideas have to have the political will of the voter and the economic will of the consumer to be implemented here.

If you think you can simply raise taxes on Americans without their consent you apparently missed a little event in Boston Harbor called the Boston Tea Party and really have no clue about how to make change happen in America.

The OP is advocating beating up on the poorest Americans by raising their taxes $500.00 or more per year (yes this is a realistic number based on 10,000 miles/year (16,091 km/yr) and mileage of 20mpg (11km/liter) and the OP's desire to raise taxes about $1.00/gallon (about $0.30/liter or 0.25 Euros/liter).

The OP is making assertions about "peak oil" that simply do not match the reality of the fact that 72% of this planet is covered by an ocean and there is NO way any reasonable person can claim to know definitively just how much oil there is on this planet - it is all just guesswork.

The OP apparently has never taken an macro-economics class or they would know the difference between elastic and inelastic demand. If demand is inelastic - as gasoline usage is in America, then raising prices will NOT lower demand for it significantly, it will only rob from other unrelated sectors of the economy that American consumers see as "optional" like health care, prescriptions, college educations, entertainment, eating out, vacations, etc. It will result in further borrowing against credit cards as well which is simply NOT sustainable.

The real solutions are:

Tax low performing luxury vehicles higher.
Tax high mileage performing economy vehicles lower.
Offer other tax breaks for using public transit, car pooling, walking, biking.
Tax breaks to both employees and employers who use telecommuting.

If you want to make a change here you have to use a CARROT not a STICK.

If you try to hit consumers and voters with a tax STICK it is preposterous to think that there will be no blowback and you can just do whatever you want. You WILL be voted out of office and conservative Republicans who care even LESS about the environment than the average American you are insulting here today will take office and it will set BACK opportunities to improve our energy situation in the US, NOT advance it.

In short, your idea is extraordinarily simplisitic and lacks any understanding of either economic OR political consequences - it will back fire.