Majority of voters favor gasoline-car phaseout. But all-electric goal faces tough opposition in Senate
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
Please enable Javascript to watch this video
MADISON, Wis. – This is the first year in 20 years that gas prices are below $2 a gallon.
And with President Barack Obama’s plan to end the oil drilling moratorium in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge off the East Coast, some Wisconsinites are wondering if the era of cheap gas is now gone.
“That was one of the reasons we moved to Madison,” says Jeff Seideman. “It’s a better place to live, better jobs, better quality of life. What other place in the country is it that is going to be able to withstand these kinds of spikes in prices?”
“Well, it depends on how fast you want to run out,” says Ken Bensinger. “But even if you have gas at $2.30 a gallon, you know the president wants to increase the gas tax by $1 billion, so you might want to run out just a little sooner.”
President Obama’s energy plan, which he released this summer, calls for ending the ban on oil drilling in the U.S. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge along the Canadian border and establishing a National Energy Technology Research and Development Plan. That would make electric transportation a national priority and would include an all-electric vehicle standard and fuel efficient motor.
“It’s about doing the right thing for taxpayers,” says Bensinger. “It’s a good plan. It’s just not something that’s easy for this administration to do. They want some kind of tax increase to pay for some of these things. But they also want to spend some sort of money on more education, so it’s a tough sell.”
The GOP opposes the proposals, which they say would drive
