For the duration of the emergency, gas users will have access to magnetic debit cards in which are embedded a national quarterly target of per-consumer gasoline. Drivers whose allotted amount of gas doesn't meet their needs can buy part or all of someone else's allotment. For the average driver, this distribution plan would not increase gasoline costs. A consumer would pay the same out-of-pocket cash per gallon, and the government wouldn't get its hands on any more of the taxpayers' dollars. It is a more efficient way of distributing energy because it employs market incentives to allow heavier gasoline users to get what they need without increasing overall consumption of energy.
What's your take on his comment that the government would not get more taxes. Is he just saying that the price of gasoline would be less since the government was setting it or is there more to it than that. Perhaps this voucher/rationing suggestion is meant to protect truckers, farmers and the like.
There is no gov't solution to this problem, except to free up the market, i.e. stop hindering exploration and exploitation of available resources.
It is an emergency situation where gasoline and heating oil need to be rationed. In rationing they had coupon books. Eggs, meat, whatever was limited, would be purchased only on presentation of a coupon. If I got a ration book for 12 gallons of gasoline and three eggs and didn't need ten gallons and two eggs, I could trade or sell my coupons. If it is done by magnetic cards, the police function of the state could get really nasty. I could see where the police function would estimate the amount of heating oil needed in a region for the winter, and a harsh month sets in and people freeze to death before the central planners can react. If we get into shortages, this is the kind of thing that would probably come about, in fact, the people would demand it.
I'm assuming it would work something like my electricity bill does (and I assume other areas have the same concept.) If I stay below whatever my target electricity usage is, I pay a low price. If I go above the target, I pay successively (and punitively) higher prices. I can use a lot of electricity if I want to, but there is a dramatic savings if I stay within the target.
The debit card is just a way of tracking a user's overall usage during the month vs. the target.
It does lead to having a centralized system controlled by the government for managing the way that all gas stations sell their product, since if one station opted out of it, it would defeat the purpose.
Where this leads (because I saw it happen with electricity) is that the government will set the targets so that they are so low that there is nothing you could possibly do to reach them. So everyone will be paying for some large amount of their gas at the high price. Which will increase tax income to the government, so they have a lot of incentive to do that. I'm not sure that this program has actually led to any conservation of electricity, although I'm sure that in theory it could if the targets were set realistically.