by Aubrey Dangelo

Widener University Political Science Major

The government of Oregon is considering the implementation of a new policy that will eliminate its existing gas tax and replace it with a mileage tax. The new tax will no longer charge people based on how much gas they are consuming, but instead on how many miles they drive. The reason they are switching over to this new taxation method is because as cars are being more fuel-efficient, people are driving more miles per gallon of gas and are, effectually, using less gas. Thus, the government of Oregon’s gas tax is generating less tax revenue as cars are becoming more fuel-efficient.

Not having to pay to a tax on gas will eliminate one of the incentives that people have for using more fuel-efficient cars. People who drive gas-guzzlers should have to pay a higher tax to drive because they are having a negative impact on the environment, which is a problem that everyone in the state has to deal with, not just the people who drive the gas-guzzlers.  Under the new tax, anyone driving a car averaging fewer than 20 miles per gallon would pay less money under the mileage tax than the gas tax and could even get a refund. This new policy will therefore be more beneficial to people who drive gas-guzzlers than others who choose to be more environmentally responsible, which I think is a bad move for a state that has been recognized as being one of the most environmentally-friendly in the country.