US and China must cooperate on the environment

Fallows, who recently spent several years in China, blogs:

Thirty years from now, the most important aspect of Barack Obama's interaction with China will be whether the two countries, together, can do anything about environmental and climate issues. If they can, in 2039 we'll look back on this as something like the Silent Spring/Clean Air Act moment in American history, which began a change toward broad environmental improvement. If they can't....

New Dutch auto tax targets distance driven

Holland seems poised to replace a 25% tax on new automobile purchases with a mileage tax.  The aim is to reduce congestion, reports Wired (h/t Interpreter)

The Dutch government wants to abolish ownership and sales taxes on automobiles and instead levy a fee on every kilometer driven. The Transport Ministry says the move will cut congestion in half and curb carbon dioxide emissions by 10 percent.

Motorists driving a typical sedan would pay 3 Euro cents per kilometer, or about 7 U.S. cents per mile, under the law, which if passed would take effect in 2012. The tax would climb to 6.7 Euro cents (16 U.S. cents) in 2018.

“Each vehicle will be equipped with a GPS device that tracks how many kilometres are driven and when and where. This data will be then be sent to a collection agency that will send out the bill,” the ministry said in a statement, according to AFP.

So the igovernment will be able to track where and how far you drive? From a civil liberties perspective, the initiative is questionable. But less so in a small country with plenty of adequate public transportation alternatives to the automobile.