OPINION:
Democrats want to drive you off the road.
Surging gas prices? Transportation is the largest source of U.S. carbon emissions — so get yourself an electric vehicle or ride a bus, the Biden administration says.
“Transit gets riders where they need to be efficiently and affordably with far less pollution to thrive,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said earlier this month touting a $3.7 billion government spending program to fund a fleet of green buses. “And it’s even good for drivers of cars because it means less congestion and traffic on our roads. And transit is even better when it’s clean transit with modern electric buses that don’t pollute at all.”
He continued: “Clean transportation can bring significant cost savings for the American people as well. Last month, we announced a $5 billion investment to build out a nationwide electric vehicle charging network so that people from rural, to suburban, to urban communities can all benefit from the gas savings of driving an EV.”
Or, better yet, don’t drive at all.
Passed in President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill last year is a pilot program that would charge motorists for every mile they drive, known as a Vehicle Miles Traveled fee or VMT. Mr. Buttigieg and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will “establish, on an annual basis, per-mile user fees for passenger motor vehicles, light trucks, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks, which amount may vary between vehicle types … to reflect estimated impacts on infrastructure, safety, congestion, the environment, or other related social impacts.”
In other words, a tax on the number of miles you drive — in addition to paying for car insurance, vehicle payments, higher prices at the pump and state and local taxes.
How will this mileage data be gathered? The bill proposes various ways ranging from third party-on-board diagnostic devices, smartphone applications, and data collected by automakers, insurance companies and gas stations. So the government will be tracking where you go and charging you for every mile.
Sure it’s a pilot program, but it’s bound to become a reality with Green New Deal diehards in the White House.
The Biden administration is also using the so-called infrastructure bill to make it more challenging to build new highways. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal this year, the Transportation Department will have the final say over any new roads being proposed by states and cities that want to use the funds.
Among those pitches to be red-lighted is the construction of new roads or highways that “add new general-purpose travel lanes serving single-occupancy vehicles.” So no expanding of lanes to make it easier to drive your car in high-congestion zones.
“States planning to widen clogged highways using federal funds could face months or years of scrutiny,” the Journal reported of the Transportation Department’s guidelines.
Mr. Buttigieg has made no secret his disdain for rural Americans who depend on their cars to deliver them to work or buy food. He said last year, “There is racism physically built into some of our highways.”
So higher gasoline prices?
Those in the Biden administration welcome them — just another tool they can use to achieve their climate change goals and push you from your gas-guzzling car to mass transit or a new EV — if you’re lucky enough to live in an area that provides it and can afford it.
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