Dear Editor:
In reaction to the pain many are feeling at the gas pump, President Biden has proposed a holiday in the federal gas tax for three months and encourages states to follow suit.
While I understand the motivation to provide relief from high prices for those who can afford them the least, suspending the main source of surface transportation funding is not the answer.
This comes as President Biden and members of Congress used these revenues to help pay for the bipartisan Infrastructure Law and its historic investment in constructing physical infrastructure in Ohio and across the country.
Federal gas tax revenues help pay for transportation construction projects in Ohio and keep contractors, engineers and workers on the job.
These projects improve our quality of life and keep the economy growing. Our highways received a D grade in the 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers Ohio Report Card.
The poor condition of our infrastructure costs the economy in many forms– from damage to vehicles, lost time to traffic or delays in supply chain deliveries.
Infrastructure work provides good high-paying jobs for thousands of workers in northwest Ohio. It took decades for agreement on the need to invest more in our nation’s infrastructure.
We can not afford to move backward when the future needs increased investment to stay competitive on a global market.
Solving the issue of high gas prices requires looking at the causes which include record exports of American oil, issues with refineries being on line, labor shortages in the oil and gas industry, consumer demand, uncertainty in the future of hydrocarbons in a cleaner energy future and the market removal of a major oil and gas producer due to the war in Ukraine.
A temporary reduction in gas taxes will not solve these issues. There is no guarantee the oil and gas industry will pass the savings to consumers. There is only a guarantee reduced funding will negatively impact infrastructure investment.
Mike Pniewski
Lucas County engineer
