[kevind]

I would appreciate pointers to sources for the following information:
1. The average total tax on gasoline and diesel fuel in the EU in the last year for which this information is available;
2. The total annual usage of gasoline and diesel in the EU for this period.

3. The average total (state/Federal/local) tax per gallon in the U.S. in the last year for which this information is also available for the EU;
4. The total annual usage of gasoline and diesel in the EU for this period.

A certain amount of Googling has not unearthed good sources, though I'm sure they exist.
Thanks....

kevind

[wisconsin_cur]

Steven Chu, US secretary of energy, on Wednesday said that it would not be politically feasible for the country to lower its reliance on oil by raising petrol prices to Europe’s levels through higher taxes or regulation.

In the past Mr Chu, a Nobel laureate, has argued that if the US wanted to reduce its carbon emissions, policymakers would have to find a way to increase petrol prices to levels in Europe. But in an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “At this moment, let me be frank, it is not politically feasible.”

FT.com

[Tanada]

Steven Chu, US secretary of energy, on Wednesday said that it would not be politically feasible for the country to lower its reliance on oil by raising petrol prices to Europe’s levels through higher taxes or regulation.

In the past Mr Chu, a Nobel laureate, has argued that if the US wanted to reduce its carbon emissions, policymakers would have to find a way to increase petrol prices to levels in Europe. But in an interview with the Financial Times, he said: “At this moment, let me be frank, it is not politically feasible.”

FT.com

Notice how he never said it isn't feasible to raise fuel taxes, just that it is not feasible to raise them to European style levels.

[3aidlillahi]

Notice how he never said it isn't feasible to raise fuel taxes, just that it is not feasible to raise them to European style levels.

You're lumping past and present statements together. In the past he was talking about raising them to European standards but that doesn't mean that he's doing it now. He seems to be talking just about raising them at all. Link to interview

"Beyond that, I think that at this moment in time of recession, we can't be thinking about additional taxes on oil" around the 1:00 mark.

[Maddog78]

The Cap and Trade plan will raise fuel prices.
They gave very little free allowances to the oil industry.
These costs will be passed on to consumers. We'll see how much.

[Tanada]

Notice how he never said it isn't feasible to raise fuel taxes, just that it is not feasible to raise them to European style levels.

You're lumping past and present statements together. In the past he was talking about raising them to European standards but that doesn't mean that he's doing it now. He seems to be talking just about raising them at all. Link to interview

"Beyond that, I think that at this moment in time of recession, we can't be thinking about additional taxes on oil" around the 1:00 mark.

Considering how they are raising taxes on just about everything I find that statement little comfort.

[Ache]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/ ... 99063.html

Drivers can afford to pay higher gasoline taxes to improve their roads, Michigan's top transportation official said while warning more than 125 projects will be delayed if funding is not increased.

State Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle on Tuesday estimated motorists would pay an extra 16 cents per week - "a stick of gum" - for every penny increase in the 19-cents-a-gallon gas tax. He urged lawmakers to support a proposal to convert the gas tax to a percentage tax on the wholesale price of gas, which would rise at capped amounts as prices at the pump increase.

The gas tax could be as high as 34 cents a gallon in five to seven years under the plan that has been announced but not yet officially introduced. The tax would drop slightly this year, reach 24 cents in 2010 and rise no higher than 3 additional cents annually in subsequent years.

Steudle said people do not think twice about buying a $2 or $4 cup of coffee once a week or even every day.

"This will break everybody's back? Really? A half-pack of gum is going to break everybody's back? Let's put this in perspective," Steudle told the House and Senate Transportation committees.

[Colorado 12]

I remember paying $4.07 for gas not more than a year ago and if gas prices stay below that I don't think it will keep anyone off the road...

[heroineworshipper]

They'll just collect more entitlements in exchange for going broke buying gas.

[Tyler_JC]

The problem with gas taxes is that they are inherently regressive.

It's a consumption tax on one of the bare necessities of life, at least in the non-urban United States.

How are working class folks in the suburbs going to afford $4/gallon gasoline to get to work?

We should have been preparing them for the eventually hike in gas prices by slowly raising prices over time to encourage an adjustment to a less gas-hungry society.

Now we are forced to rapidly adjust and that rapid adjustment is coming right out of the standard of living of millions of working class Americans.

The average passenger car consumes roughly 550 gallons of fuel per year. Each dollar increase in gas is $550/year in added cost that must come from somewhere.

[deMolay]

What I don't get, is country folk have to pay tax to support urban transit, even tho we don't use it. But are on our own when it comes to gas taxes. You guys are lucky that you don't live in Canada. Right now locally gas is 95cents per litre or 3.80 a US gallon. A full 45 percent is TAXES.

[dunewalker]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/06/03/ap6499063.html

Drivers can afford to pay higher gasoline taxes to improve their roads, Michigan's top transportation official said while warning more than 125 projects will be delayed if funding is not increased.

State Department of Transportation Director Kirk Steudle on Tuesday...

Easy for him to say---he has a relatively secure government job at a high salary. He forgets that Detroit is part of Michigan. Lots of folks around there might disagree with him.

[GoghGoner]

Voters to decide 3-cent gas tax for streets

City of Estacada voters will weigh in on a proposed 3-cent gas tax to pay for street repairs and improvements in a March 9 special election. If approved, the tax would generate an estimated $150,000 to $160,000 in revenue annually that would be used exclusively for upkeep of Estacada's streets.

I'll definitely be watching this vote. Anybody know of similar referendums? With asphalt prices so high and probably set to go higher to be competitive, this is a logical result, however, are voters logical?

[rangerone314]

Instead of a gas tax, how about a Federal sales tax on gas as a percentage, instead of a fixed amount of cents tacked on?

