Opinion
4A
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Our View
Dick Mason/The Observer, File
Vehicles roll through the Ladd Canyon work zone Thursday, Nov. 5,
2020, on Interstate 84 south of La Grande. Oregon is looking at how
to make up declines in gas tax revenue as fuel efficiency increases and
more people drive electric vehicles.
Oregon needs to
carefully weigh
giving a nudge
to electric cars
n 1919, Oregon was the first state to charge a
tax per gallon of gas. And the state could be
one of the first to charge everyone by mile
driven.
Oregon’s gas tax is scheduled to climb from
36 cents a gallon up to 40 cents in 2024. But
the state’s gas tax revenue is almost certainly
heading into a permanent swan dive. It won’t be
enough to keep up the state’s roads and bridges.
Vehicles are getting more and more miles to
the gallon. And electric or other alternatives are
going to slowly replace them.
The Oregon solution is pay as you go, not pay
per gallon. You can sign up for it now. OReGO
participants pay 1.8 cents a mile. They get fuel
tax credits based on gas consumption. Very few
Oregonians are enrolled — about 700 — because
the immediate benefits are limited.
House Bill 2342 tries to hit the accelerator
for OReGO. It imposes a mandatory per-mile
road usage charge for registered owners and les-
sees of passenger vehicles of model year 2027 or
later that have a rating of 30 miles per gallon or
greater. It would begin on July 1, 2026.
That makes sense, in some ways. The question
is: Does it provide the right incentives? What’s
the goal?
One goal is to ensure there is enough revenue
to keep the state’s roads and bridges repaired.
This bill could help with that.
Another goal, for some, is to encourage Orego-
nians to drive more fuel efficient vehicles or more
electric vehicles. Better for the environment.
The gas tax already does it. This bill doesn’t
really do much. There would be an added elimi-
nation of title registration fees under the bill. But
if the goal is to give Oregonians a nudge, this
bill adds a perverse incentive — new charges on
more fuel efficient vehicles.
Lawmakers in Salem could alter the bill so the
pay as you go formula takes into account the fuel
efficiency of the vehicle. That might encourage
more Oregonians to go electric or pick a more
fuel-efficient choice.
The complication is how that policy would
effect lower-income Oregonians.
Want to buy an electric car? The long-term
costs can have clear benefits. The upfront cost
usually is more, and that can be what people
focus on.
The gas tax never was progressive. Should
Oregon look to do more with a nudge for elec-
tric cars? If the Legislature simply opts to provide
incentives for electric cars, it could be leaving
some Oregonians behind.
I
Letters
Recalling a seminal moment
in American history
April 19, 1775. The gathering
storm of growing tensions between
colonial residents and the colonial
government, which represented the
British Crown, had come to a head.
The reasons were taxation without
representation and increasingly
brutal oppression.
Through the night of April 18,
700 British soldiers marched toward
Lexington and Concord, Massachu-
setts. Their purpose was to seize the
purported cache of arms and gun-
powder belonging to the colonists.
The colonists, also referred to as
minutemen, being the well-armed
militia, responded to the call for
assistance in defense from the Brits.
They refused the British command to
“throw down your arms! Ye villains,
ye rebels.” And then the resounding
“shot heard around the world” offi-
cially started the struggle for our
freedom and independence that we
continue to this day.
April 19, 1775, stands as a state-
ment of how far a citizen, a well-
armed military, if you will, is willing
to go to preserve our liberty. George
Write to us
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May God continue to bless
America.
Bill Hanley
Baker City
What ever happened to
‘flatten the curve’?
Surely most of us can remember
when, nearly a year ago, lockdown
measures hailed from on high and
we all donned our masks, sheltered
in place and submitted to the poli-
ticians’ decisions to shut down our
economy for the sake of not over-
whelming the health care system.
The message was clear: flattening the
curve (decreasing the rate of spread
of the virus) would help ensure that
hospitals were not overwhelmed with
patients; it was never intended to
eradicate the virus or minimize the
total number of deaths.
“Two weeks to flatten the curve”
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has turned into 52. We still have
huge portions of our economy shut
down or hamstrung by burdensome
regulations. Travel is restricted.
There are limited sporting events.
We also seem to have forgotten the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s own guidance that
a COVID-19 “exposure” occurs
after a patient has had “close con-
tact” (within 6 feet for 15 minutes
or more) with someone who has
coronavirus.
Instead of acknowledging that
we’re all responsible citizens
capable of assessing our own level
of risk tolerance, we have sanctimo-
nious ne’er-do-wells up at Fergi (and
on our hiking trails) making snide
comments and criticizing those who
dare enjoy the great outdoors mask-
less. Bullies and politicians alike
are happily taking advantage of this
corona-crisis in order to gain power.
Perhaps instead of seeking to con-
trol others, we can focus our efforts
toward taking care of ourselves and
our own families, and trust that others
will do the same.
Rebecca Patton
Enterprise
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