Whenever someone proposes a much needed measure like a gas tax the immediate response is: "That's regressive!" But, what many forget, is that the poorest people in this nation do not have cars. The sorry state of public transportation the the myriad ways that the government has subsided auto-centric living for the past 50 years has been regressive policy for the nation's poorest and most vulnerable populations. We must do something to address this gross imbalance.
Look at the state of our inner-cities. Highways tied around poorest and most minority neighborhoods like tourniquets. Highways that aren't for the residents, they detract from the quality of life and add nothing. Abysmal degrading public transit that forces many to leave hours before work and still risk being late-- that is, if they can find any work anywhere near our gutted inner-cities. People try to get to work on foot or by bike, but the streets are too dangerous because of the cars. Traffic laws are not enforced. These are the neighborhoods where cars cut through at top speed, the local governments are often more concerned with moving suburbanites through these neighborhoods quickly than the effect the pollution and noise might have on the residents.
You could send the kids out to play baseball in the street, but they'd be risking their lives. And the air tastes bad during rush-hour.
A modest gas tax, with funds going to alternative energies and public transit is the right thing to do. The poor state of our public transit systems is a form of inequality. We spend more on roads, than on rail, and our zoning laws demand parking spaces more often than they ask for sidewalks. Driving is a great way to get around in some places, but the way we build our cities and towns and our aversion to taxing fuel with its many negative externalities has made parts of this country absurdly auto-dependent. People drive rather than walk since there is no where safe to walk.
Meanwhile the asthma rates keep climbing in the Bronx. And that is among young people who probably will never learn to drive. They pay the price, but get none of the rewards.
Let's be brave and step away from the wheel. I'll also add that the tax should come in slowly. That should give the economy time to adjust. And we should look out for the rural poor who live in areas where public transport doesn't make as much sense. We have the technology to make a card that could let people who make less than 20K (or 30K for a family) not get taxed at the pump. There has got to be a way to do this and make it fair.