Although it would work Charlie, it just does not seem to be the way to go. Do you have any other suggestions
Why not? What objection do you have?
If you want to move us away from fossil fuels the simplest way is to make them more expensive than conservation measures and alternative fuels. There will be great reluctance to do extreme conservation measures (smaller cars, smaller houses, less travel,) and to use more expensive alternative fuels as long as fossil fuels are readily available, cheaper alternative.
One can hide the costs by supplying all sorts of tax breaks and subsidies to conservation and alternative fuel measures, but the hidden cost of that method is that it requires the government to make good choices about what to subsidize. Ethanol from corn is an example of a subsidy that appears to be causing more harm than good.
Directly taxing importation and production of fossil fuels is IMO the most direct, efficient way to reduce our fossil fuel dependency. The only drawback (or advantage) is that it clearly shows the cost of moving away from fossil fuels.
The biggest negative impact of a fossil fuel tax (or the somewhat equivalent carbon tax) is that by raising cost of doing business in the US, it puts us at a disadvantage for exports and will most likely negatively impact our balance of trade.
In real life, it is difficult to have one's cake and eat it too. Choices need to be made. So far, our nations choice (as opposed to rhetoric) is to continue supporting our high standard of living by using cheap, readily available fossil fuels as the primary energy source.
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Rather directly raising the cost of fossil fuel or lowering the cost of alternative fuels and conservation through subsidies, the other alternative is to reduce fossil fuel consumption through shortages, rationing, and general breakdown of our infrastructure.
Having lived through the gas lines of the 1967 and 1973-74 Arab Oil Embargos, I'm not a fan of that method. Nor am I a fan of reducing electric power consumption through brownouts, rolling blackouts, and system failure.
It is a method though, and the advantage is that we can do it without conscious planning simply by using the permitting process to reject all proposals to maintain or expand our energy infrastructure. Although you don't say it explicitly, this appears to be YOUR plan, whether or not you are conscious of it.
Charlie Allen