On the road again: how tax policy drives transportation choice

Virginia Tax Review, Wntr, 2005 by Roberta F. Mann

d. Climate Change

  Alaska's melting--
  hope your Yukon Denali
  doubles as a boat (118)

In addition to being a major source of toxic emissions that cause air pollution, motor vehicles emit a seemingly more benign product--carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]). While C[O.sub.2] is not defined as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act, (119) it is a greenhouse gas (GHG) that many scientists believe will lead to catastrophic environmental problems. (120) GHGs increase global temperatures by acting as insulators, preventing the sun's warmth from dissipating into space. (121) Global warming, if left unchecked, could lead to the thawing of permafrost (122) and rising sea levels, resulting in flooding of islands and coastal regions, (123) increased intensity and frequency of storms such as tornados and hurricanes, changes in amount and timing of precipitation, changes in ocean currents, and more widespread tropical diseases such as malaria, cholera, and dengue fever. (124) The United States obtains about 39% of its energy needs from petroleum products, and those are mostly used by the transportation sector. (125) U.S. GHG emissions have increased 17% since 1990. (126) Significant growth in transportation activities was a fundamental factor in the overall increase in GHG emissions. (127) Transportation activities accounted for 31% of C[O.sub.2] emitted by fossil fuel combustion. (128) Over half of the C[O.sub.2] emissions from transportation came from personal use vehicles. (129) The combustion of a gallon of gasoline releases 8.9 kg of C[O.sub.2]. (130) One study estimated the external cost of C[O.sub.2] releases from private motor vehicle use at twelve cents per gallon. (131) Providing transportation choices that reduce the dominance of the private motor vehicle may help slow global warming.

2. Accidents

Automobile accidents exact a large toll on drivers and non-drivers alike. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people under the age of thirty-four. (132) In 2002, 44,000 people lost their lives on U.S. roads. (133) While most of those people were in automobiles, 6400 were pedestrians and bicyclists. (134) Every twelve minutes someone in the United States dies in an automobile accident. (135) Every fourteen seconds someone in the United States suffers a disabling injury in an automobile accident. (136) In 1992, one researcher estimated that road accidents cost $90 billion per year. (137) Estimated external costs of motor vehicle accidents (that is, those that are not borne by the driver) range from half a cent to three cents per kilometer driven. (138) Taking into account both accidents and health effects from automobile emissions, one researcher noted that "[i]f automobility were a disease, then vast national resources would be mobilized to cure it." (139)

3. Social Costs

When the private automobile dominates transportation choices, those who cannot drive suffer disproportionately. While drivers are stuck in traffic, non-drivers are just stuck. In 2003, National Public Radio reporter Noah Adams rode along with low-wage worker Marzs Mata on her three hour, three bus (each way) commute from her home in downtown Detroit to her job in the suburbs, a trip that would take forty-five minutes by car. (140) Understandably, Mata's first priority is saving for a car. (141)