if countries are really concerned about global warming, wouldn't a gas tax based on vehicle weight be fair?

Question

seems like the only way to decrease fuel consumption in a capatilist economy?

Answer 1

In the UK we already do something very similar to this.

If your car was registered before March 1st 2001 then you will still be paying the usual fees, which are £110 a year for a car with an engine capacity <1549cc, or £175 for larger capacity engines.

The new Road Tax system is broken down into seven "bands" based on your car's emissions of CO2. These bands are labelled A through to G, where A has the lowest emissions, and G the highest. Each band has a different road tax cost, which will also be broken down further based on what fuel you car is using - i.e. is it petrol, diesel or an alternative fuel car.

Band --------- CO2 Emissions (g/KM)
Band A ------ Up to 100
Band B ------ 101 to 120
Band C ------ 121 to 150
Band D ------ 151 to 165
Band E ------ 166 to 185
Band F ------ 185 to 225
Band G ------ Over 225

Depending on the fuel you use also depends on the cost.

Band - Petrol - Diesel - Alternative
A ------ £0 --------- £0 --------- £0
B ------ £35 ------- £35 -------- £15
C ------ £115 ----- £115 ------ £95
D ------ £140 ----- £140 ------ £120
E ------ £165 ----- £165 ------ £145
F ------ £205 ----- £205 ------ £190
G ------ £300 ----- £300 ------ £285

Answer 2

No actually it is the wrong way to go about it.

If you want to reduce global warming you need to tax the source of the problem and the problem is CO2 emissions, thus the tax should be based on how much CO2 is emitted (add a bit extra onto the fuel based on how much gets given off).

If you try to tax a vehicle based on mass then you'll find that you do end up taxing the gas guzzlers more (since they tend to be heavy) but you'll also end up taxing electric vehicles, hybrids and diesels more as well (since they tend to be heavier, though not by much in the case of diesels) despite them all typically causing less global warming.

Oh and don't forget to apply the carbon tax to fossil fuels used for electricity generation, electricity production is the biggest cause of global warming (with transportation being second).

Answer 3

Hi I live in England and we have to pay different level car tax's depending on the CC of your car. Smaller engined cars pay less and the big gas guzzling ones pay more.