> I'm going to be calling my local government representatives to raise it back up by two with taxes and fees.
Sometimes I think this sort of approach is why so many people on the right are sick of global warming. Sure, global warming is a serious problem, but that doesn't mean that taxing things you don't like is wise, fair, effective, or in any other respect a good idea. If you have a problem with emission of gasses with global warming potential, do that, but please do it across the board.
Let's not specifically tax GA planes, ban gas water heaters, and do a bunch of other random minor-ish things that annoy people and don't actually target the problem.
Burning fossil fuels is the problem. We can argue until the cows come home about things like plastic straws and bags, but the fact is that burning fossil fuels is rapidly destroying the planet and no amount of burning is sustainable. Banning that is table stakes.
Don't talk about banning, talk about giving people a good alternate. Fix zoning so that people don't have to move so far out just to afford a nice place to live (people who want a hobby farm will have to live that far out, but many in the suburbs would be happy with a 5 bedroom apartment for a similar monthly costs - but none exist). Build good transit so that people have a reasonable option to driving.
If you want to ban fueles you just attack people's way of life. If you want to provide the things I list you don't need to ban fuel as they will switch to not driving.
Depends whether you think it’s reasonable for fuel tax to also price in road maintenance and local pollution along the route. Airplanes don’t make potholes in the sky, and the cruising portions of their routes don’t expose anyone to any appreciable concentration of particulate, NOx, etc emissions from planes.
Taxes on fuel are a way to deincentivize the use of private cars, at least in my country with the fuel tax you can't pay all the infrastructure cars use.
Sometimes I think this sort of approach is why so many people on the right are sick of global warming. Sure, global warming is a serious problem, but that doesn't mean that taxing things you don't like is wise, fair, effective, or in any other respect a good idea. If you have a problem with emission of gasses with global warming potential, do that, but please do it across the board.
Let's not specifically tax GA planes, ban gas water heaters, and do a bunch of other random minor-ish things that annoy people and don't actually target the problem.