Critics Irate Over Obama's Proposed $10 Per Barrel Oil Tax

President Obama says the proceeds would go to clean transportation and climate control initiatives

Not with a bang but with a whimper: that's how critics believe U.S. President Barack Obama's proposed $10 per barrel tax on oil will die when it's presented to the Republican-controlled Congress that oversees spending, media reports.

The tax, part of Obama's 2017 budget plan and whose proceeds would go to clean transportation and climate control initiatives, is viewed by supporters as a remedy to the traditional U.S. transportation system, which, they say, is inefficient and imposes $160 billion in hidden taxes on businesses and commuters.

It's unclear if democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton will embrace Obama's tax proposal, which would be phased in over a five year period, but the White House this week declared that it "creates a clear incentive for private sector innovation to reduce our reliance on oil and at the same time invests in clean energy technologies that will power our future."

If successful, such a tax has the potential to have a significant impact on U.S. bunker prices, especially given the current low crude price outlook.

But business leaders weary of what they perceive to be Obama's ongoing social engineering efforts predict a swift end for the proposal:  "Absolutely" dead on arrival, according to Tom Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, adding that  "There's nothing like a president in his last year in office to show us his stripes."

Neal Kirby, a spokesman for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, told reporters that "At a time when oil companies are going through the largest financial crisis in over 25 years, it makes little sense to raise costs on the industry."

The plan could "put American oil companies at a competitive disadvantage with foreign oil companies, as imported oil may not face the same treatment," according to Kirby.

Politico concluded that "Obama's entire budget request is expected to be dead on arrival on GOP-controlled Capitol Hill.

"And Obama's call for a barrel fee reminiscent of the gasoline taxes and carbon taxes that are anathema to so many Republicans would be especially dead on arrival."

The Obama Administration will be remembered for being particularly aggressive in its endorsement of alternative energy/environmental initiatives, including the development of the liquefied natural gas industry, which it regards as holding enormous potential for U.S. vessels.