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.

I twittered about this a few months ago and have been meaning to get to writing a post about it, but this is exciting news for my hometown. Boston has just committed to - what may be - the largest bike sharing program in the US.

Bixi is the brand name for a program developed in Montreal by the Public Bike System Company and rolled out there with great success. The concept is that bike sharing terminals will be deployed throughout the city and wherever you see one, you can walk up, wave your $78/year Bixi card (or a credit card) and take a bike out. When you get to your destination, pull right up to the nearby Bixi station and the bike is secure. Heading back? Grab a bike and start peddling. One thing I love about this idea is that the stations are completely self-contained, solar powered, wifi enabled - so you can plunk them down, boot them up and they are up and running. When the snows come, pick them up and store them for the winter.

The hope is that the bike sharing program will allow city dwellers and visitors to substantially cut down on car trips when moving around the city - thereby reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. I have had several conversations with friends and colleagues about this idea, and every single one of them has loved the concept in theory. The one downside cited by 100% of these folks however is perfectly understandable to anyone who has ever visited and driven in Boston. Beantown drivers are insane and the roads are old cowpaths - there are no bike lanes and no room to put them in. With this in mind nobody (except 20 year olds with a deathwish) are going to want to ride around the city. I am an avid road cyclist and want no part of riding in Boston.

I will keep you posted as the city and Bixi address this obvious concern….maybe they will surprise us all and come up with an amazing bike lane system with aggressive enforcement. Let’s hope, because I love the idea.

It has been a heck of a first week in office for the new President. Let me see if I can sum up some of the things he’s done:

• Established the toughest lobbying regulations ever for members of the executive branch
• Ordered the closing of Guantanamo
• Implemented governmental transparency (check out http://whitehouse.gov to see what this looks like)
• Eliminated the executive orders banning stem-cell research
• Sent a clear message to the Arab and Muslim world that a new conversation is starting

All very important and exciting actions.  My favorite without question however, is the Executive Order titled: State of California Request for Waiver Under 42 U.S.C. 7543(b), the Clean Air Act which is an unequivicol step in the direction of making America’s transporation system A LOT greener.  President Obama has ordered the EPA to re-examine California’s request (along with 13 other states) for a waiver to insist on tighter emission standards for cars and trucks in their state.  Remember, this is the request that the Bush administration was doing back flips to keep from being approved. 

Even after California sued the federal government and the Supreme Court ruled that the EPA was empowered and obligated to act under the Clean Air Act, the Bush adminstration came up with some of the lamest reasons ever not to do anything.  President Obama wasn’t putting up with that nonsense, and told the EPA to get moving on his 4th day in office. 

This is exactly the kind of price signal that the marketplace needs to start kicking ass and coming up with game changing products.  If we know that we need to jump over a higher bar, there is no economic engine in the world that is more capable of inventing and deploying breakthrough technology than the American market.  There is no matching legislation at this point, but the EPA can go a long way to changing mileage and emission standards without congressional debate or approval. 

The guys in Detroit are fighting it like crazy (probably with our bailout money paying for the lobbyists), but I don’t feel too bad for them.  This is exactly the type of thing they need.  There is now going to be a guaranteed market for more efficient products.  Isn’t this what every company would want. 

There was an interesting artice in Green, Inc. (the New York Times green business blog, which I usually like), called Will the Mileage Tax Replace the Gas Tax. The premise of the article was that a tax on mileage driven may be more effective than a gas tax….or at least will be if mileage really starts to go sky high.

Here’s the thing. This idea is absurd until we are many, many years down the line, if ever. What we need to be doing right now as a society is sending price signals to the market that are easy to implement and change behavior in a way that is beneficial to the country. A gas tax fits the easy to implement bill and we know from experience that expensive gas changes behavior quickly. The goal of an increased gas tax is to drive down greenhouse gas emissions.

I couldn’t care less if people drive a lot as long as they are not releasing green house gasses.

Following up on my post (rant) from a few weeks ago about the brilliant American auto industry and the troubles they are having - surprise, surprise - moving all of their behemoth SUV’s, there are some truly disturbing July numbers out.  GM lost $15.5 Billion in a quarter, Ford over $8 Billion, sales of SUV’s down over 40% from a year earlier.  Yikes.  Even though I’ve felt like the Big 3 had it coming, I do want the US auto industry to survive and reclaim its leadership position in innovation and design.

The front page article from the New York Times today outlines the sprint the Big 3 are in to see if they can completely revamp their offerings and business structure prior to running out of cash.  I hope they make it.

