Tuesday, 12 Mar 2013 12:07 PM

By Glenn J. Kalinoski and David Nelson

Look for President Barack Obama to attempt an increase in the federal excise tax on gasoline, according to John Licata, CEO and chief energy strategist at Blue Phoenix Inc.

The founder of Blue Phoenix, an independent research company focused on next generation energy, cited a Q&A featuring Ernest Moniz, who has been nominated by Obama to be the next energy secretary.

“In that Q&A was a response that he came out with that said it is possible that the biggest threat out there right now is certainly climate change, and we might want to look into perhaps opening up the discussion of pricing carbon dioxide,” Licata told Newsmax TV in an exclusive interview.

“[This] makes me think that we’re actually going to see the president move forward with an attempt at raising the federal excise tax on gasoline.”

The current federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon. Licata compared the nation’s relatively minor tax on the fuel compared with other nations around the world, some of which charge $4 to $5 per gallon.

In addition to stating that the United States doesn’t have an energy policy, he also questioned why the nation doesn’t have policies in place to support efficiencies in wind and solar power.

“How come the U.S. doesn’t have any offshore wind,” he said. “It’s mind-boggling that in a country that is trying to move forward in a modern industrialized energy society we don’t support offshore wind. I find that fascinating,” he said.

“As we’re starting to see the price of solar start to come down, we still don’t see, from a federal perspective, a lot of initiative.”

Licata also cited Moniz’s background as a nuclear physicist.

“The fact that he is pro-nuclear is something I personally can resonate, being pro-advance nuclear modular reactors in the U.S.,” Licata said. “I think that is a step in the right direction.”

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