we could raise the gas tax and thus directly tax people proportionally to how much they drive while simultaneously providing an economic reason for them to reduce their carbon foot print by buying higher mpg vehicles.

That's one alternative. Personally I don't think it's necessary to solve a cash problem by boxing in the solution with only things that pertain to driving.

or we can put out press releases about how we stand with paris, spend money building infrastructure for tolls, increase gridlock thus adding to the states carbon footprint, increase commuting times, and send a large chunk of revenue to some out of state company to service whatever ezpass system is installed.

Paris aside, this kind of spending is exactly what I am afraid of. You hit it on the head.

welcome to r/connecticut where we make policy decisions that negatively affecting millions of residents because there might be literally dozens of maniacs from out of state willing to pee in a cup to avoid paying 5 extra cents in gas tax once or twice a year when they pass through.

The majority of people in this sub make their opinions on policy based on what affects them directly vs what is actually good for the state overall. They are not fit to be in the position of making any real decisions.