[Mb-civic] Cheap Gas Is a Bad Habit - Robert J. Samuelson - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

Cheap Gas Is a Bad Habit

By Robert J. Samuelson
Wednesday, September 14, 2005; Page A31

What this country needs is $4-a-gallon gasoline or, maybe, $5. We don't 
need it today, but we do need it over the next seven to 10 years via a 
steadily rising oil tax. Coupled with stricter fuel economy standards, 
higher pump prices would push reluctant auto companies and American 
drivers away from today's gas guzzlers. That should be our policy. The 
deafening silence you hear on this crucial subject from the White House, 
Congress and the media is a sorry indicator of national shortsightedness.

Hurricane Katrina's message is clear: We are vulnerable to any major 
cutoff of oil. This cutoff came from a natural disaster, but the larger 
menace is a political cutoff. Two-thirds of the world's proven oil 
reserves lie around the Persian Gulf; these countries, led by Saudi 
Arabia, now provide about a quarter of today's oil supply. This flow 
could be interrupted at any time for many reasons -- terrorism, war, 
domestic upheaval, deliberate cuts. Many other oil exporters are 
similarly unreliable: Russia (the No. 2 exporter), Venezuela (No. 5) and 
Nigeria (No. 8).
Until oil's geography changes, a prudent society would respond to this 
unavoidable insecurity. After the first oil "crisis" in 1973, Americans 
did. Congress created a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and mandated 
fuel economy standards. Drivers were sobered by high prices. From 1970 
to 1990, average fuel economy for cars rose from 13.5 miles per gallon 
to 20 mpg. For "light trucks" (a category covering pickups, 
sport-utility vehicles and minivans), the gains were from 10 mpg to 16 
mpg. But in the 1990s, there was massive backsliding. Fuel economy 
stagnated as millions of Americans shifted to SUVs and pickups. The SPR 
languished. In 1992 it had oil equal to 83 days of imports; by 2000 that 
was only 52 days.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/13/AR2005091301880.html
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