Seems like we had a thread sometime last year on how the state gov'ts are
going to replace the fuel taxes that are lost to alternative fuels. Probably
not a huge issue for them now but it will be at some point- obviously they
have to do it somehow or we won't have any roads upon which to drive our
eco-friendly alternatively fueled vehicles.

Bureaucracies quickly evolve from doing their appointed tasks to justifying
their existances, and this is an example of that. These bozos pay their
mortgages from their jobs enforcing the fuel tax and probably (and
correctly) interpret the alternative fuel movement as a direct threat to
their livelihoods. This is aside from the basic impulse of the 'find a head
to hang on the wall' mentality of enforcement types.

There's another fundamental question here: Since the fuel taxes mainly go to
upkeep of the roads, should people making and using alternative fuels get to
essentially use for free a service for which everyone else has to pay?
Shouldn't they carry their share of the load? When somebody is willfully
avoiding carrying their share, should there not be a mechanism by which the
rest of us can either enforce payment of that share or denial of the
service, or do those of us who are playing fairly assume a heavier load or
risk losing the service altogether?

Cya,
Robert