Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.energy From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: energy Wed, Jun 10 1992 Date: Wed, 10 Jun 92 05:20:05 EDT Message-ID: 06-10 0000 DECISIONLINE: Energy USA TODAY Update June 10, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network GASOLINE UP AGAIN AT PUMP: Retail gasoline prices recorded their 11th straight week of increases the past week, the American Automobile Association reported Tuesday. The average nationwide price for a gallon of self-serve regular unleaded was up 1.9 cents, at $1.165, for the week ending Tuesday, the auto club said. Prices rose everywhere. Prices have risen or remained unchanged since March 24. STUDY SAYS MOTORISTS SHOULD PAY: American motorists enjoy an annual subsidy of $300 billion - about 15 cents for every mile they drive - but everyone eventually pays the toll in air pollution, lost time and higher taxes, according to a report released Tuesday. The World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, suggested in its report that drivers should be made to pay more of the costs they create. (For more, see special Study package below.) PRICES DIP IN DULL DAY: Oil prices fell in slow trading Tuesday. Light sweet crude oil for delivery in July settled at $22.32 a barrel, down 12 cents, at the Mercantile Exchange. Unleaded gasoline for July delivery closed at 66.87 cents a gallon, down .30 cent. July home heating oil settled at 60.56 cents a gallon, down .75 cent. Natural gas for July delivery settled at $1.634 per 1,000 cubic feet, up .9 cent. TROJAN BACK IN SERVICE: The Trojan nuclear power plant in Portland, Ore., returned to service Tuesday, ending a seven-week maintenance shutdown. Plant operator Portland General Electric tried to bring Trojan back on line last week but the plant automatically shut down due to a malfunctioning switch on a valve controlling the flow of water to the steam generators. EC TO SIGN WARMING TREATY: The European Community is set to sign a declaration at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that would call for mandatory emissions reductions to combat global warming. The declaration is tougher than the summit's treaty, which President Bush had refused to sign until mandatory reductions were removed. U.S. delegate Michael Young called the declaration "a sidebar show." REFINERY WORKER DIES: A worker burned in an explosion at the Frontier Refining Inc. oil refinery fire died Tuesday. Timothy Price, 30, who was burned over 94% of his body, died at the North Colorado Medical Center in Greely, Wyo. Four other people were burned, and two remain in critical condition following Monday's blast in two of the 100 tanks at the refinery in Cheyenne. NERCO ANNOUNCES WELL RESULTS: NERCO Inc. said Tuesday that its NERCO Oil & Gas Inc. subsidiary has successfully tested the No. 3 well in Garden Banks Block 235 which is located offshore Louisiana. The latest field wildcat well encountered three pay zones between 6,500 and 10,000 feet. The deepest of the three sands was tested at a sustained production rate of 9.8 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. NERCO HAVING GOOD SUCCESS RATE: For 1992 through May, NERCO Oil & Gas Inc. had participated in 15 exploratory and development wells of which 12 were operated by the company. Of these 15 wells 11, or 73%, were successful. NERCO Oil & Gas Inc. is currently producing 290 million cubic feet of natural gas, 5,000 barrels of oil and 4,900 barrels of natural gas liquids per day. HEATING OIL LEAKING IN N.H.: The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is searching for the source of a leak that has sent home-heating oil into the Lamprey River in Newmarket since at least Sunday. Workers say underground tanks may be leaking. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON STUDY: IT'S `POLLUTER PAYS' PRINCIPLE: A World Resources Institute report suggests that higher taxes and fees levied against motorists for the costs they create would lessen growing pollution and congestion caused by vehicles. The taxes and fees could be used to cut income, Social Security or other taxes, the report said. "This is basically a matter of the `polluter pays' principle," said Jim MacKenzie, a study co-author. COSTS OF DRIVING LISTED: Motorists' subsidies lie in the cost of police, fire and ambulance work at accidents; productivity lost to accidents and congestion, and funds for highway construction and maintenance, according to the report. It also said motorists consume half of imported oil; in other words, $50 billion of the cost of keeping troops in the Middle East could be considered a cost of driving. SOME COSTS ARE AHEAD: Some of the costs aren't being paid now but could cost the world in the future, MacKenzie said. One example is global warming, which is believed caused by carbon dioxide emissions. U.S. vehicles release 350 million tons of carbon a year. Steady growth in the number of vehicles and miles traveled has negated gains made since 1970 in making cars run more cleanly. HIGHER GAS TAX PROPOSED: Among the suggestions the report made was higher gasoline taxes. Gasoline costs less than bottled water, MacKenzie pointed out. It also suggested higher truck taxes, an end to free workplace parking, rush-hour tolls on highways, and a tighter link between zoning and transportation to lessen auto-dependent suburban sprawl. MOST STEPS WOULD BE OPPOSED: Realistically, MacKenzie said such steps would face strong opposition, especially from trucking and oil lobbyists. And polls have shown that most consumers oppose higher gasoline taxes. But he said taxing pollution more heavily would allow lower taxes on income and investments. "It's tough politics, but everyone knows we need economic reforms," said the institute's Rafe Pomerance. (End of package.) Energy Editor: William Snoddy. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM