The idea of taxing an already over-priced commodity is not only ignorant, but could also cause further financial burdens on already struggling families. To begin, the national average high for gasoline was actually $4.11/gallon according to AAA, not $3.88, which the author claims. This not only makes the apparent burden higher than claimed, but also calls into question the credibility of the author’s statistics. High fuel prices affect American families not only at the pump, but also at the market. High prices for fuel used in transportation and farming forces grocery prices up, further burdening families. Coming from rural Illinois, I have directly seen the effects of high fuel prices on farmers. It cuts into their profit margins and forces them to sell off their land to developers and raise prices.

There is also no need to “steer” the market towards better fuel efficiency; that is already being done. The reason that the “Big Three” are failing is not solely because of an ailing economy, but also because of the stiff competition from fuel-efficient foreign competitors. The highest selling car in America since 2002 is the Toyota Camry, a foreign, fuel-efficient car. The free market has spoken; Americans DO want fuel-efficiency and American automakers dropped the ball by continuing to build gas-guzzlers; that is why they are failing.

Global warming or climate change, whichever name you want to use, is false; it is not a proven fact. Let me end by quoting the late, great Ronald Wilson Reagan, “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”