Just so we're clear, trying to institute a vehicle miles traveled tax would be a stupid idea. Though the privacy concerns are not, in practice, insurmountable, it's hard to imagine a plan where the government tracks your driving by satellite in order to tax you moves forward in Congress. If the plan is to fund infrastructure through driver taxes, a ton of mainly electronic tolls (one lane for change and it moves slowly) is a smarter route: Then it's incumbent on the driver to sign up for tracking-and-taxing technology of their own volition.If you're worried about carbon -- and in his remarks, LaHood was not talking about carbon -- a gas tax would be a better idea on the policy, but it's hard for me to imagine that moving forward, either. Hell, I'm even pessimistic on serious cap-and-trade legislation. To put my pessimism in the simplest terms, I see where the moneyed opposition comes from, but not where the well-funded support comes from, not the irresistible public pressure. The best hope I see is that the EPA takes advantage of the Supreme Court ruling allowing them to classify carbon as a "pollutant" and embarks on an independent campaign of regulation so onerous and prejudicial that industry sits down and cuts a deal they can live (better) with. CLARITY.
Just so we're clear, trying to institute a vehicle miles traveled tax would be a stupid idea. Though the privacy concerns are not, in practice, insurmountable, it's hard to imagine a plan where the government tracks your driving by satellite in order to tax you moves forward in Congress. If the plan is to fund infrastructure through driver taxes, a ton of mainly electronic tolls (one lane for change and it moves slowly) is a smarter route: Then it's incumbent on the driver to sign up for tracking-and-taxing technology of their own volition.If you're worried about carbon -- and in his remarks, LaHood was not talking about carbon -- a gas tax would be a better idea on the policy, but it's hard for me to imagine that moving forward, either. Hell, I'm even pessimistic on serious cap-and-trade legislation. To put my pessimism in the simplest terms, I see where the moneyed opposition comes from, but not where the well-funded support comes from, not the irresistible public pressure. The best hope I see is that the EPA takes advantage of the Supreme Court ruling allowing them to classify carbon as a "pollutant" and embarks on an independent campaign of regulation so onerous and prejudicial that industry sits down and cuts a deal they can live (better) with. 
