With gas prices topping $4 a gallon last summer, a 27-year-old federal ban on new offshore oil drilling was washed away in an election-year wave. The most effective line of the 2008 campaign may well have been, "Drill, baby drill."

The Interior Department is working on new leases, and there's no hint that the Obama administration plans to reverse the policy.

Meanwhile, oil prices have collapsed. After peaking at more than $145 a barrel in July, oil for January delivery has fallen below $40 a barrel. Prices at the pump are at levels not seen in several years.

Obviously, they'll go back up. And the primary argument for new offshore drilling - reducing our reliance on imported oil - hasn't changed.

Meanwhile, Americans are driving less, which is unprecedented and one of the reasons for falling prices.

All of which is a long-winded way of getting at this question: Should we raise the tax on gasoline to discourage people from returning to old driving habits? The idea surfaces regularly in letters to the editor, not to mention Tom Friedman's column.

How much would be reasonable?

If nothing, do you think people will stick to driving less despite lower prices? Or that we'll find enough oil to keep prices down?

As for a gas tax hike, I'd favor one, but given the realities of unemployment and a shrinking economy, I'd suggest ratcheting it up slowly (maybe 25 cents a gallon now, another 50-75 cents spread over two to three years). I'm mostly torn over whether all the revenue ought to go to developing alternative fuel sources, as many propose. Having thumped along the potholes on I-5 recently, I've got no doubt that it's time for some major road repairs, which are funded by gas taxes.

What do you think?

-- Jim Sweeney