Lawmakers in Washington are considering a proposal to help curb prices at the pump.
The summer driving season is approaching, but average gas prices are at record highs. Now some in Congress are pushing for a gas tax holiday. Federal taxes amount to 18.4 cents per gallon. Georgia and Maryland have each passed laws to temporarily suspend their state tax on gasoline. However, David Holt, the president of Consumer Energy Alliance, doubts a temporary suspension of the federal gas tax would have that much of an impact.
“A gas tax holiday is a Band-Aid on the side of a ship that’s leaking water and sinking,” Holt said. “We really need a sensible policy and it’s just confusing why this administration won’t see that.”
He says the Biden administration needs to lift restrictions on the oil and gas industry.
“Why they won’t meet with the industry, why they won’t remove these permitting slowdowns, why they won’t announce a lease sale on the Gulf of Mexico, all those things could be done today, and it would send such a strong market signal that oil prices globally would go down,” Holt explained.
Many experts believe increasing domestic energy production is the long-term solution to the sky-high gas prices.