The Environmentalism of the Oil Price I

As part of the ongoing series when I grow up, I want to be like Megan McArdle:

The central contradiction of today’s environmental awareness is its relationship with the high price of gas. Many environmental minded friends have commented how good it is that high oil prices increase support for environmental policies. However, the two goals are, often, opposed. While both high prices and environmental awareness pushes for energy conservation (the good thing), most people want gas prices to go down and long-term gas conservation requires them to go up.

This leads to ironic contradictions like Barack Obama’s proposed tax on oil companies. It gathers support from a visceral need for revenge against the supposed large profits of oil companies (in fact, they aren’t really all that great). This need for revenge is derived from anger against high oil prices. However, the only good that would come out of such a tax is higher gas prices. It’s just a form of an increase in gas tax in a disguise aimed at gathering support from people who are upset at the price of gas. In some ways, it’s brilliant politics.