Green Collar Media believes it is time for a substantial increase in the gas tax in America. Not being in love with the idea of any type of higher taxes, we are firmly convinced that a gas tax increase is the right type of tax to use to pay for the war surge in Afghanistan, and will provide the country with three absolutely critical benefits. :

First; we simply cannot continue to add to the enormous deficit with new war spending. We must have a means to pay for it (and all new programs) - or our kids will never forgive us. This means new taxes - growth alone will not generate enough revenues to close the gap. Additionally, if we keep this up, our international creditors will get even more nervous than they are now, will have more leverage over us than they currently do (if you don’t think they have leverage, read the news coverage of Obama’s trip to China), and interest rates are going to go up on our debt and the burden will increase dramatically. We must show fiscal responsibility as a society.

Second, increasing the price of gasoline leads to changes in driving behavior, which lowers our emissions - a vitally important goal for our nation and the planet. This post from when gas was $4 a gallon discusses how that was happening and what it meant. The fact of the matter is there is only one way gas prices are going over the next 20 years, and that is UP, UP, UP. As a society we need to get ahead of that curve and make that inescapable fact work for us. If we don’t, we’re proving that our heads are so far in the sand, ostriches are embarrased for us.

Finally, more expensive gasoline will stimulate demand for green solutions in the vital transporation sector of the green economy and create jobs. American auto companies (what’s left of them) are betting their futures on fuel efficient vehicles. A gas tax will accelerate the adoption of these vehicles and the solutions of dozens of other entrepreneurs and companies that are working like mad to bring new products to market. And let’s be honest - deep down, don’t we all want to drive a Tesla or a Fisker? Stimulating this marketplace in this manner will allow these companies to reach economies of scale and bring the prices down. We’d probably also be happy with Tesla’s mid-sized sedan, or Fisker’s minivan as long as the performance was based on what they’re doing with their sportscars.

These are three things that are vital to our country. Nobody likes to be taxed and feel the pinch in the wallet, but this is exactly how the tax code should be utilized when absolutely necessary. It should be focused on discouraging or eliminating things that are not in our interest as a nation (greenhouse gas emissions, runaway deficits, sending jobs overseas) and encourage areas that are in our interest (new green technologies, manufacturing jobs, exportable products, lowering emissions). We cannot scream “No Taxes Under Any Circumstance, Ever!” and expect that our country will not continue to suffer. We need to use the tax code to further our national interest, and a significant gas tax will do that at this point in our history.

Join this Facebook Group to add your voice to the cause.

As the details of the stimulus package come to light, the New York Times claims that there is about $80 Billion in:

spending, loan guarantees and tax incentives aimed at promoting energy efficiency, renewable energy sources, higher-mileage cars and coal that is truly clean. As a stand-alone measure, these investments would amount to the biggest energy bill in history.

Not too shabby, but the point that they make and that Green Collar Media definitely agrees with is that while this is the type of investment that is critical to jumstart job creation in the green collar economy, these measures should not be confused with an energy plan that will get us where we need to go.

In addition to this spending and incentivizing, the government will need to open up the arsenal of tools at its disposal, including a carbon cap & trade, new green building standards, tax incentives to stimulate green investment, increased mileage and emission standards for vehicles, firm and consistent subsidies for alternative energy production, as well as about 1000 other things that can be done to send clear price signals to the markets. Our belief is that the first substantive legislation addressing all of these issues will be implemented prior to the end of the Obama administration’s first term. If we’re right, hold onto your hats, because the pace of innovation and change is going to blow us all away.

Keep it tuned here as more green details from the stimulus package are clarified. I feel a lot better about burdening my children with this debt knowing that a big portion of that investment will go to getting us on the road to a green future.

Times are as tough as any in the last 70 years.  The huge majority of Americans also have no experience with a situation in which keeping your head down and working hard may not be enough.  We certainly don’t have experience with a president-elect having to run the country before inaguration because our current president has checked out, but that is the situation we find ourselves in.  Thank goodness that the incoming president seems to be a lot more engaged and competent than the outgoing one.

We should be encouraged that while president-elect Obama is laying out the details of the much needed economic stimulus package, he is sticking to his green guns. As he laid out the structure of his plans in yesterday’s weekly radio address, the first area of investment and job creation he mentioned was in the Green Collar Economy. According to his address:

We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.

This is an important statement so close to the inaguration and the likely passage of this stimulus bill. There is nothing that we Americans can invest in that will create more short and long-term benefits than jumpstarting the green marketplace. This kind of investment will level the playing field for alternatives by sending important price-signals to the marketplace and be the kind of thing that releases the kind of American entrepreneurial spirit that will move the Green Economy to the mainstream for years to come.

Keep up the good work Mr. Almost President.