Can American conservatism survive intact & unadulterated?

[RandBlade]

Pollution effects everyone. It may be worst in smog-filled cities where the particulates are concentrated but they're not good in other areas either. The particulates that come out of diesel exhausts etc will still be there even when driving into say a rural school. Plus taxes work best when they are consistent over a reasonable area.

I would rather have higher taxes on vehicles that emit unnecessary, damaging and deadly particulates that pollute the air we breath and give a tax cut to income tax, corporation taxes etc than the other way around. You?

[Lewkowski]

I would rather have higher taxes on vehicles that emit unnecessary, damaging and deadly particulates that pollute the air we breath and give a tax cut to income tax, corporation taxes etc than the other way around. You?

I'm opposed to the government influencing behavior this way. As it becomes commonly accepted (and it already has) it makes it easier for corruption to exist in politics and for parts of the economy to be manipulated to the benefit of the few as opposed to a true free market system. Crony capitalism is incredibly inefficient and there is far too much of it on the left and the right. Localized issues can be tolerated if the X behavior leads to Y outcome is crystal clear. Smog in a city is a potential example (see places like China and a few US cities).