California Governor Jerry Brown is considered to be the leading elected official going after climate change.

He just signed into law a bill adding 12 cents more tax to gasoline in California, bringing the total per gallon tax burden to 30 cents.

I think this is a terrible idea, 12 cents is NOT NEARLY ENOUGH.

Let’s look at New York, and New York City in particular.

NYC has the highest cigarette taxes in the country.  New Yorkers pay $4.35 in state taxes, $1.50 in NYC tax, and 8% in sales tax, making the average cost per pack about $10.60 in 2105.  The average cost of a pack of cigarettes in the US today is $5.51 and in NYC is $12.85, meaning that New Yorkers pay a tax rate of about 133% on cigarettes.

Consequently, the smoking rate in New York is at the lowest in recorded history.

Way to go New York.

I think if California was really serious about climate change, it would treat gas the way New York treats cigarettes.

The average cost of a gallon of gas in the US is about $2.40.  I believe California should raise that by 133% to $5.60.  With this plan implemented, petroleum use in California should drop to record lows.

California has a labor participation rate of 62%, so at least 38% of the adults in the state don’t need to drive to work on a regular basis.  The rest can take public transportation.

Just think how cutting edge California will be for combating climate change.