Taxing vehicles proportional to "pollution".

[mmmikkke]

The quote below is from the current Liberal Democrat party manifesto in the UK. They're the left-most of the three main political parties (Conservative, Labor, and Liberal Democrat).

 

...[We would reward] owners of less polluting cars with lower taxes. For many people, particularly in rural areas, cars are a necessity and cannot be replaced by public transport. But they can be far less damaging to the environment when they use less fuel or alternative fuels. We will start by reforming the Vehicle Excise Duty system (‘road tax’) to cut tax altogether on cars that pollute least, funded by increasing it on those that pollute more....[As] technology allows, we will scrap petrol duties and VED altogether, replacing the revenue with a national road user charging system based on location, congestion and pollution (including the level of pollution of the particular vehicle). As a result, pollution and congestion will be better targeted, with no need for the present system of heavy taxes on every journey...

 

This party got 22% of the vote over there in the election last week!

 

Presumably, they'd measure 'pollution' by the manufacturer's fuel economy ratings, because there's a direct link between carbon dioxide (greenhouse gas) emissions and fuel consumption.

 

Just thought you guys would be interested to see what your new truck and your fuel budget might encounter here in the US after a few more years go by, especially if we elect a socialist federal government. Could it happen here?