Will the Leading Presidential Candidates Stop High Gas Prices?

Recently, leading Republican Presidential Candidate John McCain has echoed the proposal made by Hillary Clinton and Ron Paul to suspend the 18.4 cents per gallon Federal gasoline tax this summer to fight high gas prices. This would save drivers about $2.35 every time they filled their tanks, or about $30 over the summer, assuming an average gas tank of 13 gallons. McCain admits that, although this isn't much, it would at least provide a break to low income Americans.

Leading Democratic Candidate Barack Obama opposes a short-term solution stating that eliminating the gas tax this summer is "a phony scheme that nobody thinks is going to work." He stated that "...the oil companies would just jack up their prices to match whatever the reduction was on the gas tax."

These two candidates also suggest long-term solutions. McCain advocates mandatory greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, using carbon trading and emissions permit auctions to provide incentives to industries to develop alternative fuels. Obama's proposals are much more detailed, with an ultimate goal to reduce oil use by 35% by 2030 primarily by investing $150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of biofuels, accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids and promote development of commercial-scale renewable energy.

Both candidates' proposals should provide relief to gas prices, but not until 2012 at the earliest. Neither candidate addresses one of the current causes of high gas prices, which is the pricing bubble in oil futures contracts created by commodities traders. Without further regulation or at least oversight of this market, it is unlikely either candidates' proposals will affect high gas prices anytime soon. For more detail, read Compare the Leading Presidential Candidate's Proposals to End High Gas Prices .

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Background Articles

• How Are Oil Prices Determined?
• Crude Oil Prices Definition
• Gas and Oil Prices - How Oil Prices Affect Gas Prices