Some would argue that the difference is transportation policy, and the tax consequence just flows from that. To wit:
> The gasoline tax in the USA needs to be at least doubled ...
This seems to come up often here, but you can't "just" raise the tax on gasoline without providing an alternative to those who then can't afford it.
> [...] and the tax so raised needs to be invested in mass transport
> and city and regional planning rather than more highways.
This is chicken-and-egg time: you have to have the infrastructure in place before you raise the tax, because raising the tax is an immediate hardship on those who you want to switch. In the US, we've pretty much found that there's an insensitivity to raising the cost of driving -- but this is only because there is no alternative in most cases, so those at the bottom stop eating enough. That's a lousy idea, IMHO.
/jordan