The putrification of Utah’s skies continues unabated, thanks to a myopic collection of state legislators. In the center ring of this year’s Capitol Hill circus is a bill designed to punish the 1/2 of 1% of Utah drivers who own electric and hybrid vehicles.
Once again, the expressed desire of legislators to address our filthy air runs a distant second to their desire for more dollars. By charging those who have made the decision to fix our states’ grave pollution problem, our lawmakers will likely vote to unfix it.
Brilliant, gentlemen. Brilliant.
There is no greater way to disincentivize the driving of clean air vehicles than to bully (and fine) those who do. If the goal of this bill is to collect more road tax revenue from those who don’t buy their fair share of gasoline, wouldn’t it be more fair to collect additional taxes from those who burn the most of it and do the greatest damage to our roads – and air? Like those countless double and triple-trailer semis, those behemoths “throwing coal” and those other unrepentant gas guzzlers. Leave it to Utah’s lawmakers to recognize a monumental problem and then make it worse.
Mike Dunn, Draper
