As owner of both a hybrid and an electric vehicle, I was very disappointed to read that the New Hampshire Legislature is considering adding a fee on these vehicles (“N.H. Bill Targets Efficient Cars: Fee Would Offset Gas Tax Losses,” Feb. 15).
First off, these vehicles were not cheap. The technology that enables them to achieve the mileage that they do is very complex and relatively new to the marketplace, and as a result is still relatively expensive.
Next, considering the multiple health and environmental problems associated with burning fossil fuels, New Hampshire really should be promoting vehicles that get better mileage, not penalizing them.
To achieve the mileage that these vehicles do, they are generally lighter than the average gas-powered vehicle, so their impact on the infrastructure is less, not to mention the fact that hyper-milers generally drive with a light foot, further reducing their impact.
Other reasons that the proposed tax is not such a great idea: These vehicles have a generally higher than average value and as a result, the value tax that many municipalities charge is higher. Also, for electric vehicles, there is already a consumption tax levied by electric utilities. This could possibly create a situation of double taxation. Both cars were eligible for federal tax credits when we bought them. So adding a state tax for a purchase that was originally incentivized by a federal tax credit seems like poor policy, if not legally indefensible.
A better way to approach the revenue situation is to build more electric charging stations, and then levy a small tax on them. This in turn would encourage more drivers to purchase these cleaner-running vehicles, generating revenue.
Another revenue generator that would have multiple benefits is opening more weighing stations in the state and keeping them open around the clock and throughout the year. Trucks that are overweight would pay a fine. These ideas are the lower hanging fruit for dealing with infrastructure damage, and would quickly recoup the $15 million lost from the gas tax over the last decade.
Bart Guetti
West Lebanon
Vermont’s Energy Challenge
I send this message to the Vermont Public Service Board:
The world faces a grave fossil-fuel energy crisis on three broad fronts:
1.) Fossil fuels contribute massive amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases directly into the atmosphere, accelerating the global warming crisis. About one-fourth of such emissions come from oil, coal and gas-fired power plants.
2.) Fossil fuels, especially oil, require an imperialist foreign policy, as evidenced by the Iraq wars and by ongoing efforts to destabilize the entire Middle East, where the bulk of the world’s proven reserves are located. The costs of these wars are now in the trillions of dollars and have helped double U.S. government debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion over the past eight years.
3.) World oil production has become uneconomic since 2012. It now costs more to locate, exploit and deliver new oil than the world economy’s end-users are willing to pay — $2.3 trillion a year more. As a result, the oil industry is no longer replenishing its reserves, with eventually grave consequences for the world’s (and Vermont’s) transportation and agricultural systems.
Vermont has the goal of getting 90 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050 (history will show this timeline too generous). To achieve this admirable goal, the state must invest in all renewables, including large-scale wind, as well as small-scale individual net-metered wind, hydro and solar. The state does not have enough rooftops or enough agricultural land to rely on solar photovoltaic arrays to do the whole job.
I understand the board has proposed rule changes that may result in a foolhardy moratorium on large-scale wind energy. Vermont would do well to follow the standards of Maine, which is ahead of us. Health experts maintain that 45 decibels for outside noise is an agreeable, if not perfect, standard. As regards NIMBY aesthetic stands, I suggest you ask the Dutch about their feelings about the windmills that began to dominate their landscape 400 years ago.
Vermont will not transition to a sustainable future without wind power. Please help Vermonters, all of us, secure our future.
Ian Baldwin
South Strafford
Time for Action
I am a life-long pragmatist, usually vote Democratic. Like many in the Upper Valley, I have been and am distressed by the outcome of the recent election. There are many reasons to fear for our democracy. But I have lost interest in and patience with the ongoing barrage of columns, essays, exposes and letters to the editor bemoaning and criticizing the tweets and utterances and appointees of the president.
The reality is Donald Trump is our president. If we are unhappy, even fearful, all this ranting and raving, including many predictions of doom, are not going to bring about progressive change. Real change is only going to come when we start reorganizing at the local and state levels.
There are reasonable differences of opinion on social issues and on some aspects of foreign policy. But on the main issues on which Trump got elected involving the economy, he and his fellow Republicans in Congress are wrong: Tax cuts for the rich do not trickle down. Never have! While manufacturing in the U.S. is at its highest level ever, manufacturing jobs are not coming back. Period. There is no evidence that immigrants across the board have reduced wages and reduced economic growth. Just the opposite. Restricting trade will not create jobs. Just the opposite (and with higher prices for all); look what happened in 1929. Deregulated financial markets do not bring prosperity and jobs to Main Street. We seem to have very short memories.
Those of us who want pragmatic change and economic prosperity must begin working to take back the state legislatures. Redistricting occurs again in three years. And, we must support new party leaders (who are they?) who will help redefine our vision for the future and pronounce what we are for, and how we are going to achieve these goals. It is not enough to imitate the GOP (2008-16) as the “Party of No.”
Stop complaining, start acting!
Jim Wilson
Strafford
A New Dark Age
The confirmation of Scott Pruitt as head of the Environmental Protection Agency is another backward step toward the dark ages by the minority president.
Roger Demment
Etna
Regarding the news article “Right-to-Work Loses in N.H.” (Feb. 17): I had nothing to do with this happy outcome, but it gives me a feeling of pride in New Hampshire anyway. It has always seemed to me hypocritical to misrepresent blatant union-busting legislation as flowing from somebody’s concern for the “rights” of workers.
Surely it is unhealthy if the states deprive workers of the capacity to organize and bargain effectively when selling their own labor — especially so when manufacturers, bankers, landlords, growers, doctors, lawyers, merchants and professionals are allowed to associate with each other and bargain in an infinite variety of combinations in an almost unrestricted way. There is at present a steady torrent of ostensible concern about the shortage of well-paying jobs that Americans are increasingly unable to find.
That torrent looks suspiciously like crocodile tears. Union labor can to a considerable extent take care of itself if it is backed and allowed by the states to do so. We can only hope that some more other states will follow New Hampshire’s healthy example.
David C. Montgomery
Hanover