Slaking Our Thirst for Oil
Ian Parry and Joel Darmstadter

Chapter 4 in New Approaches on Energy and the Environment: Policy Adivce for the President



Mr. President, in response to the dependency of the U.S. economy on a volatile and uncertain world oil market, we urge that you support phasing in a modest tax on all oil consumption.

Link to Video
Ian Parry on
taxing oil consumption

Link to Video

The oil tax would encourage energy conservation measures throughout the economy, promote R&D on alternative fuels, and help gradually reduce our vulnerability to price volatility over the long term. Its proceeds could permit income tax reductions and a paring down of our national debt.

 

In addition, we believe that you should plan to expand the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and actively draw it down in the event of severe and prolonged oil supply disruptions.

These two measures are more appropriate for reducing the nation’s vulnerability to oil price shocks than are policy interventions to expand domestic oil production.

Link to Chapter 4, Slaking our Thirst for Oil
Download this Policy Recommendation



Related Policy Recommendation:

Chapter 6. Rewarding Automakers for Fuel Economy Improvements 
Carolyn Fischer and Paul R. Portney



Joel Darmstadter studies energy resources and policy, particularly in their relation to economic development. His professional activities have included congressional testimony and participation in National Academy of Sciences studies.
Chapter 5. Stimulating Renewable Energy: A "Green Power" Initiative

 

Ian Parry specializes in environmental, transportation, energy, and tax policies. His recent work has analyzed gasoline taxes, fuel economy standards, mass transit subsidies, alcohol taxes, policies to reduce traffic congestion and accidents, environmental tax shifts, the role of technology policy in environmental protection, and the distributional impacts of pollution control.
Chapter 9. Pay-As-You-Drive for Car Insurance
Chapter 11. Pay as You Slow: Road Pricing to Reduce Traffic Congestion



All Policy Recommendations in New Approaches on Energy and the Environment are available for complimentary download from each chapter's webpage. (Copyright © 2004 by Resources for the Future.) Use of these chapters is for personal use only. Contents may not be duplicated or retransmitted by print, electronic, or other means without written permission of the publisher. To purchase a printed copy of the book, click on the button below.

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Related Links

Link to Feature and Discussion Paper on Energy Dependence

How Should Policy Makers Respond to Growing U.S. Oil Import Dependence?

RFF Senior Fellows Joel Darmstadter and Ian Parry analyze the issues in a Web Feature and Discussion Paper.

Link to Web Feature: Oil Prices Keep Swinging: The Search for Stability

Oil Prices Keep Swinging:
The Search for Stability

Consumers and politicians complain bitterly when oil prices bounce upward, but the remedies all seem to lie decades in the future., suggests Journalist-in-Residence John W. Anderson in this Web Feature.

For a complete list of RFF's work in this area, see Research Topic: Climate, Energy, and Transportation.