As a rule big business hates higher taxes. So it would come as no surprise to find the oil and gas industry upset about climate change legislation that would increase levies at the gas pump. But industry groups are open to the idea now under consideration by senators writing climate legislation provided the additional money goes into the cash-strapped Highway Trust Fund.
Our position on raising gas taxes is neutral to agnostic" said Cathy Landry a spokeswoman for the
American Petroleum Institute (API).
Thats a far cry from the organizations stance on the House-passed cap-and-trade climate bill which prompted an aggressive API advertising campaign decrying higher energy taxes.
The model of capping all greenhouse gas emissions across the economy and creating a market for trading emissions allowances lacks enough support in
the Senate to fend off a filibuster.
In an attempt to break the impasse John Kerry D-Mass.; Lindsey Graham R-S.C.; and Joseph I. Lieberman I-Conn. are trying to put together a package that would take a sector-by-sector approach.
The concept would cap emissions by utilities and by manufacturers but establish different rules for each sector and phase in the limits on different timetables.
For the transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions would be addressed by a tax that motorists would pay when they filled their tanks.
Any tax increase is likely to be a tough sell.
But advocates of climate change legislation stand to gain political support from
lawmakers and interest groups pressing to find new funding for transportation infrastructure.
Congress has had to use billions of dollars in general revenue in the last two years to shore up the
Highway Trust Fund which pays for highway bridge and transit construction.
If they could get the gas tax and the Highway Trust Fund piece right that might be the key to the whole thing" said a former Senate aide involved in advising key players on the current climate change negotiations.
lawmakers and interest groups pressing to find new funding for transportation infrastructure.
Congress has had to use billions of dollars in general revenue in the last two years to shore up the Highway Trust Fund which pays for highway bridge and transit construction.
If they could get the gas tax and the Highway Trust Fund piece right that might be the key to the whole thing" said a former Senate aide involved in advising key players on the current climate change negotiations.
