Politics Of Petro - Alamaba's Roll Tax

Last week Alabama Governor Kay Ivey proposed a10 cents per gallon increase to the states gasoline tax. President Trump recently floated increasing federal gasoline taxes by 50 cents per gallon. Highway funding is being used as the justification for the proposals. The stability of oil prices and the Green New Deal’s animosity toward fossil fuel is transforming gasoline into the governments newest villain that must be taxed.  While no one is proposing increases worthy of a yellow jacket protest, governments are looking for a new consumption candidate, now that cigarettes and cellphones have been fully exploited.

Once again fleets need to be evaluating alternative fuels, and natural gas deserves strong consideration. Natural Gas is still regulated and distributed by utilities and pipelines. Vilifying it is hard to do, as it keeps voters of both parties warm in their homes, and is considered a necessity. Natural gas has never been politically tied to road construction. 

While predicting pricing for energy is difficult, it appears the political appetite for taxing petroleum is growing. We hope to learn more at an upcoming meeting in Washington DC. We would not be surprised to see dramatic tax increases for gasoline and diesel as the new Congress negotiates an infrastructure bill this summer.