The other thing that’s missed is that a huge portion of frequent flyers, regardless of distance, are doing it for work because they *need* to, not out of leisure.  And I’ve already seen people suggest the same thing should happen in the US, where flying is the *only* viable method of transit for 90% of situations. …

This.

Aaron, your ignorance and overwhelmingly leftist ideas shine brightly in this coagulation of garbage you call an article. You clearly have no expertise in the matter, yet you spew your unfounded opinions blindly in hopes that people like you, eat it up. Sadly, there will be a few who will actually agree with you and…

This is a very relevant article, if read in its entirety: https://e-csr.net/plane-cars-means-transportation-pollution-27537/

Summary:
The average EUROPEAN car logs about 55g of CO2/passenger/km.
A Plane logs about 285g of CO2/passenger/km.

Pretty disappointed in this article. I would have expected a senior reporter to have a better handle on the nuances of this argument.

With the right tax structure, a lot of people might think twice about flying those short hops, opting for the train or bus instead.

The more left someone goes in their political beliefs the more they think government is the solution. Mostly because they are too stupid to understand that the private sector solves problems much better.

Why is it that everyone thinks taxing things is a solution to anything? Ever? So the government can have even more of our money and waste it in new and even more stupid ways?

We do NOT have a revenue problem. We have a mother fucking spending problem. Do you have any idea how much of our taxes is misspent or wasted? I would estimate greater than 50% is wasted through inefficiency, misappropriated through pet projects, and just spent needlessly. NYS has recently shown billions of taxpayer…

Oh go back to your free trade Kombucha smoothie and masturbating to Marx and leave the rest of us in peace.

As a blogger, Aaron, I’m sure you’d agree the internet would be nothing without content, right?
Corportate datacenters that host and enable the internet consume so much electricity that their position on the power grid (rather than proximity to labor, data cables, or open space) is the prime consideration.
The EPA…

Let me get this straight: the people who are all in on global mobility want take the side of a nation going through an isolationist rebellion and levy a tax on people who are globally mobile?

I’ve got a choice right now between a 1 hour, $150 roundtrip flight to see family, versus 8 hours each way in the car and the same cost in fuel. Fuck your idea.

I’m glad I got to spend a good bit of my life where the past and the future were built around the idea of democratization of travel as opposed to the demonization of travel. Obviously there are all kinds of problems to be solved, but who wants to live in a society who’s vision for the future is to just tax everyone…

People fly because it works. People fly a lot because they have to. Making my life harder by making my business trip take longer is not good policy. People propose taxes because taxes are easier than solutions.

Because giving more money to the government is always the best solution.

Have you taken a Greyhound recently? I have, from Phoenix to LA, which is a fairly short ride at only 8 hours... it was such a miserable experience that I would rather pay 5x the amount to fly, or just drive the 4-5 hours myself in the comfort of my own car.

Because what the government really needs is MORE of our money.

And the response to your idea is....

If the tax was actually going to be used on alternative transportation, like high-speed rail... I would say yes. But another tax that is going to be wasted on defense spending, no.