With apologies to the Talking Heads:
Regarding the Dec. 2 front-page article “Effects are wide as oil prices sink”:
One would have to be an unforgivable contrarian to second-guess the bonanza enjoyed by U.S. consumers from the dramatic drop in gasoline prices. Yet that development provides an opportunity whose cost would encroach only slightly on our good fortune: an increase in the federal gas tax — unchanged since 1993 from 18.4 cents per gallon and, in inflation-adjusted terms, now worth around 12 cents. No wonder it has ceased to make any meaningful contribution to sound economic and environmental policy. The resulting and serious depletion of the Highway Trust Fund — and, with it, the deteriorating conditions of the nation’s transportation infrastructure — is just one example.
Can political boldness face up to both opportunity and challenge?
Joel Darmstadter, Bethesda
The writer is a senior fellow with Resources for the Future.
Hat tip: Common Resources
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