Environmentalists ignore automobile benefits in attempt to tax drivers for social, environmental costs, says study.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 1995--Current attempts to estimate the social and environmental costs of the automobile ignore tangible benefits and sales tax revenues, while demanding higher taxes and fees for American auto-users, according to the report ``Defending Automobility: A Critical Examination of the Environmental and Social Costs of Auto Use,'' released by the Los Angeles-based Reason Foundation.

A rapidly growing body of literature estimating the social and environmental costs associated with automobile use in the United States argues that automobile users are allegedly not paying enough through their fuel and other auto-related taxes, tolls, vehicle license and registration fees to cover the full costs of the automobile on society and the environment.

Estimated national underpayments in these auto-cost studies range from $60 billion to $700 billion annually.

According to Kenneth Green, D.Env., director of air quality and transportation projects at the Reason Foundation and author of the study: ``Such studies propose charging auto-users for such things as air pollution, ozone depletion, species endangerment, plant damage and `loss of community.'

``Defining the environmental and social costs associated with such negative externalities becomes critical when those cost estimates are used to justify increased fuel taxes, registration fees and even the actual price of a car.

``Clearly auto-users should pay their own way,'' admitted Green. ``In fact, few of the costs attributed to auto use pass the test of legitimacy, such as air pollution, some costs to non-auto-users and part of the subsidy for employee-provided parking.''

But according to the Reason Foundation study, auto-users are already overpaying. For example, California's auto-users pay approximately $16 billion through auto-related federal, state and local levies, while only $7 billion to $8 billion is actually expended on roadways and other related infrastructure (e.g., highway patrol, emission monitors, etc.)

``Without including alleged auto externalities,'' said Green, ``most auto-cost estimates support the contention that auto-users are clearly paying their own way.''

Beyond evaluating environmental externalities such as pollution and global warming, the Reason Foundation study also examines alleged social externalities. Such social costs range from compensating pedestrians for blocking their way with roadways to military activities aimed at protecting oil supplies in the Middle East.

``While the auto-cost literature spares no effort to identify and estimate costs imposed upon society by auto-users, it is rather reticent about acknowledging the numerous internal and external benefits,'' said Green. ``Gains in personal mobility and freedom, and $22 billion annually in sales-tax revenue, are virtually ignored.

``It is not fair, and it is not in the best interest of the nation's economy, to force auto-users to pay more for their auto use than the costs they actually impose upon society,'' said Green. ``Eighty-seven percent of American households depend on the automobile for most of their mobility.

``There is little evidence to support the contention that even the remaining 13 percent of American households would enjoy any benefits as a result of severe overpricing of personal transportation.''

Related studies on the cost of automobiles and transportation reform include ``Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Reforming California's Roadway System'' and ``Looking Beyond ECO: Alternatives to Employer-Based Trip Reduction.'' Copies of each study are available for $15 each and may be obtained by contacting the Reason Foundation at 310/391-2245.

The Reason Foundation is a national public-policy research organization with a practical, market-based approach and an outside- Washington perspective. Founded in 1978 and based in Los Angeles, the Reason Foundation has earned a reputation for sound economic research and a how-to approach that benefits policy makers and elected officials who require practical solutions.

CONTACT: Reason Foundation, Los Angeles

Rich Phillips, 310/391-2245