The wealthy (who do most of the polluting) will push any extra cost in taxes onto consumers and then continue polluting. The only way that a tax would help at all is if it were so expensive that many people were forced to stop driving and even then the usefulness is reduced by the fact that major polluters often have plenty of money and will insist on pushing any extra costs to them onto others. That means no reduction in the number of semi-trucks on the road, no reduction in, or penalty for, the pollution they cause, and the consumers getting sick by the dust are now also getting screwed by higher prices.
So execute them. Problem solved.
I suggest we look at recent examples from the US health insurance industry, which is leading the way in this area.
So we pay more for tires, the pollution keeps happening, and the extra money is used for virtue signaling with minimal change?
No, investing in healthier tires becomes economically viable.
What does “healthier tire” mean and how will the taxman know which tire is healthier and which one is not?
You start out by measuring tires with some metric, like "pounds of of particulate released pe 50,000 miles when loaded at x", and tax tires with a worse rating higher. Them you're gonna have to keep an eye on additives to tires, because it's always possible someone will find something that makes tires wear slower but the particles more toxic.
It's not impossible.
There will be less pollution if polluting costs more
> So we pay more for tires, the pollution keeps happening, and the extra money is used for virtue signaling with minimal change?