This is not really why I’m posting today, however.  There is another article I noticed while sitting on my front porch, reading the Times on my laptop, called Ditch the Gas Guzzler?  Well, Maybe Not Yet. that outlines the  financial reasons why, if you are an SUV or a truck owner, you may want to consider holding onto your big vehicle or even getting a new one (wow, can you get a deal now!).  It cites a number of factor to take into consideration, including trade in value, practicality of a small car for your needs, how much gas you would actually save compared to cost of trading in your vehicle for a rock bottom price, etc..

The genesis of the article is described like this:

Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds.com, was on the tennis court a month ago when a friend asked him what he ought to do about his Ford Escape S.U.V. “I said, ‘You probably don’t want to hear this, but your best thing is to keep driving it,’ ” he said.

Mr. Reed and his colleagues huddled to come up with a way to help consumers do the math, and the result is the new “Gas Guzzler for Gas Sipper” trade-in calculator at edmunds.com/calculators/gas-guzzler.html.

Nowhere in the article does it encourage people to take carbon, or environmental impact, into consideration.  The calculator does not take this into consideration either.  I understand that it is the “Money” section of the paper, but it is nearly malfeasance in these times to not even mention this.  With all of the data they are gathering in this calculator, it would be an easy update to also allow people to get an idea of how they would be impacting their carbon footprint by trading in.

By the way, I am also not saying that trading down would make a positive carbon impact - or at least not for a long time.  There was a great article in Wired a few months ago that detailed the carbon ramifications of trading in your big car for a Prius.  Thier analysis?  Between building a new car, crushing and getting rid of the old one, combined with the actual carbon savings based  on how much you drive, you would not break even until you had put over 100,000 miles on the Prius.  Their suggestion is to buy a used car that gets decent mileage - it creates a much lower carbon footprint. 

What I am saying is that we need to have this kind of information at our fingertips whenever we make large decisions.  If we are going to ask our corporations to consistently make decisions with the triple-bottom-line in mind, then we - as consumers - need to do the same thing.

Hey Edmunds, update your calculator…we need all the information we can get.

I told you so.  And by you, I mean stupid American car companies, and their enablers in Congress that have been shielding them from the need to innovate for 25 years.  And while I’m at it, you Japanese car makers aren’t all that swift either (I’ll get to that in a minute).

The numbers that came out this week were staggering, although not surprising.  In a shocker, GM’s sales for the month were the best amongst the Big 3, down a mere 18% year over year (although their shares traded at a 50 year low earlier this week).  Ford’s numbers dropped a precipitous 26% (with the F150 pickup losing the top-selling vehicle status for the first time in 26 years), and Chrysler’s year over year numbers were down *gulp* 36%. 

But you can’t blame them, can you?  I mean, how could ANYONE - especially these high-powered auto executives - have possibly seen this coming?  Well, I did.  Just ask any of my friends about my rants against SUV’s over the years, and you will know that I was watching it come at us like a slow motion train wreck.  And if a big dummy like me could see if coming, then missing the boat on this one is malfeasance.

Now Detroit is going to have to pay the piper for their years of arrogance and stonewalling.  Yesterday’s New York Times article was full of quotes from Big 3 spokesmen declaring that they are not going to go bankrupt.  GM even went so far as to say, they don’t have to worry about that for a year.  Good god.  Thank goodness our politicians have been protecting our auto industry for so long. 

And before I forget about the Japanese automakers (those of the miraculous hybrids, and fuel efficient vehicles).  You guys missed the boat too.  The point of hybrids was not to get us (close to) V6 gas mileage from a V8 - like Toyota is pushing at us with their Lexus SUV hybrids - or to get us a V6 Accord Hybrid that has more horsepower than the normal V6 Accord, like Honda is peddling.  The point is MILEAGE you boneheads.  I was waiting for 8 years for the Accord hybrid to show up, and when it did it had a full sized V6 in it.  What were they thinking?  If they had put out a V4 version that got 53 miles to the gallon, you would not be able to get your hands on one for 2 years.  As it is, their hybrid is a big ‘who cares’. 

Sorry about the rant, but this has been ticking me off for years, and the train wreck has finally happened.  Now all that is left to do is clean up the carnage, and try to make sure that it never happens again. 

 Follow up:  The only glimmer of hope in this disaster is to be found on http://GreenCollarManufacturing.com where Sean Keller discusses the possibility that those 4 SUV plants GM just closed cold-turkey, will be reborn as the manufacturing hubs for the new high-speed rail that they are planning on opening in the midwest.  Woohoo!