Tax gas to finance energy research

Now that a new president and administration is in place, it is the perfect time to deal with the "energy crisis" and once and for all get off center and do something about it. We heard all the rhetoric during the campaign that there were many ideas on the table as to how to deal with the challenge. I would offer the following as a method of paying for all of the ideas which may be adopted and would not require the '"Federal government" to fund in these difficult times. The current cost of gasoline is around $2 a gallon, almost $2.25 a gallon less than it was just seven months ago. I would purpose a 50 cents to $1 per gallon tax on gas for the coming year while we study the right energy programs to fund.

By year's end we would have collected enough revenue to pay for all research and development of these programs that will ultimately allow us to become energy independent. Paying as we go instead of creating more "federal' debt. This is an over simplification to a complex issue of how to fund energy independence. And since we the public will ultimately pay for the cost of accomplishing independence, we may as well do it in this manner.

I believe that all Americans would support such a program. The key is that this revenue should go into a separate fund in government and not be co-mingled into the general fund. It could be managed by the energy department but oversight should be done by CUB or some independent agency to keep it from being used for none energy initiatives.

Tom Rajcan

Wheaton