Two more links against the VMT

I’ve already made it pretty clear that I’m against the Vehicle Miles Traveled fee for practical and philosophical reasons.  Felix Salmon and Matt Yglesias agree with me.

• Matt Ylgesias calls support for the VMT tax “baffling.” “Raising a given quantity of funds through a new VMT rather than through higher gas taxes creates (a) more administrative headaches, (b) more civil liberties concerns, (c) fewer environmental benefits and in exchange you get nothing.”
• Felix Salmon is more technocratic in his opposition: a nationwide VMT is difficult to administer and the benefits do not merit the investment.  “So although I’m a fan of a cap-and-trade system over a carbon tax, and although in theory a VMT tax is to the gas tax as cap and trade is to a carbon tax, I can’t get very excited about the idea of a nationwide VMT tax. The difficulty of implementing it is just too great, and the marginal upside is too small. Let’s start with a couple of cities, and work out from there. Starting nationwide is far too ambitious.”