Obama’s plan for electric cars to pay their fair share

by Lars Larson

So the Obama administration is talking about coming up with a mileage tax to replace the old-style gasoline gallon tax. I’m not necessarily against it.

I know we’re all used to the gasoline tax you pay by the gallon. That means the more you use the roads, the more gasoline you burn, and the more tax you pay.

That always worked, but now we have dramatic differences between, say, a pickup truck that gets 15 to 18 miles to the gallon and some of those little teeny tiny smart cars and Priuses and such, that get around 50 miles to the gallon. And, of course, you’ve got the electric cars that are getting zero miles to the gallon because they don’t burn any gallons. They’re burning electricity – made with good old fashioned high-carbon coal.

So how do you make sure that the taxes you charge are enough to support the roads and charge everybody fairly? I say a mileage tax is probably the right idea. Even if it is coming from Obama.