Comments dennis1200 has made

need to go both ways

I am all for the concept of an eco-tax on fuels, and a strong believer in the necessity of government to shape the market. Government in truth enables the free market. Economic incentives are the buzzword of policy today - look at carbon trading, pollution permits, etc. And they seem to be highly effective in many cases.

I spent a year in Germany, where gasoline is about 3 times as expensive as here, if not 4 (depends on euro-dollar exchange rates). People were initially behind a gasoline tax, whose proceeds would go to benefit environmentally beneficial projects and organizations. However, the people themselves have not seen much in the way of concrete results which they can appreciate, see, or touch. It would be of utmost importance to show people that it is in their ultimate best interest to support and deal with a gas tax, because while there will always be a few eco-buffs like myself who are willing to put out extra effort to find out where things come from, how they are produced, what chemicals are in which products, etc. etc., the vast majority of people have chosen another set of interests which dominate their time.

If anything, I think the most immediate result would be a shift in car models. Germans still drive quite a bit (and quite fast), but their cars are so much more fuel efficient than ours, and an Opel doesn't small at all relative to the other cars on the road. I unfortunately have no insights as to why people buy gas-guzzling SUVs and all sorts of conveniently named "light trucks", but that is a mentality which will also have to be addressed.

And why not a tax on driving into the city as well? Some experiments in England and Norway(?) I have heard of. That would be more of a sprawl-combative initiative - feel free to live 25 miles out, but it is going to cost you. Proceeds would go primarily to mass transit, which otherwise shrivel when people flee to the suburbs.

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