THE BURDEN IS THE POINT:

Times Tough for Energy Overhaul: Struggling Economy, Falling Oil Prices Complicate Obama Team's Agenda (NEIL KING JR. and STEPHEN POWER, 12/12/08, Wall Street Journal)

But the next administration will face a range of obstacles on the energy front, from plummeting oil prices and a declining economy to potential rifts among Mr. Obama's own advisers.

In a sign of one major internal difference, Mr. Chu has called for gradually ramping up gasoline taxes over 15 years to coax consumers into buying more-efficient cars and living in neighborhoods closer to work.

"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe," Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.

But Mr. Obama has dismissed the idea of boosting the federal gasoline tax, a move energy experts say could be the single most effective step to promote alternative energies and temper demand. Mr. Obama said Sunday that a heightened gas tax would be a "mistake" because it would put "additional burdens on American families right now."

Workers can avoid oil taxes, but not income taxes.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 16, 2008 4:17 PM