To raise funds for a number of transportation initiatives across the United States, President Obama has proposed a $10 oil tax per barrel to be phased in over the next five years.
In a statement, the oval office said that the proposed tax would provide money for autonomous driving projects, new highway projects and a selection of additional rail corridors in the government's planned “clean transportation” system.
Such a tax would prompt the private sector to use oil more intelligently therefore reducing carbon dioxide emissions to help limit the affects of climate change.
The White House also said that “the new fee on oil will also encourage American innovation and leadership in clean technologies to help reshape our transportation landscape for the decades ahead.”
However, some of the tax could be passed on to consumers with local fuel prices possibly rising by about 24 cents a gallon.
The release of the proposal comes in the midst of one of the most dramatic falls in oil prices in 15 years_._