Tax on Gasoline

It’s the 95th anniversary of the tax on gasoline, in the U.S., at least (Oregon, 1919). Of course, its original justification was the idea that those who drove should pay for the construction of roads, which seems as reasonable today as it did back then. 

Now, however, we have a whole new set of issues, associated with the externalities of burning oil, including long-term environmental damage, challenges to national security, and threats to our health.  For example, the people living within a mile on either side of the San Diego Freeway out here in sunny California have cancer rates that are many times the national average.

Perhaps a larger tax, perhaps in addition to a price floor, could help defray some of these costs, when providing incentives for people to rethink their approach to transportation.