Pirate's Cove

Mr. Obama wants to raise the cost of gasoline, which will negatively affect middle and lower class citizens, in order to fund “green” transportation

(Fox News) President Obama will propose a $10 fee for every barrel of oil to be paid by oil companies in order to fund clean energy transport system, the White House announced Thursday — although Republicans were quick to declare the plan “dead on arrival” in Congress.

The fee would be phased in over five years and would provide $20 billion per year for traffic reduction, investment in transit systems and other modes of transport such as high-speed rail, the White House said. It would also offer $10 billion to encourage investment in clean transport at the regional level.

Obama is expected to formalize the proposal Tuesday when he releases his final budget request to Congress. However, the proposal immediately faced resistance from Republicans.

“Once again, the president expects hardworking consumers to pay for his out of touch climate agenda,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in a statement, arguing it would lead to higher energy prices and hurt poor Americans. (snip)

The White House claims the added cost of gasoline would incentivize the private sector to reduce the reliance on oil and to increase investment in clean energy technology.

Paul Ryan and other Republican lawmakers should ask Obama why he uses so much fossil fuels in his own life, fuels which he really doesn’t pay for himself. Why does it always seem that “green” energy cannot be developed without generous subsidies, loans that rarely get paid off, straight taxpayer cash giveaways, and regressive taxes? As Eric Worrall notes

Why does the green version of “encouragement” always seem to involve beating ordinary people with price hikes until they comply?

The American Petroleum Institute released a statement, which includes

The White House thinks Americans are not paying enough for gasoline, so they have proposed a new tax that could raise the cost of gasoline by 25 cents a gallon, harm consumers that are enjoying low energy prices, destroy American jobs and reverse America’s emergence as a global energy leader.” He continued,”On his way out of office, President Obama has now proposed making the United States less competitive.

As noted, this lame-duck proposal from a massive user of fossil fuels will go exactly nowhere, and probably won’t even get a debate. I’d be surprised if Obama sends over more than a short plan on a sticky note to Congress.

Crossed at Right Wing News.