Thursday, April 28, 2005
Why you should buy a hybrid
Of course, America should never have gotten to this humiliating position. Had Bush lifted a finger to reduce U.S. oil consumption five years ago, his shirt and tie would not be so dusty today. More importantly, American consumers would have retained more power over their own economy.
A simple 50-cent tax on every gallon of gas could have done it. Again, not an original idea. Ross Perot threw it out during his 1992 campaign for president. He said the tax would encourage Americans to use less oil, and the revenues collected would pay down the deficit.
So where do we stand today? Well, gas prices shot up 43 cents a gallon in just the last year. The average price last week was $2.24, and little of that money is going into our Treasury. It is going to, among others, various sponsors of terror in the Mideast.
Perot's solution was so elegant. A tax on gas would have let car makers continue to churn out guzzlers for consumers willing to pay more for gas. Eventually, everyone would have adjusted to the higher energy costs. More Americans would have flocked to fuel-efficient vehicles 10 years ago. U.S. carmakers would also have gotten on the hybrid bandwagon earlier. Instead, they kept making the Oil Warriors and let the Japanese capture 96 percent of the U.S. market for hybrids.
I'm usually opposed to government interventions in the market. But seriously, now, this gas situation is a little out of control.
A simple 50-cent tax on every gallon of gas could have done it. Again, not an original idea. Ross Perot threw it out during his 1992 campaign for president. He said the tax would encourage Americans to use less oil, and the revenues collected would pay down the deficit.
So where do we stand today? Well, gas prices shot up 43 cents a gallon in just the last year. The average price last week was $2.24, and little of that money is going into our Treasury. It is going to, among others, various sponsors of terror in the Mideast.
Perot's solution was so elegant. A tax on gas would have let car makers continue to churn out guzzlers for consumers willing to pay more for gas. Eventually, everyone would have adjusted to the higher energy costs. More Americans would have flocked to fuel-efficient vehicles 10 years ago. U.S. carmakers would also have gotten on the hybrid bandwagon earlier. Instead, they kept making the Oil Warriors and let the Japanese capture 96 percent of the U.S. market for hybrids.
I'm usually opposed to government interventions in the market. But seriously, now, this gas situation is a little out of control.
