This has nothing to do with liberal or conservative politics. It has everything to do with making money. I am a gearhead to the nth degree, love my speed and pushing the envelope in performance no matter if it's 300 mph or 300 mpg. Been at it for a long time, don't see it abating one bit. But I am also an American and a realist, and one thing this country is good for is finding a way to turn a buck on something, no matter what it is.
Motorsports is a multi billion dollar business. So is eco friendliness, drugs, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, baby products, weddings, bass fishing, whatever. As long as there is an ability to profit from something, it will continue to exist. Prohibition does not work, it only instigates ways to keep it going, add taboo factor and make it more succeptible to criminal activity, which then drives the price up. That's why legalizing recreational drugs will not happen; the price of the commodity will drop to nothing and the private prison system will lose money.
Motorsports always was an underground activity until folks figured out how to make a lot of money at it. NASCAR was started by moonshine runners. Drag racing was on the street first and the beaches. Someone issues a challenge, bets money, first one to the finish line wins. Competition improves the breed and the day you stop pushing it is the day you stop getting better.
I have always believed that you are what you eat. Change the fuel, you change the emissions, period. As one other poster said, we constitute a very small segment of the population whether on the eco side or the motorsport side. The challenge is changing the mindset of people used to cheap fuel and good times AND MAKING IT FUN AND COOL. Hate to say it, but folks are immature in a lot of respects so if you keep the fun and sneak the responsible in on them when they are not looking, they'll take it. But if you just put it as "the responsible, mature choice", it implies boring. And people do not like being told eat your broccoli, exercise, etc. even though it's the right thing to do. They'll respond like children, "you can't tell me what to do! I'm grown! I can eat and drive and do what I want!" You most certainly can. Because a doctor is gonna make a ton on you after the heart attack, an oil company is going to still profit from your obesity adding to the fuel consumption as you drive, a drug company is getting their cut from the Lipitor the doctor prescribed, and of course Jack Daniels, Miller Brewing Company, et al are helping ease the pain.
See, it all makes sense.
