On Energy Dependence and the Role of Government
An interesting observation from TaxProf Blog:
"Since 1977, governments collected more than $1.34 trillion, after adjusting for inflation, in gasoline tax revenues—more than twice the amount of domestic profits earned by major U.S. oil companies during the same period."Also, I think I remember saying something during the discussion on energy dependence about "oil shale" in Colorado. You probably had no idea what I was talking about, so here's an article about it.
UPDATE: Here's more evidence: Checking SEC 10-Q filings, one can see that "oil companies make 10 cents per gallon on gasoline while Federal, State and Local Government make a combined total of 45 cents."
posted by Wagner @ 10:19 AM
4 Comments:
I found a survey at http://www.osc.state.ny.us/press/releases/oct05/102705.htm showing that increased energy prices will cost local governments at Least
$375 million more this year. I think this survey points out that it's not just the average person who wants to see lower energy prices, especially gasoline, but also our local governments. Our state and federal government has to suffer along with us and, I think, this should encourage these institutions to find solutions. According to New York state comptroller Alan G. Hevesi, "The results of that survey demonstrate that these increases will have a dramatic and negative impact on local governments. Given the fragile balance in local government budgets, it is critical that the State develop effective short-term and long-term solutions to alleviate this crisis.” This is a crisis because as long as we have to pay more for energy the less we have to spend on other things like education and building businesses.
the government knows exactly what it is doing. i havent done a lot of research on this subject matter quite yet, but by the looks of it, acquiring crude oil is getting harder by the day, and in the future, we will eventually jump on the bandwagon and join the companies producing oil sands. maybe thats the new wave of energy sweeping across the world. the fact is- resources worldwide are becoming scarce. the world fails to see that people in developed countries are consuming at a pace far beyond belief. just in the past 100 years we can see a massive increase in consumption. we have steered away from a generation that tilled the earth and gaurded natural resources as precious.
as for petroleum- directly, i just hope prices decrease soon, because it is altering the way many americans live, and the way i live! many people are having to consume differently, and others cannot maximize their goal of the "american dream" because of high prices in many areas.
if we have the ability to tap into oil sands locally, lets do it! but lets make sure we do our homework and properly research to properly "time" when to come in with this new wave of energy. let us hold off on the current market of petroleum energy and see where it takes us. once the economy can no longer handle it, tap into oil sands. and the govt can lead the way forward!
It is true that the government knows exactly how much money will it earn from taxing on oil companies. The government has always forecasted everything in advance. It is ridiculous to see how much money oil companies earned in the last 9 months. They made about $390 billion dollars in the last 9 months if I am correct. I think the government has not tax enough from oil companies.
The US government should not depend upon foreign cruide oil because the US has enough resouces, land, and money to create our own cruide oil. One solution is that the US government should open some parts of Alaska' wildlife reserve to find oil. This way, we don't have to depend other countries for oil again.
Well PO BOX, it doesn't look like we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska's wildlife refuge anytime soon - Congress just killed that plan.
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