I’m with Gomezticator—we should slap a tax on SUVs, Hummers, and any other car that doesn’t get at least 25 MPG. Writing about the Monorail’s MVET tax in the Stranger Forums, Gomezticator says…

How about an annual tax on SUV’s, trucks, hummers and other vehicles newer than ‘97 or so, that get less than 25 mpg, instead? Tax those people $300-500 a head. Most of them can afford it, and you’d probably make more money for the monorail while penalizing the wealthy and the irresponsible for driving gas guzzlers.

I’m left wondering, is this possible? Can a city slap taxes on specific kinds of cars? Does anyone out there know?

Two of the reasons why so many people drive SUVs is that 1. they’re classified as “light trucks,â€� and 2. they get certain tax breaks. The former allows SUV manufacturers to avoid gas-mileage standards; the later subsidizes the purchase of SUVs and artificially makes them more affordable than better, smaller cars. So anything we could do to make them less affordable, we should. Any big-city mayor who’s interested in, say, enacting the provisions of the Kyoto treaty should immediately slap a tax on SUVs and other gas-guzzlin’ cars and trucks.

If we can, then we should. This isn’t something the mayor or city council would be brave enough to do, so that leaves the initiative process. Is it possible? Again, does anyone know?

And if it is possible, where do I sign? Where do I send a check?