Yesterday Congress adjourned without taking any action on energy policy. While not surprising, it’s really a shame for a lot of reasons. Some reasons we hear a lot about. Some we don’t.
For example, when the price of gasoline was only $1.25 a gallon, federal and state governments had no problems raising gas taxes. But now that fuel prices are up, revenue shortfalls caused by decreased gasoline demand, combined with poor energy policy, is contributing to a severe shortfall in highway funds. An L.A. Times report from July 21 gives an overview of the problem.
The President’s and Congress’ budget offices agree that the Federal Highway Account is projected to have a negative balance as early as 2009 or as late as 2011, respectively.
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