The Obama administration will reportedly unveil a proposal next week that would place a $10 tax on each barrel of oil produced in the United States. The proposal is part of the President's budget for fiscal year 2017.
The $10 oil tax would raise an estimated $32 billion, and the money would be used to fund an ambitious program of investments in clean energy, mass transit, high-speed rail, self-driving cars, light rail, subways, buses, and much more. The investments could total $300 billion in new spending.
The proposal would help bring America's infrastructure into the 21st century, and provide "a clear incentive for private-sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and invest in clean-energy technologies that will power our future," according to a White House memo. Related: Fundamentals For Oil Still Bearish, But Sentiment Is Shifting
It would be the largest infrastructure spending program since the Eisenhower administration, which helped build the nation's highway system.
"Since then we've just been bumping along, doing short-term fixes, and I give them a lot of credit for laying out this kind of long-term investment," said former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, co-chair of Building America's Future, a group that advocates for infrastructure spending. He made his comments to Politico, who first reported on the story. "I also give them credit for having the guts to say how they would pay for it all. That's very unusual in this area."
The $10-per-barrel tax on oil stands little chance in the Republican controlled Congress.
By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com
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Nick Cunningham is an independent journalist, covering oil and gas, energy and environmental policy, and international politics. He is based in Portland, Oregon. More
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