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Originally Posted by DGthe3
What I fear is an increase that quickly goes from affordable to un-affordable
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I understand the thinking behind this. However, the flaw is that this argument basically says that to prevent a disaster in the future, said disaster must be artificially induced today. It's like saying, I'm afraid I might get into a car accident sometime in the next ten years, so I better drive into a tree on purpose tonight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
No, not force it to the point of being affordable. Plenty of people factor in the cost of gas vs transit pass, the time of the trip, and the coverage of the transit system, among other things. Eventually, there is a tipping point, where on the one side it makes more sense to use a car and on the other, to take public transit. Raising the cost of gas will shift the tipping point towards mass transit by making it a less expensive alternative and increasing the coverage of the routes (due to the increased interest in taking mass transit).
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Access to energy is positively correlated with standard of living. Artificially reducing access to energy by taxing it will result in an artificial reduction in standard of living. It won't make mass transit cheaper, it will simply make easier forms of transportation less available, making life more difficult. Ultimately, it will RAISE the cost of alternative modes of transportation too, because the increased demand for mass transit will result in increased prices.
Lastly, if access to gasoline where restricted by prohibitive taxation, how would I move about? Let's say....just for the fun of it.... I lived in a town of 9700 people in a relatively rural part of the country. Since such a small town is unlikely to have a large scale mass transit system, and many stores I shop at and my job are in a different city, what happens to me? Why should I take a hit just so someone in a good enough position not to need to worry about gas prices can enjoy a less congested commute, with "everyone else" off the roads and tightly stuffed into buses (on which at least 10 people might have a cold or the flu at any given time during the season) where they're not in the way? Forcing that on people with already marginal standards of living, who literally couldn't afford to drive at $7-8 a gallon is arrogant, immoral, and unfair, in my humble opinion. My old Oldsmobile has as much right to be on the road as the Audi the guy who works on the floor above me has.