Originally Posted by
dougmc
The claim was, and I quote, "gasoline is HUGELY subsidized". My point is that it (or the industry, to be more precise) does get some subsidies (mostly in the form of tax breaks), but the taxes applied to it and the industry behind it is massively bigger.
OK, are we talking about gasoline or the industry behind it? Because if we're talking only about gasoline (the product, not the industry behind it) -- it's not subsidized in the US at all. Just taxed.
Again, in the US, gasoline (mostly the industry behind it, to be more precise) does gets some subsidies, mostly in the form of tax breaks, but the taxes on fossil fuels directly and on the industries behind it are far, far larger than any subsidies -- so one can not accurately claim that it "gasoline is HUGELY subsidized".
And really, I should have commented on the rest of that sentence too --
... really? DX-MAN thinks that if it wasn't for these tax-breaks that gasoline production wouldn't be profitable? Citations are needed for this as well.
Totally doubt that... but I have read that there IS more profit for the industry in the drilling and shipping of non-gasoline refined products. The industry exported both crude and gasoline from the US last year.
With regard to the taxes issue... we are really talking two different points there... Yes, the industry is taxed on profits, but it IS also subsidized... why? An industry that large with the profit it makes (albeit a low markup) doesn't need a tax break of any kind. Gas tax, as I mentioned, is payed by the consumer... not the industry... try not to mix the two.