John Dingell and Taxes

I just heard that John Dingell, Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, wants to raise gas taxes by $0.50 per gallon. Dingell has been in the House for longer than anyone else and has considerable power on Capitol Hill. That just proves that Democrats have no interest in lowering gas prices. Instead, they are using taxes to control behavior.

I don't buy the whole global warming thing. Puny man does not have power to change the weather patterns of the planet. Nevertheless, I want a more fuel efficient society for other reasons. I see national security reasons for lower oil imports. I would love to send less money sent to the Middle East.

Even though I don't believe in global warming, I think being good stewards of God's creations requires us to take care of the planet. The biggest threat to the environment is that industries will leave the United States for more friendly regulatory regimes. If an industry leaves the US for the third world, China, or India, the lower emission standards in those countries will resuld in a net decrease in the quality of the environment.

If industries stay in the US, they will benefit from higher US productivity. By staying in the US, innovation will follow faster to increase energy efficiency and the environment will improve. As the technology is developed to improve emissions, it can be passed to the developing countries to allow for their faster and cleaner growth.