Officials are once again looking at upping the gasoline tax in the Bay Area by as much as 10 cents. The idea is to market the increase as a way to fight global warming, something that according to one think tank official "People will kill their puppies" for. Nice. Sometimes you really have to wonder about what people are thinking (or not thinking) when they put their mouth into drive. Anyways, the increase would pile on top of the state's 18 cent tax, the Fed's 18.4 cents and sales tax.
It has been shown in Europe that high taxes will change people's buying habits. However is ten cents going to dissuade anyone? Let's say you drive 15,000 miles and you get 2o miles per gallon. That's a whopping $75 a year, not even $10 a month. Not really a big motivator, is it?
I'm not opposed to slowly increasing the gasoline tax to increase conservation and fund programs to help us find alternatives. However, from what I've seen of this proposal it's far too vague about where the funds raised (up to $300 million per year) will go.
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