[DannyTN]

Raising taxes on Gas would drive people to be more efficient and consume less. But it would also kill the economy and reduce our lifestyles.

I say build nuclear plants, so that there is an abundance of energy. Provide that energy to hydrogen producers at variable cost, letting other energy consumers pay for the plant overhead, which they would be paying for anyway if nobody was producing hydrogen.

Get the cost of hydrogen fueled vehicles down to the equivalent of $1 per gallon of gas. Then you have a real incentive for people to convert to hydrogen and tell OPEC and the middle east where to put their oil.

[gidget7]

No tell OPEC to get lost and rill our own oil!

[wolf78]

Raising taxes on Gas would drive people to be more efficient and consume less. But it would also kill the economy and reduce our lifestyles.

Not really. First of all it would mean smaller engines and more diesels for trucks. Which doesn't necessarily mean slower or weaker. E.g. the Lincoln Town car uses a 4.6 liter V8 to get 240 hp / 240 lb-ft. Mercedes gets the same kind of power from a four-cylinder diesel (220 hp / 370 torques) in an S-Class. That's 40 mpg and absolute luxury - without even hybridization.

If you raise gas taxes (i.e. taxes on mostly imports from countries we don't like) AND lower all other taxes, especially on American companies, products and labor, it will definitely not kill the economy, quite the other way round.

The problem with Washington is that they never really want to cut taxes and instead keep the additional tax revenue.