Quote:
Originally Posted by The Ancient  That's kinda like saying you should be happy to have high blood pressure because now you have extra motivation to quit smoking. |
If getting people to quit smoking is your primary goal, then sure.
Air pollution is an issue for anyone living in a major city and global climate change even more so. (especially for people living on the coasts) This is the classic example of a market failure, as the SUV owners get to unload the cost of their luxury on others.
I'm not advocating we start outlawing certain cars, way too much bureaucracy and with all the types of cars it's going to be a mess anyway. This is why the tax is so handy - it's easy to collect and does exactly what it's supposed to, without restricting what cars people can or cannot buy. It also provides revenue to the government with which it can fund environmental programs, creating jobs and/or a competitive advantage in the process. (good market for environmental technology)
Or, as an editorial in the NYT put it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/opinion/06fri1.html Quote:
Energy is currently underpriced in part because its cost does not
reflect the damage inflicted by fossil fuels. Underpricing leads to
overconsumption. Worse, it leads to underinvestment in alternatives. As
long as today’s energy is relatively cheap, there is little incentive
for private firms to develop new fuels and technologies.”
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The beauty is that the price of gas won't rise as much as the tax adds to it: the higher price leads to lower demand, which will be reflected in the price of crude oil.