CA Lawmaker Wants to Punish SUV Owners

Another California legislator wants to mold society into a shape of his choosing:

SACRAMENTO — A Northern California lawmaker wants Californians to pay as much as $2,500 extra to buy gas-guzzling muscle cars, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks.

And he wants to use that money to cut the prices of new hybrids and other cars that go farther on a gallon of fuel and pump fewer carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

The proposed "clean-car discount" — which would be the first law of its kind in the nation — would enlist car buyers in the fight against global warming by offering them a one-time bonus on cars the state identifies as environmentally friendly.

"It makes sense to give a financial incentive since most people just respond to their wallet," said shopkeeper Mary Ann McDonald in Sacramento. "If you make a practical vehicle more available, people will buy it."

But opponents are aghast at the idea of the state making buyers of SUVs and trucks subsidize hybrid purchases.

"This is a Robin Hood approach to things," said Fritz Hitchcock, a City of Industry vehicle retailer with dealerships across Southern California.

What this bill ignores is the fact that SUV and large truck owners are already paying a penalty for their choice of vehicle - a penalty in the form of gas taxes. California has some of the highest gas taxes in the country, and if your vehicle gets only 15 mpg, you're obviously going to pay more taxes than someone whose vehicle gets 30.

SUV and large truck owners also pay more in the form of sales taxes since their vehicles are generally more expensive than the tin cans the legislator wants us to buy. What is also lost in the twisted logic of this bill is that additional lives that will be lost by encouraging people to forgo larger vehicles, which do better in accidents, in favor of smaller vehicles which crumple like the tin cans they are.

This is a bad idea, and hopefully can be stopped.