By Eric Grunebaum  |  May 25, 2009

DESPITE the Massachusetts Senate’s passage of a tax package last week, it’s clear that funds allocated for transportation – principally from the sales tax – are simply not enough. Moreover, with the rejection of 19- and 11-cent gas tax increase options, what seems to be absent from the debate is the compelling environmental argument for a hike in the gas tax.

Looking at the evidence for climate change – and its dire consequences – it’s clear that we need to get serious about weaning ourselves from our CO2-emitting, petroleum-based economy. Already in evidence is faster-than-expected melting of the polar ice cap, an incipient rise in sea levels, and increasingly destructive storms, droughts, and heat waves, with more serious consequences likely to follow. Meanwhile we’re spending vast treasures buying oil from largely hostile nations.

What we need are policies that send clear market signals encouraging change. The governor and business groups demonstrated real leadership in proposing 19- and 25-cent gas tax increases, respectively. Even tax-averse New Hampshire is considering a 15-cent increase. And in April, the Globe itself endorsed removing the sales tax exemption for gas, which equates to about a dime a gallon. At a minimum, we need the 19-cent increase and the $500 million it would raise for the transportation system.

However, we need the increased gas tax not just to provide a dedicated source of funding to fix crumbling infrastructure, not just to create jobs, and not just to rescue our public transportation authority. What we need it for above all else is to encourage the move toward more efficient cars, hybrids, and plug-in electrics. And we need the gas tax hike, not just to prevent layoffs and service cutbacks, but to make public transportation and trains more attractive relative to driving, and to increase transit availability. Based on last summer’s gas prices, it’s clear that people do adjust to sustained price signals.

We also need the gas tax to encourage people to bicycle and to fund design work so that we can unlock federal dollars for more bikeways. Eighty million dollars of federal funds for these projects, which Massachusetts has left on the table, may soon be forfeited. Similarly, we’re behind the Midwest and California on high-speed rail. As with bikeways, our lack of planning may cost us a share of $8 billion in federal subsidies, which could help us move to a less auto-centric future.

While the wisdom of the Big Dig can be debated, it’s a done deal and the bill is due, as well as the bills for long-deferred maintenance of our highways and perpetually underfunded public transportation. But let’s recognize that all corners of the state do share in the Big Dig’s benefits, if not directly while driving to the airport and hospitals or while taking part in the city’s commerce or culture, then certainly in the lifting of the state’s broader fortunes.

Yet, rather than more tolls – an inequitable and selective tax – what we need are the subtle market adjustments of a gas tax to put Massachusetts ahead of other states in making the switch to a post-petroleum transportation model, and perhaps closer to our friends across the gradually rising Atlantic. And despite its green credentials, the Northeast is the seventh largest producer of CO2, when compared with the world’s largest nations. As a major emitter, this is our problem to solve.

In the move toward a greener economy, Massachusetts has done well so far. Due to the governor and state Legislature’s efforts – along with our region’s academic leadership, business ingenuity, and groups like the New England Clean Energy Council – we are well-poised to create more green jobs, reduce our environmental impact, and keep advancing our leadership position. But we have a long way to go.

Yes, we need additional revenue from the sales tax to maintain services. And yes we need reform, transparency, and less redundancy in our transportation bureaucracy. But what we need above all else is the political will to use the tools available only to our government to give us a nudge in the right direction. And the gas tax hike is precisely the nudge we need.

Eric Grunebaum is a documentary film producer.