Op-Ed: Give drivers a gas tax holiday. Tax windfall profits from oil companies instead
At the gas station near my home in Burbank, gas prices this week were an astronomical $6.50 per gallon, much higher than the nationwide average of $4.67, and just above the statewide average of $6.19 per gallon. Filling up the tank can cost a shocking $100. Working families cannot afford this, and it doesn’t have to be this way.
At the gas station near my home in Burbank, gas prices this week were an astronomical $6.50 per gallon, much higher than the nationwide average of $4.67, and just above the statewide average of $6.19 per gallon. Filling up the tank can cost a shocking $100. Working families cannot afford this, and it doesn’t have to be this way.
Nor are the oil companies using these profits to expand production
to meet the surging demand of people returning to work and their daily lives.
Instead, the corporations are spending the cash on large dividends for
shareholders and tens of billions of dollars in stock buybacks for their
investors.
It is unconscionable that this industry is taking advantage of the
fallout from the horrible war and adding to people’s economic pain. Workers and
families need immediate relief.
Some people have proposed that we suspend the federal gas tax —
about 18.4 cents per gallon — as a way of alleviating some of the pain at the
pump. I support that idea, but there are a couple things we need to keep in
mind. First, if we do away with the federal gas tax, oil companies will simply
raise their prices and pocket the amount that would have been paid as tax. And
that won’t help consumers at all.
And second, the federal gas tax provides the resources for the
Highway Trust Fund, which finances the construction and maintenance of roads,
highways, bridges and public transit systems nationwide. Every commuter in Los
Angeles can name a traffic chokepoint or other much-needed improvements they would
like to see fixed. We don’t want to delay any of those projects by taking their
funding away, especially if the oil companies are going to keep their prices
high regardless of what we do with the gas tax.
That’s why I introduced the Federal Gas Tax Suspension and
Windfall Profits Tax Act, to address both of these issues at once.
The bill would suspend the federal gas tax through the end of
2023, which would provide some immediate relief at the pump. To prevent the oil
companies from jacking up their prices further, the bill would also impose a
new 50% tax on income that is in excess of their reasonably inflated average
profit. This windfall profits tax would be used to fund highway and mass
transit projects while the gas tax is suspended.
This is not a complete solution, but it’s a start. Oil companies
could still choose to increase profits even with the disincentive of losing
half of that income. That’s why the anti-price-gouging legislation the
House passed last month, which would empower the Federal Trade Commission to
crack down on such abusive practices and punish bad actors, is so important.
To get us through the dire impacts of inflation, we need price
relief at the pump right away. The combination of a holiday from the gas tax
and a windfall profits tax on the oil companies could help.
But at the end of the day, we will remain at the mercy of the oil
industry, petro-monarchies and Russian dictators unless we wean ourselves off
fossil fuels. Over the longer term, we will destroy our planet if we continue
on the present course.
We need to build a green new economy that phases out our reliance
on petroleum and dramatically expands the use of renewable sources of energy.
Otherwise, future generations will literally pay the price.
Adam B. Schiff, a Democrat, represents
California’s 28th Congressional District and is chairman of the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence.
No comments:
Post a Comment