◼ When the legislature convenes in February, lawmakers will consider taxing eco-friendly vehicles, ones that get 55 miles per gallon or more, based on how much you drive. - NW Watchdog
Their logic: electric and other fuel-efficient cars aren’t paying the state tax on gasoline (which you pay when you pump) and therefore aren’t contributing to road construction and repair....
“What’s really happening: It’s two different, competing government priorities,” said Gloria Bergquist, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers vice president. On the one hand, you have energy security and environmental officials who want to incentivize the oft-pricier electric and hybrid vehicles. On the other hand, you have officials hit with the costs of fixing roads.
Bergquist said the auto organization opposes a per-mile vehicles tax, especially on fuel-efficient cars, which aren’t selling as well as they’d hoped.
Hybrids, which went on sale in 2000, still make up only 2.5 percent of all auto sales in the United States, she said.
“For many people, you’re taking away the incentive for them to buy this vehicle,” she said of the per-mile tax. “Generally a tax scares people.”
◼ It's Less Easy Being 'Green' as Los Angeles Yanks Plug on Free Parking for Electric Cars - Hannah Karp/Wall St. Journal
Airport Nixes Mad Scramble for Coveted Spots; Frequent Fliers Now Regret 'Expensive, Underpowered' Rides
