I have an idea for a gas tax that makes a lot of sense to me, see if there is a problem that I have not thought of (I am probably not the first to think of it either). Instead of having a straight gas tax that has a strong adverse effect on poor consumers and no political support, collect a large tax on every gallon of gas sold, but then divide up the proceeds evenly and pay all residents back an equal share. So you could institute a $3.00 a gallon/tax but at the end of the year all adult U.S. residents would get a check for X dollars, where x is $.00 times the average per capita fuel use (minus administrative costs).

Using this method the person that uses the average amount of gas would break even, someone using large amounts of gas would pay more, and someone who used little or no gas would get paid a dividend. This would create a strong market incentive to conserve fuel without unduly hurting the poor. OVer time the average fuel use would presumably decline.

There would of course be a number of logistical problems, such as accounting for the transportation industry and regional differences, and how to pay out the dividends, but these could be easily overcome. You amy also want to skim off some of the proceeds for alternative energy research etc.