More at the pump. Again.
Are you preprared to pay more at the pump, only this time in the name of global warming? One reader pointed this story out to me today, and I'm thinking it's because he doesn't want to see yet another increase at the pumps.
The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that a bill could require Los Angeles County drivers to pay an extra 9 cents per gallon at the pump, or an additional $90 on vehicle registration.
SACRAMENTO -- -- Motorists in Los Angeles County could end up paying an extra 9 cents per gallon at the gas pump, or an additional $90 on their vehicle registration, under proposals aimed at getting them to help fight global warming.Voters would be able to decide whether to approve a "climate change mitigation and adaptation fee" under legislation being considered by state lawmakers and endorsed by the board of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The money would fund improvements to mass transit and programs to relieve traffic congestion at a time when transportation dollars from Washington and Sacramento are hard to come by.
"At this point the people of the Los Angeles region have just had it when it comes to traffic and air quality," said Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), author of the legislation, AB2558.
The additional funding would be used to fight global warming. Or so they say.
But opponents already are rallying against the measure, saying it exploits public concern about climate change to tap taxpayers for the MTA's regular services: providing bus and rail lines."This seems to be a cashing in on public sympathies on global warming to generate additional funding for programs that already exist," said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.