LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

Charge By Use to Reward Conservation 

8/12/2000

Imagine that our electric bills were a flat fee each month, no matter how much electricity we use. Do you think such a policy would have an effect on energy consumption? 

In many ways, motor vehicle costs are like a flat fee electric bill. According to AAA figures, it costs about 50 cents per mile to drive an economy car. However, we rarely notice this fact because most of this cost is in the form of flat, fixed expenses. 

One of the biggest of these flat, fixed expenses for driving is the cost of insurance. We pay a certain amount at regular intervals, then we can drive a lot or a little and the cost is the same. 

Imagine instead if auto insurance were billed like electricity, by usage. A car owner would then have a real choice to save money every time an alternative to driving was chosen. 

A recent letter [7/12/00] in the News-Press supported a plan of "pay at the pump" auto insurance which is being proposed by the governor of Colorado. The intent of that plan is to guarantee that every motorist pays for basic liability insurance every time fuel is purchased. 

The plan was proposed as a way to eliminate the problem of uninsured motorists. Yet, it also would have a major environmental benefit: It would allow motorists to save money every time they refrained from driving, rewarding conservation. 

The advantages, disadvantages and details of this particular plan can be debated. However, this plan offers a chance to consider a concept that has very real consequences for the environment. That concept is to change a fixed cost into a cost by usage. The concept holds whether we are considering auto insurance or fixed-fee parking permits with unlimited usage. 

Any system which allows fixed per-year costs to be turned into variable per-mile or per-use costs gives people a real choice in what mode of transportation to use every single day. Instead of forcing a person to pay for driving even on days when an alternative is available, a person can choose to pay only for driving that is really necessary. 

The Sierra Club and our public officials all want to encourage people to minimize driving to conserve resources and to reduce traffic congestion, pollution, and destruction of habitat for roads. 

It is nice to encourage people to drive less. It is even better to give them the reward they deserve for doing so. 

Sierra Club -- Santa Barbara Group 
Robert Bernstein -- Chair