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Originally Posted by oil pan 4
lack of insecuritty, to having no need to impress or to be in fake competition with peers and total strangers
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That's a good point.
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Originally Posted by sendler
If the goal is to get people to quit burning up so much fossil fuel, it must be heavily taxed. And then the windfall can be given back to the working classes in other breaks so they can still get to work such as the subsidies that are currently running on electric cars and programs like the successful "cash fo clunkers" to get these old pick up trucks off of the road.
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Had fossil fuel been heavily taxed before, maybe the "cash for clunkers" program would have been more successful. Some years ago I found some reports claiming that it didn't really have fulfilled some of the goals when it came to improvements to the overall fuel-efficiency. BTW I must confess I got quite surprised when GM phased out the hybrid versions of the Silverado, Tahoe, Escalade and Yukon.
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Windfall money would also be available for loans to green energy developement, mass transit, efficient housing, food subsidies. A carbon tax doesn't have to hurt the poor and middle class. And then the rich guys can drive whatever they want and gripe every time they fill up to pay for the mess they are making.
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I'm not sure what kind of "green" energy development you would be favorable, but it could eventually get in line with food subsidies. For example, biodigesters seem to be a good option to decrease farmers' dependence on petroleum-based fuels for their tractors and trucks with biomethane, that could also be used in gensets and as a replacement to kerosene used in heaters.
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Originally Posted by Fat Charlie
We're already subsidizing cars with all our road construction, parking requirements and the like- what's so bad about shifting the subsidies to other transportation options that have a shot at reducing congestion?
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I consider the Japanese approach at setting different tax bands based on the vehicles size as a viable way to reduce congestion, but it's unlikely to happen due to different crash standards set by NHTSA. I'm also favorable to tricycles as a way to circumvent some crash standards and save weight in order to improve overall fuel-efficiency, but not even Harley-Davidson could challenge the automakers lobby...