Then make it so that any wars in oil producing countries have to be financed by a boost to the gas tax.

[vtsnowedin]

With the current level of government spending it will be not just the gas tax but ALL taxes that will soon be going up. The government both state and federal are about up to their limit on all their credit cards and as soon as the people lending them money lose faith in their ability to pay it back in non inflated dollars they will shut off any new credit and a COD government will be raising taxes hand over fist.

[GoghGoner]

Oregon Democrats consider raising gas tax

Oregon lawmakers received a chilly reception on their idea to raise the tax on beer. But they may fare better in their quest to raise gasoline taxes to pay for better roads and fewer bottlenecks.

... snip ...

The last time the Legislature raised the gas tax, in May 2000, opponents gathered enough signatures to put the 2-cent tax hike on the ballot, where voters buried it. That was the fifth time Oregon voters blocked an increase in a tax first adopted in 1919.

[GoghGoner]

Voters to decide 3-cent gas tax for streets

City of Estacada voters will weigh in on a proposed 3-cent gas tax to pay for street repairs and improvements in a March 9 special election. If approved, the tax would generate an estimated $150,000 to $160,000 in revenue annually that would be used exclusively for upkeep of Estacada's streets.

I'll definitely be watching this vote. Anybody know of similar referendums? With asphalt prices so high and probably set to go higher to be competitive, this is a logical result, however, are voters logical?

Voters say give me dirt streets that will ruin my car. In Indiana alone, 500 million dollars of fed stimulus money is being used for road projects -- without that money, many streets would not be resurfaced. Next year, the states will be on their own (maybe).

In Estacada, voters defeated a city gas tax, which would have been used to repair local roads.

[hillsidedigger]

Liquid fuel taxes, electricity taxes and tariffs on imported petroleum and liquid fuels could fully fund the federal and state governments.

This would allow the complete elimination of the system of income tax collection.

Such would encourage conservation and innovative new approaches to living.

These taxes would be fair, cheap and easy to collect and would only amount to about an adiitional $10/gallon on liquid fuels considered with the revenue from electricity taxes and oil tariffs..

[Schadenfreude]

Forbes

Panic is in the air as gasoline prices move above $4.00 per gallon. Politicians and pundits are rounding up the usual suspects, looking for someone or something to blame for this latest outrage to middle class family budgets. In a rare display of bipartisanship, President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner are both wringing their hands over the prospect of seeing their newly extended Social Security tax cut gobbled up by rising gasoline costs.

Unfortunately, the talking heads that are trying to explain the reasons for high oil prices are missing one tiny detail. Oil prices aren’t high right now. In fact, they are unusually low. Gasoline prices would have to rise by another $0.65 to $0.75 per gallon from where they are now just to be “normal”. And, because gasoline prices are low right now, it is very likely that they are going to go up more—perhaps a lot more.

At Au0.0602/bbl, today’s WTI price is only 82% of its average over the past 41+ years. Assuming that gold prices remained at today’s $1,759.30/oz, WTI prices would have to rise by about 22%, to $128.86/bbl, in order to reach their long-term average in terms of gold. As mentioned earlier, such an increase would drive up retail gasoline prices by somewhere between $0.65 and $0.75 per gallon.

At this point, we can be certain that, unless gold prices come down, gasoline prices are going to go up—by a lot. And, because the dollar is currently a floating, undefined, fiat currency, there is no inherent limit to how far the price of gold in dollars can rise, and therefore no ultimate ceiling on gasoline prices.

It's inevitable that the dollar will weaken; the world has been flooded with dollars ever since the wars began.

[vtsnowedin]

Forbes

Panic is in the air as gasoline prices move above $4.00 per gallon. Politicians and pundits are rounding up the usual suspects, looking for someone or something to blame for this latest outrage to middle class family budgets. In a rare display of bipartisanship, President Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner are both wringing their hands over the prospect of seeing their newly extended Social Security tax cut gobbled up by rising gasoline costs.

Unfortunately, the talking heads that are trying to explain the reasons for high oil prices are missing one tiny detail. Oil prices aren’t high right now. In fact, they are unusually low. Gasoline prices would have to rise by another $0.65 to $0.75 per gallon from where they are now just to be “normal”. And, because gasoline prices are low right now, it is very likely that they are going to go up more—perhaps a lot more.

At Au0.0602/bbl, today’s WTI price is only 82% of its average over the past 41+ years. Assuming that gold prices remained at today’s $1,759.30/oz, WTI prices would have to rise by about 22%, to $128.86/bbl, in order to reach their long-term average in terms of gold. As mentioned earlier, such an increase would drive up retail gasoline prices by somewhere between $0.65 and $0.75 per gallon.

At this point, we can be certain that, unless gold prices come down, gasoline prices are going to go up—by a lot. And, because the dollar is currently a floating, undefined, fiat currency, there is no inherent limit to how far the price of gold in dollars can rise, and therefore no ultimate ceiling on gasoline prices.

It's inevitable that the dollar will weaken; the world has been flooded with dollars ever since the wars began.

There is quite a bit of truth in your premise but I don't think you can look to gold as a stable benchmark or reference. There is just to much speculation in gold today to say that the current 1775/TO price is a fair assessment of the value of gold or the value of the dollar. It would be nice to compare to some solid currency elsewhere but those are in short supply. Perhaps a market basket of commodities including steel ,copper, coal, and grain plotted back through a recession or two but even then rising demand for commodities due to increasing population will skew the figures.
I look at it from the hours at work it takes me to fill the gas tank. As my rate of pay will not keep up with the decline in the dollars value that number and hence the cost of fuel will be going up. Bottom line is when the tank is full there will be a whole lot less in wallet for other things.