Get Americans to drive less by raising gas taxes

Tougher CAFE standards won't make a dent in US oil consumption because those with more fuel-efficient cars tend to drive more.

from the June 26, 2007 edition

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We have about 226 million vehicles in this country today. Will any of these efforts make families throw away the huge investments in their cars? No. But the real solution does lie with drivers; we must be pushed to realize the impact of our "drive at the drop of a hat" attitude.

We inhabitants of Earth are melting glaciers and raising sea levels at a frightening rate because we're spewing so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The US is fighting overseas, in part, because that's where the oil is. We Americans import 12.2 million barrels daily and put about 60 percent of that in our fuel tanks while we, with 5 percent of the world's population and 2.7 percent of the world's oil reserves, use 26 percent of its oil.

A major mitigation to all these problems is getting Americans to drive less. The way to do that is to build substitutions for driving. The way to build efficient substitutions such as mass transit and hiking and biking paths is from higher gasoline and diesel taxes.

The cars with the world's highest gas mileage are in Italy, a country that also has the some of the world's highest gas taxes. For decades, Europeans, over all, have used gasoline taxes to build better developed mass transit and more bike and pedestrian trails.

Let's call America's higher gas tax a "user fee." Every fiscal quarter, the user fee should go up a dime (40 cents a year), until the fee reaches the average amount of Europe's gasoline "user fees." This won't destroy the US economy, and it requires no new bureaucracy because, after all, gas is already taxed. Revenues from this user fee should go toward construction of mass transit and hiking and biking trails, as well as a publicity campaign that connects excess driving with traffic congestion, pollution, global warming, peaking oil, and foreign-policy issues.

At first, drivers will complain, but then we'll adjust. We'll walk in our own neighborhoods, rather than go for a "mall walk." We'll consider taking mass transit or carpooling for long commutes. When we go car shopping, we'll think, "Gas taxes are going up. I think I'll buy a high-mileage car – or try new technology."

An incremental gasoline user fee would accomplish what CAFE hasn't been able to – and that is to reduce oil consumption and, hence, pollution, global warming and the $250 billion annual tab for importing oil. The benefits of a healthier environment, less energy dependence, and decreased congestion would be well worth the cost of the tax.

• Randy Salzman, a former journalism professor, studied transportation-demand management at Oxford University.

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