Fossil fuel opponents are no doubt gratified by these developments, as it is exactly what they have been pushing for. I'm sure they would like to see prices double, and then double again.

@JosephDavis. Your comment makes no sense. The article discusses cutting taxes or rebates to car owners. Neither of which will reduce consumption and both of which are bad ideas.

Lots of road and infrastructure spending comes from gas taxes and as vehicles have gotten both heavier and more efficient the state earns less and less per mile driven. I don't know about where you drive, but most of the roads I drive on are in pretty bad shape. Gas taxes actually have those that use the roads pay for part of their upkeep. That sounds good to me.

And even at $6+ a gallon prices, lots of bottled water costs more per gallon! When water is more than gas, there is something fundinementally wrong.

The article also points out that lowering taxes in an effort to help drivers doesn't mean actual gas prices will drop commensurate my, if at all.

State taxes are 51 cents a gallon, if I remember correctly. Even if zeroed out, it'd be less than a 10% reduction in prices.

Most people who buy cars think about the payment they can afford and the current price of gas. This is despite the fact that cars last over 15 years on average and go through three owners. This "what can I afford today" attitude instead of thinking "what might happen over my lifetime of ownership" is why the used car lots fill up with SUVs and full sized pickups when gas prices spike. Last week my contractor arrived in his wife's Honda Element instead of his F-250 4x4 King Cab.

All the talk of lowering the gas tax means we aren't paying for the maintenance of our infrastructure..it's just a way to buy off the public who bought inefficient vehicles who are squeezing like stuck pigs because they didn't have the foresight to think gas prices might rise sometime.

Matt:

bottled water costs more than $6/gal because people are stupid enough to pay that for it. Most of it is filtered tap water. Gas costs more than $6/gal because it is an essential fuel for which there is little to no alternative.

The "Elephant in the Room' is that no one is addressing the nativity & incompetence of both the federal & State Gov'ts. The staring question should be:

What problem are we trying to solve? My answer is: "No increase in global emissions & at the same time reduce the cost of oil/natural gas/gasoline to control the raging inflation caused by them - All of your Amazon purchases are products make with petroleum & shipped to you via petroleum & your food is mainly grown using fertilizers made fro petroleum. It would be great to get away from this dependence on oil, but no matter what we do it is many many years away.

The obvious answer is to STOP buying oil from our enemies (Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, etc.) Instead, unleash (STOP being at war with our own industries!) the US Energy business and build pipelines to serve the & Europe. BTW, replace all the dirty coal used for power in Germany, China, India , etc. with USA Natural Gas & VASTLY reduce Global pollution!

Solve the REAL & long-term problem, don't just "Feel Good"!