Proposed oil tax can be a good thing for US economy: Obama

Strongly defending his decision to propose a USD 10-a-barrel on import and export of oil, US President Barack Obama today said it is a very good thing for American economy and it will not be disruptive to the country's economy.
"We're going to impose a tax on a barrel of oil imported, exported, so that some of that revenue can be used for transportation. Some of that revenue can be used for the investments in basic research and technology that's going to be needed for the energy sources of the future," Obama told reporters at a White House news conference.

"Then 10 years from now, 15 years from now, 20 years from now, we're going to be in a much stronger position when oil starts getting tight again; prices start going up again.
"We will have further weaned our economy off of dirty fuels. We will have not just made environmental progress, but we'll also have a much stronger economy, a stronger infrastructure. We will be creating the jobs of the future. We'll look back and we'll say that was a smart investment. That was a wise decision for us to make," he said.
But the point is, it's right to do it now when gas prices are really low. And they will be low for quite some time to come. So, it's not going to be a disruptive factor in terms of the economy, Obama said.

Noting that right now, gas is USD 1.80, he said it is expected to be low for a while, for the foreseeable future.
"That overall can be a good thing for the economy," he said.
"But what is also important is that we use this period where gas prices are low to accelerate a transition to a cleaner energy economy because we know that's not going to last," the US President said.