Gas Tax
Basics
Maryland: A Case Study in the Lack of Political Will to Fund Transportation
As national policymakers hunt for a sustainable way to raise more money for a more efficient, less polluting transportation system, raising the federal gas tax is often at the top of their list -- after all, the tax has remained stagnant since 1993, despite signs that its usefulness is eroding as American drivers choose more fuel-efficient cars.
November 10, 2009
Trucking Industry Likes Higher Fuel Prices — When They Help Truckers
To hear American Trucking Association (ATA) vice chairman Barbara Windsor tell the Senate environment panel today, truckers would face a grim economic future if the price of diesel fuel rises, as the ATA predicts would happen if Congress passes climate change legislation.
October 29, 2009
GOPers Re-Name the Climate Bill Again: Now It’s a ‘Gas Tax’!
Seven months after first trying to re-brand congressional climate change legislation as an "energy tax," Senate Republicans were back at it today with a new report and op-ed that attempts to expose the climate bill as a "$3.6 trillion gas tax."
October 21, 2009
Obama Ally Breaks With White House on Timing of New Transport Bill
Sen. Dick Durbin (IL), the No. 2 Democratic leader in the upper chamber of Congress and a close ally of the president, broke with the White House yesterday and called for a new long-term transportation bill to pass by early next year -- not after the Obama administration's preferred 18-month delay.
October 13, 2009
The Assumption of Inconvenience
Early this week, I noticed a number of my favorite bloggers linking to this Elisabeth Rosenthal essay at Environment 360, on the mysterious greenness of European nations. The average American, as it happens, produces about twice as much carbon dioxide each year as your typical resident of Western Europe.
September 30, 2009
Would Real Men Tax Gas? A Test for Tom Friedman
On Monday, Elana Schor highlighted a recent column from occasionally right New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, who once again rolled out one of his favorite policy prescriptions -- an increased gas tax. Friedman wrote:
September 23, 2009
Business Lobby to Senate: No, Stimulus Won’t Do Enough for Transport
As the Senate backs up the White House's push for an 18-month delay in approving a new federal infrastructure bill, one of its major arguments is that the economic stimulus law's $48 billion in transportation money would help tide the nation over until long-term legislation could be passed.
September 22, 2009
Fly on the Wall Alert: Obama, LaHood, and Tom Friedman Tee Off
In yesterday's New York Times, columnist Tom Friedman published an impassioned plea for American policy-makers to reconsider their knee-jerk opposition to raising the federal gas tax or debating a carbon tax to set a more appropriate price for energy use. Friedman writes:
September 21, 2009
A Few Words on Transportation User Fees
We tend to have a few good laughs when Randal O'Toole fires up his Cato computer and weighs in on transportation issues. It's hard to take seriously a man who thinks that having the government tax people to build something which it then gives away for free is the libertarian ideal.
September 17, 2009
New Poll: Public Supports Congestion Tolling Over Gas Tax Hike by 2 to 1
(Graphic: HTNB) The puzzle of how to pay for new federal investments in transportation is the single greatest stumbling block facing members of Congress — should a gas tax increase be combined with a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax? How about a national infrastructure bank that leverages private capital? A poll released today by the … Continued
September 1, 2009