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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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The possibility of more Mexican trucks running in the United States is still up in the air after a recent report by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General concluded participation in a three-year pilot program was too small to yield sufficient safety data.

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.