Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil.So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost. His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He has been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government. To legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond. Teixeira is one of a growing number of fuel-it-yourselfers -- backyard brewers who recycle restaurant grease or make moonshine for their car tanks. They do it to save money, reduce pollution or thumb their noses at oil sheiks. They're also caught in a web of little-known state laws that can stifle energy independence. State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Denton, is known around Raleigh for his diesel Volkswagen fueled by used soybean oil. The car sports a "Goodbye, OPEC" sign. "If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt" from state taxes, he said. The state Department of Revenue, which fined Teixeira, has asked legislators to waive the $2,500 bond for small fuel users. The department also told Teixeira, after the Observer asked about his case this week, that it will compromise on his fine. But officials say they'll keep pursuing taxes on all fuels used in highway vehicles. With its 29.9-cent a gallon gas tax, the state collects $1.2 billion each year to pay for road construction. "With the high cost of fuel right now, the department does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," said Reggie Little, assistant director of the motor fuel taxes division. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level." Alternative support State policies firmly endorse alternative fuels. In 2005 legislators directed state agencies to replace 20 percent of their annual petroleum use with alternatives by 2010. About 6,000 of the state's 8,500 vehicles are equipped to use ethanol. The state fleet also includes about 135 gas-electric hybrids. Few states, however, are prepared to regulate the new fuels, says the National VegOil Board, which promotes vegetable oil fuel. "State offices do not have the forms to appropriately and fairly deal with VegOil, nor the staff to enforce the nonexistent forms," said director Cynthia Shelton. "So either they tell people inquiring about compliance to get lost, or they make them jump a bunch of arbitrary hoops." Outraged Illinois legislators this spring quickly waived that state's $2,500 bond requirement when an elderly man was nabbed for using waste vegetable oil. In the mountain district of state Sen. John Snow, D-Cherokee, home-brewed ethanol was once known as moonshine. But a couple of constituents who made it for fuel have been fined for the same tax violation that got Teixeira in trouble. Snow has introduced several bills to promote biodiesel, which under state law includes vegetable oil. "One of the biggest problems in the state is a real lack of information for people who want to use alternative fuels," said Snow's research assistant, Jonathan Ducote. "It's just now appearing on [regulators'] radar." Speedway sting Teixeira's story began near Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 14. As recreational vehicles streamed in for race week, revenue investigators were checking fuel tanks of diesel RVs for illegal fuel. The investigators spotted Teixeira's passing bumper sticker: "Powered by 100% vegetable oil." "It was like some twist of fate that put me there," he said. "It was like I was asking for them to stop me." Teixeira says revenue officials are just doing their jobs. But he thinks it's unfair that he was lumped with people who purposely try to avoid fuel taxes. "Individuals who are trying to do the right thing environmentally cannot and should not continue to take this kind of financial hit," he wrote Gov. Mike Easley. He'll pay the state fine and apply for a state fuel license. "I'm ready to get myself legal," he said, "and start using vegetable oil again." http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/599471.html I don't agree that he sould've been fined. We do need to get America into using more alternate fuels and to get out of the Middle East.
So..lemme get this right, you don't have the freedom to put into your car whatever the fuck you want? You burn something that runs a car, big oil HAS to get its cut? Or just the government somehow? This is so ludicrous, I'm having trouble getting its misshapen mass to fit through the door of my head.
You think "Big Oil" is the one who really wants to keep the gasoline going? Compare what the oil companies get and what the government gets for a gallon of gas. Then figure out which one has the guns.
You'd think not paying the fuel taxes would be a reward for "thinking outside the box" and being motivated enough to use a cleaner burning fuel. I'm sure there's some way to pro-rate this guys share of what he should pitch in to help pay for the roads he's driving on.
Well, given that gas taxes nominally go to pay for roads maintenance, I can't say as I'm terribly outraged.
Wait, wait - you pay the fuel tax as part of the price of gasoline at the pumps, right? Now, if I have a car that doesn't USE gas, that means I don't BUY gas, so why the fuck should I have to pay what amounts to sales tax on something I haven't bought?! And, if, for instance, I take 2 weeks off work and don't drive anywhere, I won't be buying any gas. Are they gonna come after me and make me pay a fine for the gas I WOULD have bought?
You don't pay tax on gas for using gas, you pay tax on gas for using road. Gas purchase is just the method of metering road use that TPTB have decided to use. If you're going to use the roads, you're damn right you ought to be paying for their upkeep. Hence the alt. fuel license fee. Of course, IMHO $2500 for a license fee is a little steep. I won't even spend $2500 on gas for a whole year and I drive 30 miles each way to work.
If you have a more efficient car, you drive farther for the same amount of gas you purchase. Does this mean that people with more and more efficient cars will have to pay more and more to the government outside of fuel taxes?
Then the tax should be on the car and not on the fuel. Are bikes, sneakers and skateboards going to be taxed for road use too? And if fuel is taxed every time we fuel up for road upkeep, why the hell are there tolls on the highways??
We have those too, I'm not sure where that money goes though...probably to keep up the bureaucracy that forces us to pay the tax.
Yes, because foot traffic, bicyclists, and idiots on skateboards are really putting a lot of wear on the roads. I'll tell ya - foot and bicycle paths have to be repaved far less frequently than roads. Believe it or not, the tax on road wear is actually somewhat metered according to vehicle size. I know in Oregon at least, semi operators are charged a good deal in taxes - and, for the amount of wear they put on the road, they should be charged a good deal more. Wouldn't surprise me if diesel has a higher tax associated with it too, since it is usually used in larger vehicles. Gas taxes are, unfortunately, kind of nebulous. I'm sure I could look it up if I really cared, but I don't. People should be going on alternative fuels for environmental, not political, reasons in my book. But in the end, fuck, at least he's doing it.
So I assume that even though he paid sales tax on the cooking oil that doesn't count. If so, then he is being double taxed.
Everyone is double, triple and quadruple taxed all the time. Why is this instance of it so extra offensive and surprising?
Use illegal fuel, get fined. Good thing he didn't have an electric vehicle. That is my state. I can't believe that we pay people to do that shit. Their pay is probably much more than any tax on alternate fuels would have been. Plus they are hitting motor homes at the racetack, looking for illegal fuel. The same tank is used to run the generator as the rv engine, so they all have to pay road tax on their generators running all weekend at the track.
