U.S. Gasoline Tax Hike Unlikely, Key Senator Says.

The new Congress probably will not approve legislation to raise the federal tax on gasoline, the chairman of the Senate Energy Committee said on Monday.

Democratic Sen. Jeff Bingaman said he was aware of arguments that a "variable tax" should be put on U.S. gasoline to prevent falling pump prices from encouraging Americans to drive more while making alternative fuels less attractive.

Such a tax hike "would be very tough to pass," Bingaman said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "I don't think something like that has much prospect of being enacted in my honest opinion."

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