You guys are doing a pretty good job of keeping this civil and there are
enough technical points which are possibly knowable (vs. political points
which are unknowable or, in fact, religious) that I've been letting the
thread run its course. Good points are being made on both sides.

One thing I would like to point out which may help each side see the point
of view of the other...

There are two issues with taxes used to pay for the side effects of the use
of some material such as the pollution associated with oil use or second
hand smoke injury as a result of smoking cigarettes:

1. There is the question of the degree of severity of the collateral damage,
or if there is actually any at all. For many years, second hand smoke was
not considered to be an issue. Now, most people believe that it can cause
damage over time with repeated exposure. I'm not trying to argue that case
one way or the other; I'm trying to point out that the case can be argued.
And each of these issues has such an arguable case.

2. There is ALSO the question of whether or not the government, or any other
body placed in charge, will actually do anything with the taxes collected to
offset any damaged that is agreed upon in the first issue. I personally have
almost NO faith that the government will do anything worth doing with the
funds it collects as a part of the tax on gasoline, cigs, or just about
anything else. Other people believe that great good has been done with those
tax moneys.

Again, I don't want to try to argue one way or the other on any of these
issues. I just wanted to point out that there are two, and not only the one,
issues with the addition of tax to the purchase of any product.

Personally, my guess is that fossil fuel pollution accounts for more death
than nuclear power ever has. And I would also guess that not a dime of
federal funds was actually put to work to study, publish or correct the
effects of that pollution. I would be very happy to be proven wrong.

---
James.
 

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