[Mb-civic] Who's Afraid of a Gas Tax? By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

[Michael Butler]

The New York Times
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March 1, 2006
Op-Ed Columnist
Who's Afraid of a Gas Tax?
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

My gut told me this was the case, but it's great to see it confirmed by the
latest New York Times/CBS News poll: Americans not only know that our oil
addiction is really bad for us, but they would be willing to accept a
gasoline tax if some leader would just frame the stakes for the country the
right way.

I am sure one reason President Bush suddenly chose to build his State of the
Union address around ending our oil addiction and moving toward a
renewable-energy future was because his private polling told him the same
thing. But Mr. Bush simply occupied this ground rhetorically ‹ before
Democrats could get there ‹ without actually offering a real solution.

The only real solution is raising our gasoline tax, which is a paltry 18.4
cents a gallon and has not been increased since 1993. Only if the total
price of gasoline is brought into the $3.50-to-$4-per-gallon range ‹ and
kept there ‹ will large numbers of Americans demand plug-in hybrid cars that
run on biofuels like ethanol. When large numbers of Americans do that, U.S.
automakers will move quickly down the innovation curve.

"Impossible," campaign consultants say. "A gasoline tax is political
suicide." No, it all depends on how you frame it.

The poll reported yesterday found that 60 percent of those polled, including
one-third of Republicans, disapproved of how Mr. Bush is handling our energy
crisis. Only 27 percent approved. Most want real action ‹ now. In the poll,
87 percent said Washington should require car manufacturers to produce more
efficient cars.

Of course, when asked simply whether they'd favor a gasoline tax, 85 percent
said no and only 12 percent said yes. But when the gas tax was framed as
part of a national strategy to achieve energy security and climate security,
pollsters got a very different answer. When the tax was presented as
reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, 55 percent favored it and 37
percent said no. And when asked about a gas tax that would help reduce
global warming, even more respondents supported it ‹ with 59 percent in
favor and 34 percent opposed.

And that is without a single Democrat or Republican leading on this issue!
Imagine if someone actually led?

Many Americans now understand: the Energy Question is the big strategic
issue of our time, overtaking 9/11 and the war on terrorism. If a leader
from either party would correctly frame the issue ‹ that a gas tax is the
single most important geostrategic move we could make today ‹ a solid
majority would support it.

Taking on this issue is the only hope the Bush team has for producing a
legacy out of its remaining years. And it is the Democrats' only hope for
taking on the Republicans with a big idea ‹ rather than relying on G.O.P.
scandals to win.

Sadly, both sides fear the other will smear them if they run on this issue.
O.K., say you're running for Congress and you propose a gas tax, but your
opponent denounces you as a wimpy, tree-hugging girlie-man, a
tax-and-spender. What do you say back?

I'd say: "Oh, really? I guess you think it is smart, tough and patriotic for
us to be financing both sides in the war on terrorism ‹ the U.S. military
with our tax dollars, and Al Qaeda, Iran and various hostile Islamist
charities with our energy purchases.

"Now how patriotic is that? I guess you haven't noticed that today's global
economic playing field has been leveled and that three billion new players
from India, China and Russia have walked onto the field, buying new cars,
homes and refrigerators. So if we don't break our addiction to crude oil,
we're going to heat up this planet so much faster ‹ enough to melt the North
Pole and make Katrina look like a summer breeze.

"Now how smart is that? I guess you don't realize that because of this
climate change and the rising cost of crude, green technologies are going to
be the industry of the 21st century, and a gasoline tax is the surest way to
make certain that our industries innovate faster and dominate innovation in
green cars, homes and appliances.

"Finally, I guess you haven't noticed that the wave of democratization that
seemed unstoppable after the fall of the Berlin Wall has run into a black
counterwave of petro-authoritarianism. This black wave of oil-financed
autocrats ‹ Venezuela, Russia, Iran, Nigeria, Burma, Saudi Arabia ‹ has all
the money in the world now to turn back the democratic tide. And you think
doing nothing to reverse that is patriotic? Shame on you, you unpatriotic
wimp. Green is the new red, white and blue, pal. What color are you?"

That's what I'd say.

Maureen Dowd is on a book tour.

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