WSJ Blogs  Real-time commentary and analysis from The Wall
Street Journal Environmental Capital  A Taxing Question: Why Are
Gas Taxes Taboo?      • Why does it only have to be an across-
the-board gas tax hike? Why can't we punish the Hummer drivers
and unnecessary pick-up drivers at the pump every time they fill
up by charging them more pre gallon than others? You just ahave
a bar code that contains info aboutt he number of cylinders,
weight of the car, fule economy of the car, etc, and it applies
some formula to charge different prices for different
cars/trucks.       Seems like a pretty simple and fair solution,
no?      • The political problem of high gas taxes may be due to
the state of the economy more than anything else. During
Carter's time we were in a recession. Proposing new consumption
taxes in a time of recession makes people feel like thy're
getting salt rubbed in a wound. Same for the current time. In
the midst of our current recession (with attendant job losses,
etc.), proposing new consumption