Actually I first read the same statement about 30 years ago almost word for
word. The only difference was gas was supposed to rise to a cost $2 a
gallon. You will however see $5 a gallon gas talked about and like the
early seventies it may even rise to that but not for purposes of conserving
energy. Rather for purposes of raising funds to pay off the, created by
both political partys, national debt. You can't tax $1.50 on $2.00 a gallon
gasoline just as back then you couldn't tax 65 cents on 35 cent a gallon
gas. But give the great unwashed a taste of five at the pump then back it
off to $3.00 they will be so happy they will forget it used to cost $2.
Just like they did in the early seventies. Call it raising funds to pay
bills or call it devaluing the value of the debt or both . . .it worked then
and it will work again IF the resultingincome is used to reduce the debt
load and not 'spent' as some sort ofmythical windfall like the so called
peace dividend or the so called balanced budget with a surplus that never
existed (reference the Dep't of the Treasury balance sheet for those years).
IF by chance some conservational benefit isderived that would also be nice .
... in fact it might even be used as a supporting reason BUT it won't be the
main reason in realpolitik.

However I'm now getting near AARP years old so my main concern is, like
with most seniors, me. Grandparents and parents didn't care about me and
my generation when they could have done something . .. .why should I pay
the price? As the Brit's use to say, and may still do so, "I'm all right
Jack, Whats yours is mine and what's mine's me own."

And that's the true legacy of the USA.

M.

PS don't brag about those energy conserving sails so much. Remember it was
Red Ron Dellums of California that proposed a tax on sail boats because they
didn't pay their fair share. Shhhhhhhh.........


"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 15:07:35 -0700, Jonathan Ganz wrote:

Right, but the vast majority of our use of oil is for cars. Remember, we
have lots of oil in the US. We could be self-sufficient if we wanted to.
I
suggest raising gas prices to $5/gallon. Give the automakers lots of
incentives to increase fuel efficiency and create alternative cars.

65% of the America's oil has already been burned. We could have been
self-sufficient, but now? Unless there is a massive and comprehensive
energy policy installed immediately, *we* may have oil, but our children
will have to live without.

http://www.faultline.org/news/2001/1...ependence.html