Capital Commerce: Higher gas taxes? Maybe
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman recently reiterated that the Bush administration considers higher gas taxes "more interference with the free market than we'd like to see."
But consumers are actually warming to the idea. A new survey by CNW Marketing Research of Bandon, Ore., reveals that 22 percent of Americans favor higher gas taxes to spur conservation, fund fuel-saving technology and reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil. And 48 percent are willing to hear more about the idea. When CNW asked the same question in 2003–when gas prices were about $1.50 per gallon, half today's pump price–just 16 percent of respondents favored a tax hike, and only 27 percent were interested in hearing more. Taken together, the new survey shows a 62 percent jump in the proportion of consumers open to the idea of higher gas taxes.
One obvious explanation is greater awareness of the vulnerability of the U.S. energy sector, in the aftermath of the two hurricanes that shuttered refineries along the Gulf Coast. Even before that, rising oil prices and a worldwide pinch on demand were beginning to highlight U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
But consumers are also beginning to change their own buying habits in ways that lower their own cost of fuel–and theoretically make a hike in the gas tax more palatable. In September, for instance, there was a huge shift away from large SUVs like the Honda Pilot and Chevy TrailBlazer, while sales of "crossover" vehicles like the Subaru Outback and the Nissan Murano rose smartly. That represents consumers getting more rational about their vehicles: They're downsizing from plush but costly SUVs that have more size and features than they really need into more practical, affordable models that still get the job done.
And consumers are doing the math. The typical large SUV gets about 16 miles per gallon, on average, while a crossover might get about 22 mpg. With gas at $3 a gallon, it will cost about $1,636 to drive the crossover 12,000 miles a year. The SUV will cost $2,250, or about $600 more. A 10-cent-per gallon increase in the federal gas tax–one figure some advocates recommend–would cost the crossover owner only an extra $55 per year. But those open to higher gas taxes are sending another message, too: Any new taxes on gasoline must be used to reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil, not to fund politicians' pet projects.
And fewer than 8 percent trust the government to do that.
Capital Commerce tells usnews.com readers how decisions made in Washington affect business.
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