President Trump is reportedly considering a 25-cent-per-gallon increase in federal fuel taxes, which haven’t changed since 1993. That’s an idea worth considering.

Recently Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware said that President Trump was floating the possibility of a fuel tax increase of 25 cents per gallon to pay for his new infrastructure plan. If enacted, this would be the first increase in the federal gasoline tax since 1993.

I confess that I don’t like to pay taxes. Like most people, I feel that we are generally overtaxed. On the other hand, I also don’t like budget deficits. I think it’s irresponsible to push bills onto our children.

Paying for Infrastructure

So if we deem something important enough to spend money on, we have to find ways to pay for it. Enter the president’s recently proposed $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan. I won’t debate the plan here, but let’s assume it has enough votes to pass. How do we pay for it?

We could further increase the federal deficit. We could cut spending from some other programs. Or we could raise taxes. It will probably come down to a combination of the three choices, but to the extent that taxes need to be increased, I would argue for increasing fuel taxes.

The Case for Higher Fuel Taxes

There are several reasons I would favor higher fuel taxes, which are influenced by my outlook. So let me first explain that.

I am concerned about dependence on a depleting resource that adds pollutants to the environment every year. This dependence poses a risk to national security (albeit less so in recent years because of the shale oil surge). In addition, oil price shocks are a risk to the economy. Therefore, I believe we need to limit our level of dependence on crude oil, and to shift to more sustainable energy sources.

Raising fuel taxes would help achieve these objectives. Higher fuel taxes could: