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Crude oil surged the most in more than 2 1/2 years Jan. 14 after falling to the lowest since 2009.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) this week introduced a bill that would replace the diesel and gas tax with a carbon tax, the latest congressional proposal aimed at boosting transportation dollars ahead of the reauthorization of a major highway law this spring.

U.S. retail diesel will average $2.85 per gallon this year, the Department of Energy said, lowering its most recent forecast by 22 cents.

Oil extended losses to trade below $45 a barrel amid speculation that U.S. crude stockpiles will increase, exacerbating a global supply glut that’s driven prices to the lowest in more than 5½ years.

Diesel’s national average pump price declined 8.4 cents to $3.053 a gallon, a four-year low, the Department of Energy reported Jan. 12.

WASHINGTON — Environmental officials from California and the East Coast said during a Transportation Research Board panel here that trucks still require special attention because of diesel emissions, even though such output became much cleaner from 1998 to 2010.

California’s cap-and-trade program extended its reach to diesel fuel and gasoline on Jan. 1, creating no immediate price change but a great deal of concern about the workings over time of a highly complex system.

Diesel prices began the new year the same way they finished 2014, with the U.S. retail average falling 7.6 cents to $3.137 a gallon, the Department of Energy reported.

Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told reporters Jan. 8 he does not think there is sufficient support in his chamber to approve an increase to the federal fuel tax.