California is going about its Greenhouse Gas regulations conundrum all wrong. The Bush Administration and our special-interests controlled Congress will always fight tooth and nail to stop California from enacting harsher rules. So why do we fight for new rules when a few minor adjustments to the existing ones would suffice?
California can "quietly encourage" its citizens to work towards more eco-friendly vehicles by slowly raising the registration fees, excise taxes and gas taxes for gas-guzzling, CO2 producers. D.C. won't be able to argue against the fees because they already levied the same taxes on their citizens in 2004:
Washington Post, December 8, 2004 - The D.C. Council approved legislation yesterday that will require District owners of large, luxury sport-utility vehicles to pay a higher excise tax and registration fee next year, after concluding that the vehicles contribute to air pollution and street damage.
But under the new legislation, residents with clean-air hybrid cars will no longer have to pay an excise tax and will have their vehicle registration fees cut in half. Original Source
Extra revenue produced by those who are penalized could then be filtered back into clean energy research and implementation, Transportation Infrastructure maintenance and construction, etc.
California could start with newer vehicles, while grandfathering in older ones and then each year move the bar a little lower until all vehicles are assessed registration fees based on the amount of pollution they produce. The fees can be based on the standard EPA ratings of each vehicle. Then any vehicle that has been modified to lower its emissions or consumption, such as a converted bio-diesel, can go through an inspection process to lower its rating.
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