Submitted by Joseph Smith, Riverside
To the Editor:
Regarding his July 6, 2022 email with the subject line “Reducing gasoline prices by relaxing regulations?”, Harry Arora essentially wants us to think it’s wise to:
• Worsen air pollution in a district that is ground zero for some of the most polluted air in North America;
• Scuttle good-paying American jobs of hard-working Americans; and
• Turn a blind eye to human rights abuses all under the guise of a far-fetched and misguided notion that doing so would reduce the price of gasoline, but by how much and to what end?
Reckless, unconscionable, and irresponsible – not to mention just plain un-American – are the nicest things one can say about Mr. Arora’s proposal.
I purposely omitted use of the title “Representative” because Mr. Arora clearly does not represent the majority of voters of conscience in Connecticut’s 151st house district.
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Text of Arora July 8th e-blast
| Dear friends and neighbors, Increased gasoline prices are a significant hardship for CT residents. While current high prices are a result of several reasons including the Russian invasion, there are several strategies the Federal and state governments can pursue to bring down gasoline prices. However, each of these options has trade-offs. Click HERE to take a three-question survey to provide your input on whether the government should make these trade-offs. Relaxing summer grade gasoline standards: Most residents are unaware that the 1990 Clean Air Act mandates that the gasoline sold in the summer have different evaporation standards. As a result of those required specifications, certain petroleum components cannot be added during the summer. This reduces the amount of gasoline that can be produced in the summer leading to higher pries. In normal years, this increase is a few cents, but in periods when supply is limited, the price impact is substantial. Relaxing the summer grade standard would lead to higher evaporation and somewhat higher pollution in the short run but could lead to a significant drop in summer gas prices. Such temporary waivers have been done in the past. I support such a change to bring prices down. Would you support temporarily relaxing summer standards? Relaxing Jones Act: Another regulation that surprises most residents is that we have a rule that mandates that all sea cargo transported between US ports (like Houston to NY) use US-made ships with US crews. The problem is that there is a shortage of such vessels because of higher costs. Relaxing the Jones Act and allowing non-US owned and crewed ships would reduce gasoline prices. I am fully supportive of such a change. Do you support doing that? Negotiating with Saudis: The US and Saudis have traditionally been business partners, and the Saudis have consistently acted to dampen high oil prices during a crisis at the behest of the United States. However, US-Saudi relations have deteriorated in the last couple of years over human rights issues. Our current administration refuses to deal with their acting Prince and supports a deal with Iran which the Saudis opposed. Should the administration overlook the Saudi’s totalitarian behavior and negotiate with them to ensure they produce the maximum crude oil possible. Crude oil is processed into gasoline, so lower crude oil prices will lead to lower gasoline prices. I believe that given the Saudi control of oil prices it is important for us to engage and negotiate with them. We may not share values with them but we should have a working relationship with them for practical reasons. Do you support engaging with the Saudis again? The folly of gas tax waivers: Several states, including CT, have reduced gas taxes to help customers. This measure is an economic mistake. Economists agree that for a commodity with no supply elasticity – which means that higher prices do not bring any more supply, all government support ends up in higher prices for the producer. That is basic economics. The recent experience bears it out. CT lowered taxes a few months ago, but our prices have not seen any relief. Please take the three-question survey by clicking HERE. High gasoline and energy prices can be addressed using smart policies. We need the state and Federal administration to adopt smart policies to make that happen. |
| Sincerely, Harry Arora Ranking Member Labor Committee Member – Human Services, Energy & Technology |