With oil prices plummeting, Obama says now is time to raise gas tax

Updated Feb 10, 2016

Gas prices are continuing to drop to historic lows, and there’s really no sign the trend will reverse any time soon. With that in mind, President Barack Obama thinks now is as good a time as any to raise the gas tax.

According to The Hill, Obama told reporters last week the low prices on gas and the recent lift of the 40-year-old ban on crude oil exports makes the country as ripe as ever to raise the tax on gas for the first time since 1992.

“It’s right to do it now, when gas prices are really low,” Obama said. “And they will be low for quite some time to come, so it’s not going to be a disruptive factor in terms of the economy.”

The White House called last week for a $10-per-barrel tax on oil production in order pay for a new $32.4 billion green transportation plan. The plan, which would be included in Obama’s final budget request as president, would try to cut carbon emissions by funding public transportation, an urban planning initiative and research on clean vehicles.

The Hill reports Obama’s plan was met with quick opposition from Republican lawmakers and the oil industry, but the president didn’t back down.

“If we say to them, ‘Alright, oil companies, we know that you’re having to retool, we know that prices are low right now, you’re allowed to export,'” Obama said. “But what we’re also saying is that we’re going to … impose a tax on a barrel of oil — imported, exported — so that some of that revenue can be used for transportation, some of that revenue can be used for the investments in basic research and technology that’s going to be needed for the energy sources of the future.”