Upcoming Congressional Debate Concerning Oil Excise Tax

Everyone has heard the recent television commercial concerning the upcoming gas tax. The commercial states that this new tax will increase the price of gas resulting in further layoffs; and is bad for the economy especially at this critical time of stagnant economic expansion. This tax is not new and was in existence at the time of Presidents Regan’s and George Bush’s administrations. This so called “Superfund Tax” expired in 1996 and the fund ran out of funds in 2003. The funds were used to clean up the orphan sites when no viable responsible party could be found. Orphan share sites currently account for 606 of the 1,279 sites on the national priority list. This “New Tax” would, if passed, increase excise tax on oil and gas, as well as some chemicals, realizing that a proportion of these products will end up in a superfund site requiring remedial action. If the tax is not passed into law, then we tax payers will have to continue to foot the bill. I don’t think it’s right for taxpayers to always be paying for corporate compliance, and in this case, environmental regulations. Polluters should pay as the Superfund law was intended.