Why not a higher gas tax?

Filed under: AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Legislation and Policy, Green Daily, USA

Yesterday, we asked where government spending for plug-in hybrid conversions is at? In the discussion that followed, some readers said they preferred to see higher gas taxes instead of a move by the government to take sides and try to figuring out which technology would best help us move off of gasoline. We’ve heard support for a higher gas tax from executives at Ford and AutoNation, and the Wall Street Journal says bumping up the taxes are one way to save GM.

Exactly how to implement this is tricky. One idea was to raise fuel taxes by 25 cents every year in order to make it clear that the increases are coming, and a gradual plan makes a lot of sense. Of course, the political will required to implement such an increase is almost too amazing to expect out of anyone looking for re-election, but we’re not running for office here. We’re trying to find the best way to reduce the amount of gasoline used, and it seems like the gas tax is the leading option. But someone’s got to be against it. I get that it’ll hurt people’s pocketbooks, but the economic argument might not be as valid a reason as it appears at first blush. So tell me, what good reasons are there to not raise the gas tax?

Photo by mandj98. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Why not a higher gas tax? originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 15 Jul 2009 19:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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