Approximately zero. With the GOP in control of Congress, the president’s budget – transportation and otherwise – is expected to die as soon as it reaches Capitol Hill. He said 30 percent of the carbon emitted in the United States was from vehicles. “It’s not going to pass clearly”, he said. “Anything that would go through Congress and increase the cost of living for consumers really just doesn’t work in an election year”, he says.
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The proposal was met with scorn by conservative politicians and industry veterans. Only imported oil, not American exports, would be subject to the tax.
Republicans’ downtrodden views on the Obama economy aren’t a surprise to Obama.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R) of Wisconsin criticized the proposal in a statement, saying “Once again, the president expects hardworking consumers to pay for his out of touch climate agenda”.
“Since I signed Obamacare into law almost 18-million Americans have gained coverage and our businesses have created jobs every month since”.
“Karr Ingham, petroleum economist and author of the Texas Petro Index, said the steep declines have resulted in massive layoffs, causing statewide oil and gas industry employment to decline from a record 306,330 jobs in December 2014 to about 234,150 jobs in December 2015”.
Sadly, the President seems unconcerned about the impact of his tax on struggling middle class Americans.
“We should feel good about the progress we’ve made”, he said, before noting that more can be done to boost the economy.
These critics were, in a sense, merely reflecting public opinion at large – much research suggests that gasoline taxes (and the proposed oil tax would certainly raise the price of gasoline) are very unpopular.
A global glut of crude supplies cratered prices in the previous year and a half, and global production has yet to show any significant declines as major oil producers play a game of “you cut first” with output amid a battle to retain market share.
That doesn’t seem to be in the cards – but there’s at least one aspect of the proposal that’s politically savvy: With radically low oil and gasoline prices, it’s about as timely as it is ever going to be. He pointed to wage and income growth, job growth, lower oil prices and increasing health insurance as evidence.
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“On Thursday, President Obama released a fact sheet for his 21st Century Clean Transportation System strategy, outlining the ways in which he plans to “[make] smart and strategic investments to create a cleaner, more sustainable transportation system”.
