Not an argument for or against, but some more info
This is an interesting topic, but it goes a little deeper than just the 32 cents per barrel tax. Oil companies are responsible for the direct costs of cleanup from a spill...dollar for dollar. The indirect economic costs like fishing, hotels, tourism, etc. are capped by federal law at $75 million. There is, however a caveat in there that allows for recouping those costs above the cap in the event of a finding of negligence.
The fund that is established by the now 8 cents per barrel tax is what is used to pay these expenses over the $75 million cap, the balance in the fund is now about $1.5 billion, which will not cover the BP problem. So the government wants to raise the tax on the oil companies to fund the economic cleanup fund. This 32 cents per barrel will be passed on to the consumers, it is generally accepted that the effect at the pump will be negligible. Unfortunately, for some reason, the effect on our deficit is $130 billion, for which there is little info.
There has also been an attempt to raise the economic liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion. For those of you that like to blame one political party over another, note that the measure was introduced by a Democrat from Florida, it was killed by a Republican from Idaho.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37205691/ns/gulf_oil_spill/
Now, here's the rub. We pay for this one way or another, either with a 32 cent a barrel tax with minimal impact at the pump, or with significant price increases at the pump because of the increased costs to insure oil rigs and drilling operations with an increased liability. Also, the Republican from Idaho also cited the impact on smaller drillers and noted that they might be forced out of the market because they could no longer afford the $10 billion risk, thus making Big Oil even bigger.
And, while this is occurring, remember that it is occurring under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which is providing billions of dollars of subsidies to oil drillers, and is targeted to the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-oil-spill-subsidies-20100525,0,6081187.story
And again, for those of you who like to keep score by party
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2005-132
So there's the question....Do we, as citizens of the USA underwrite the liability cost of oil to keep gas prices down and maintain some level of competition, or do we let the market pay the costs?
Two things we demand in America are cheap food and cheap gas. Both commodities are significantly underwritten by our tax dollars.
