Howard will be at our meeting on Tuesday to discuss this. He will also bring hard copies of his proposal. Sue ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- please foward to your list *Draft request for the Chapter Transportation Chairs to Request that the SC Board of Directors Implement: The Sustainable and Secure Energy Policy - 1/06 - HS* * * *Summary: The SC should request that Congress enact a Sustainable and Secure Energy Policy (SEP) which will help Americans pay for the increasing cost of energy they use in their homes with Petroleum Security Rebates (PSR) funded by a $5.00 per gallon user fee on all gasoline and diesel used for transportation. The fee amount represents a low side estimate of the subsidies provided to driving (Note 4). PSR will help develop a majority constituency to support this policy because if all of the user fees are returned equally to US households, then the greater number of households who drive less than the average will pay less in fees than their PSR and they will have extra money to pay for their other energy needs. (note 1)* * * *This is a populist approach to jump start the process that took over thirty years with cigarettes. We have reached the point, that this year in California there is a good chance that a ballot proposal to raise the tax on cigarettes by $2.60 a pack might actually pass. The discussion of the user fee will be like a national referendum in which the majority of households will ask Congress to impose fees so that they can net an extra $100 or $200 a month while we get all of the benefits of less driving. In addition when we reduce our consumption of gasoline the world wide price of crude oil will drop. This will be like the oil exporting nations (when compared to today’s oil price) actually covering part of our energy bill. Using less petroleum is more sustainable because we will have more energy for a future. While needing less oil makes us more secure.* *Policy Details:* *All of the funds generated by the user fees should be rebated monthly to minimize economic impacts on families of modest means. The IRS could direct deposit the rebate monthly, based on actual user fee receipts.* *A full share should be returned to households with more than one person and half share to households with one person. (note 2)* *Fee impacts on the cost of gasoline and the shipment of goods should not be included in the Bureau of Labor Statistic Cost of Living because while the sudden increase in the price of gasoline in the seventies, caused by the rapid increase in the price of oil, resulted in the short term production of smaller more efficient cars, this ended when the higher cost of oil became part of our cost of living and then oil production increased which means that gasoline prices are still lower, when corrected for inflation, than they were in the seventies. (note 3). * * * *Policy Alternatives (not included) Which Need Further Study (to if they might assist passage):* *The user fee could be imposed more slowly with increments every year until energy consumption is reduced by a set amount. This may be necessary because the banks may be concerned that a sudden change could impact property values.* *The rebate could be reduced by 5% in order to provide some annual federal funding for transit improvements to help people drive less. On the other hand, if all of the fees are rebated a few more families will support the policy and each community can find the most suitable ways to improve their transit. * * * *Note 1) The US Census Bureau Historical Income Tables, Households for 1994 shows the median income was $39,389. The US Energy Information Agency shows that for 1994 that: Households (probably with cars) with incomes over $50,000 per year drove 27,700 miles per year; Households with $35 to $50,000 income drove 21,600 and households under $15,000 drove 13,800 miles per year. Households headed by a person over 6o years old (and they vote in highest percentages) drove least and households with teen age drivers drove the most. All US households drove 1,793 billion miles in 1994. There were 85 million households with a car and so the average household with a car drove 21,100 miles in 1994.* * * *Note 2) There are about 109 million households in the US in 2005. About 27 million of these households are persons living alone. (per the Bureau of the Census, Population Division, Current Population Reports p25-1129 1996 - Projection of the Number of Households and Families 1995 -2010) Single person households should only get a half rebate because: a) A full rebate would lower the rebate for all and make it more difficult for Congress to do anything; b) Most single person households will have ample reason to support this policy with a half rebate. * * Based on our consumption of 152 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel in 2004, (per the Petroleum Marketing Annual Report) the total user fees would be about $759 Billion a year and the per household rebate (with single households getting a half rebate) would be about $7,900 a year unless we greatly reduced consumption. * *Congress will probably exempt oil used by farm tractors.* * * *Note 3) This will be similar to the way that federal and state income taxes are not now considered part of our official cost of living. Logically, since the user fee will be rebated it will not really be a cost and should not be included in the cost of living. This is important because including the fee in the Cost of Living will over time minimize the economic impact and gasoline consumption will increase again.* Note 4) The subsidy amount is based on costs estimated from 1992 to 1996, without the cost of oil wars, taken from: www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/subsidies.asp <http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/subsidies.asp> * *