Pump It Up

     This piece from Slate gets at an issue near and dear to my heart: my home state New Jersey’s laws regarding gas stations. New Jersey and Oregon are the only two states in the nation where pumping your own gas is illegal, and attendants fill your car for you. The law is ostensibly in place for safety reasons – the state does not want people handling flammable chemicals – but it has been kept in place in the name of job preservation. Despite all stations being full-service and having to pay attendants, New Jersey has lower gas prices that all of its immediate neighbors (Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Delaware). The state does this by keeping the gasoline tax low, and the author takes issue with this.
     He frames it in terms of missed opportunities. “[A gasoline tax] penalizes an environmental externality (burning fuel), and since poor people tend not to own cars, it doesn't have the regressive implications of a sales tax.” It is an interesting point; New Jersey could be better served moving to self-serve gas stations (48 others state deem their citizens competent enough to handle gas nozzles) and increasing revenue by raising the gasoline tax. Keeping attendants at gas stations seems to artificially create jobs, as gas stations around the country do not demonstrate the same need for employment as those in New Jersey or Oregon. 
     This would probably a tough sell to residents of the state. It is not always easy to convince people to change from their accustomed policy because a new one would be more economically efficient. Plus, having lived through many New Jersey winters, not having to leave your car is pretty nice.