What's next, taxing non-smokers for not buying cigarettes?

[Scooter]

This is one of those boneheaded moves that my partner, who was from North Carolina, would have said could happen "only in North Carolina", except he would have been wrong:

Some things are hard to believe. Like this one: North Carolina wants to tax hybrid and electric car owners.

Lawmakers in the state are considering a tax on drivers of energy-efficient cars: $50 a year for a hybrid and $100 for an electric car. Very simply put, state politicans say it is a way to make up for the revenue lost when drivers buy less gasoline. The gasoline tax funds highways in the state.

This tax could raise to about $1.5 million each year.

(The state's Senate will consider the measure but hasn’t acted yet.)

Here is how The Daily Beast explains it:

"The state relies on gas taxes to fund highway construction. But gas consumption has been falling, in part because the American auto fleet has been getting more efficient. In effect, people who drive cars that get 50 miles per gallon are contributing only half as much to the upkeep of roads as people who drive cars that get 25 miles per gallon."

Of course, online commentators have had a field day and they have raised vital questions: Should drivers of fuel-efficient gasoline vehicles be charged more because they use less gasoline? Or those who use lots of gas be offered a rebate?

Most commentators have angrily called it the “backward thinking attitude” of the N.C. government. Others have said they will “never” pay the tax.

To be fair, N.C. isn’t the only state embroiled in this.

Similar legislation that may tax hybrid cars is pending in Texas, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Arizona. Washington state added a $100 registration fee in February for owners of all-electric cars. (idiots all)

The bottomline: That’s the thank you drivers get a) for trying to save money on gasoline, b) for reducing carbon emissions.

[Crackpot]

Hybrid still cause wear and tear on the roads. THis was once covered via gasoline taxes and worked out fairly well since the more gas you use used to be roughly equivalent to the damage your car did (and no one really cared about taxing performance vehicles more) the same doesn't hold true for hybrids and electrics they use vastly less (or no) gasoline yet don't cover the damage they cause to roads. as they become more and more prevalent they cause bigger and bigger budget shortfalls. and roads suffer. The old tax system just doesn't work anymore.

[Long Run]

We've had the same debate in Oregon. Heck, in Portland, we are looking at taxing bicycles. Watch the fit ones pedal to the 'burbs.

[dales]

Remember in the song "Taxman".....George Harrison warned us about taxing the "shoes on our feet"?

We're almost there.