Introduction
Can you imagine a tax you don't have to pay?! Totally voluntary!
Or a tax that you can decide to pay just half? Or a quarter?
A tax where you get to decide what the revenues are spent on?
Where you can decide to help out low-income folks in your community with house insulation? Or help fund a bike trail through town?
A tax where the heroes are those who pay the least tax? ... oops, I guess that's the way corporations today already act!
A tax that you feel good about paying? A tax that assures you a better environment? A more sane foreign policy?
The Voluntary Gas Tax is a campaign that was initiated in November of 2000 by a group of concerned citizens in Harrisonburg, Virginia (more recently joined by sister groups in Goshen, Indiana and Davis, California). This campaign grows out of the awareness that the society in which we live relies too heavily on petroleum products to the detriment of our environment, health, and the quality of life in our communities. This campaign also reflects a concern that the price of gasoline and other oil products does not reflect the actual costs that our global community incurs as a result of our dependence on oil.
Costs of our Oil Addiction
- Environment costs such as global warming and air pollution
- Costs of maintaining a stable and inexpensive supply of oil through political and military intervention in oil producing regions of the world (Iraq, Colombia, Venezuela, etc).
- Costs to the health of ourselves and our communities (pollution-related illnesses, lack of exercise, lack of opportunities to interact with neighbors).
This campaign attempts to start preparing for the future by reversing the negative impacts of our oil addiction and identifying and supporting sustainable alternatives.
We invite communities around the United States (and the world for that matter) to initiate your own Voluntary Gas Tax Campaign. This website is dedicated to encouraging people in all communities to organize a group of people who feel strongly about this issue and empower them to start taking concrete steps toward a healthier community. There are lots of ways to organize such a campaign so we offer our ideas with the hopes that you will tailor them to meet the needs of your own community.
The proceeds of our campaign have been donated to local, national, and international organizations that:
- advocate for a cleaner environment
- promote alternative modes of transportation
- attempt to lessen the negative impact on people who are suffering and dying due to the world’s reliance on oil
- somehow work to reduce our societies reliance on petroleum