A Time to Heal: on Energy & Oil
Gerald Ford:
No gas tax increase to solve energy crisis
Even after the Arab oil embargo of 1973, Congress failed to see the need for a comprehensive energy policy. There seemed to be only 3 broad options available to meet this serious threat to our economic stability.- Increase our domestic supply of
energy
- Conserve and manage energy demand
- Establish standby emergency programs similar to the gas rationing.
It would be difficult to persuade Congress to move on any of these fronts. The head of the Federal Energy
Administration believed that one of the "obvious" solutions to the energy problem was an increase in the gasoline excise tax of about 20 cents per gallon. When reporters asked me if I agreed with him, I replied that I thought it was the wrong approach.
Not only was the idea impractical--Congress would never pass such a tax--it was also inequitable, because if would place the full burden of conservation on the purchasers of gasoline. So it was not going to be included in the energy package.
Source: A Time To Heal, by Gerald Ford, p.228-229
Jan 15, 1975
Gerald Ford:
Higher taxes on oil to reduce imports
I turned my attention to the speeches I was scheduled to give on the economy and the energy crisis. I would urge the imposition of higher taxes on both imported & domestic oil and natural gas to encourage the conservation of fuel. The levies would reduce
our projected oil imports by about 1 million barrels a day by the end of 1975 and 2 million barrels a day by the end of 1977. The revenues from these new taxes would flow back into the economy in the form of additional tax cuts and credits and payments
to the poor. I was well aware that this plan contained risks. The increased taxes on energy could boost inflation by hiking the cost of oil and could deflate the economy by leaving industry with less money to spend in other areas. But I would have to
accept these risks.
[In the State of the Union speech], "America needs a new direction," I concluded, "a change of course which will put the unemployed back to work, increase real income and production, and achieve energy independence."
Source: A Time To Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald Ford, p.230-233
Jan 13, 1975
Page last updated: Feb 25, 2019