'Summer Holiday' from Gas Tax a Bad Idea

The following is a guest post by Damien Newton, who blogs at Streetsblog LA.

When I was a kid, I remember my Dad once remarking about some pandering politician, "Wow, I sure hope he's lying and doesn't actually mean that." That's how I felt when I heard that John McCain had announced a plan to give Americans a "Summer Holiday" from the federal gas tax. Basically, to make it more cost effective for people to drive to their vacations, McCain proposed cutting the 18 cent per gallon gas tax and 24 cent per gallon diesel tax to nothing during the summer travel season.

Even if we ignore that lowering gas prices isn't necessarily a laudable goal, there are so many reasons a gas tax break is a bad idea that I can't list all of them here. But for all our sakes -- after all, there's a 50-50 shot this man will become our next president -- I hope he's just pandering to a population sick of gas prices and doesn't really mean it.

First, it's not like the money that is earned from gasoline taxes goes towards the general fund. Gas tax funds go back into transportation projects. While it can certainly be argued that the government wastes money on stupid projects such as road widenings, the gas tax also provides funds for repairing the system, modernizing and expanding transit and even funding some bicycle and pedestrian projects.

It was just last year that the nation was given a harsh reminder that our transportation infrastructure is old and falling apart when a highway bridge in Minnesota did just that. Across the country the condition of our roads and bridges get worse every day. We didn't build our highway system to handle heavy freight trucks and SUV's. We built it to handle Model T's and milk trucks. The pounding our pavements receive every year is taking its toll. Now is not the time to cut off funding for fixing them.

There's no word on whether or not McCain will call for a holiday for American roads and bridges this summer by requiring people to stay home for three months as of this article's publication.

Pulling no punches, John Horsely, the director of the American Association of State Highway and Traffic Organizations (basically a non-profit or people that work at DOT's), said in a written statement about McCain's plan:

"This proposal would have devastating impacts upon the federal-aid highway and transit programs, sharply reducing funding available to states and jeopardizing hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide. Such a move would be short-sighted and damaging to our nation's economy, while providing little relief to America's drivers."

It's probably not everyday that highway engineers and environmentalists are in agreement, but based on this quote from Friend's of the Earth's Colin Peppard (found on the blog of Smart Growth America) that's exactly what happened. Peppard tells SGA:

"Suspending the gas tax will set back our fight against global warming. Eliminating the federal gas tax will increase driving and resulting global warming pollution at a critical time. Further, his proposal will hamstring the federal government's ability to invest in the energy-efficient, climate-friendly transportation alternatives we need to reduce transportation emissions. If McCain were serious about addressing global warming, he'd be thinking of ways to decrease this pollution rather than proposing actions that would send it through the roof."

To summarize, McCain's plan would further destroy our transportation infrastructure, reduce state's ability to produce transportation projects and encourage more people to drive, thus increasing oil prices, all with one proposal.

Here's my counter proposal. Instead of encouraging more people to drive, McCain should call for more people to take alternative transportation. If the Straight-Talker wants to lower gas prices, he could do so by promoting activities that reduce the demand for foreign oil.

One easy idea would be to back legislation that is currently moving through the House of Representatives that allows cyclists and transit users to write off a greater portion of their transportation expenses, similar to a benefit that car drivers have now. Instead of taking a windfall of cash that is dedicated to transportation; this plan would take a smaller amount from funds dedicated to the general fund. Instead of encouraging people to spend more time in their greenhouse gas creating, pollution spewing and oil consuming cars; he would be encouraging people to exercise on their bikes or sneakers or getting on a bus or train with their fellow commuters. 

 

Or if he doesn't want to push a tax cut for the general fund during a time of massive budget deficit and debt, he could encourage people to take a "Summer Holiday" from the gas tax by taking a vacation that doesn't require a long car trip.

McCain famously admitted that he wasn't an expert in economics during the Republican Primary this winter. While he certainly tried to prove that statement with this proposal, at least we can glean that he realizes that there's a lot he has to learn. Hopefully he'll learn something about transportation funding and fix this proposal before it goes any further than a statement read at a press conference.

Photo by Gregg Moscoe

Comments

[Justin]

Damien,
I agree with you that McCain's proposal would be damaging to the environment as well as encourage the wrong kind of behavior. We aren't going to be able to control gas prices in the future. What we can control is our consumption. If we do not want to become beholden to our energy needs, we need to look for ways now to reduce what we use, not make it easier to use more.

Justin