The Council on Foreign Relations is recommending a tax on gasoline to reduce dependence. This is an idea that is gaining ground among conservatives.

It’s also not borne out by experience. The EU has high taxes on gas resulting in current prices of about $6 a gallon, but automobile miles traveled have increased about 2 percent per year since 1995. If the European experience is anything to go by, the tax on gasoline would have to be well over $4 a gallon to have any real effect. Perhaps members of Congress concerned about “oil addiction” for whatever reason will suggest this in the run-up to the election? It’d be the responsible thing to do, surely?