Problem: Automobile emissions are causing serious pollution issues in many cities. As Americans (I can't speak for other countries) become more and more married to their cars, unless engine technology improves, our air quality will only get worse.
Currently, everyone shares the (personal and public) cost of automobile pollution while said pollution is unevenly created by those driving large and inefficient autos.
Idea: Modify the formula for current automobile property tax / tag fee to address both value and emissions output. That is, a portion of the tax/fee would be based on the value of the car and the other portion based on it's standard emissions output.
Potential Issues:1. Politics - The formula would likely be highly controversial and would be open to influence from special interest. 2. Standard Emissions Output - The question of at what level to determine emissions portion. By make and model? By group (e.g. SUV, or mid-size sedan)? By age (is a 1990 Honda treated the same as a 2004)?3. Use Discrimination – This “tax” does not take into account use. If I drive a Ford Excursion only 1x per week while someone else drives his 7x per week, I’m subsidizing the other guy’s emissions.
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For. If not exactly this, then something like it.
Vehicles that are more fuel-efficient pollute less.
To reduce pollution by increasing fuel-efficiency, a good start would be tightening the CAFE requirements. Presently, they're fixed at approximately 27 mpg for "cars" and 20 mpg for "trucks." We need to increase CAFE by 50% every 10 years, which would mean 40 mpg for "cars" and 30 mpg for "trucks" by 2016, then 60 mpg for "cars" and 45 mpg for "trucks" by 2026, and so on.
Another change would be to redefine "car" as a vehicle that is used primarily to carry passengers; if it has two rows of seats or more, and carries less than 10 people*, its a "car." This would place SUVs and crew-cab "trucks" in the "car" category.
We have to remember that cars contribute only about a third of the total air pollution. Electrical powerplants, factories, etc, still contribute more to overall pollution than motor vehicles. It'c far cheaper for business and government to have motor vehicle owners pay for cleaning up the air.
*A vehicle that carries 10 people or more would be defined as a "bus."
Just put the tax on the fuel. What goes in comes out; as CO2, NOx etc.
The more pollution you are causing the more fuel you have to buy and the more tax you pay.
Now, link the tax to the total amount of fuel consumed in a year. If the fuel consumed went up x% last year, put up the tax x%. Tax keeps going up until pollution stops going up.
This is the so-called "carbon tax". It was tried in a few countries, but the idea appears to have gone out of fashion again.
How about taxing the air-lines, shipping companies, military, navy, air-force and police too?
These should be taxed for each mile they drive.
And I also advocate taxing the number of bombs, missiles and other polutive ammunition released in the atmosphere which would finance a fund used for helping poor fight their hunger and diseases.