Aaron, I'm in a hurry at the moment, so this is not a complete response to your post. I do know that what America plans to do to comply with international calls for a reduction in ozone depletion is based mostly on buying pollution credits from countries that do not use all of theirs. This has been criticized by environmentalists, obviously.
The most efficient products, for example cars powered by gasoline, are not an inherent right of man. We are not born riding in these cars. I believe that hybrid technologies will ultimately produce very efficient people movers, but I believe legislation is necessary to assure reasonable emissions standards. Obviously, an eight horsepower cruisemobile like the ones we all drove twenty years ago is more powerful and more fun, but at what cost? It seems like very selfish pleasure.
It definitely pays to be the only country with a low gas tax. That is the basic problem which causes America to spew forth 25% of all pollution, with only 8% of the world's population. I do not think this is justifiable, however, nor is it anything to be proud of. I do disagree that countries with high gasoline taxes always operate at a disadvantage, however. The western European economies have been showing a lot o growth in several countries, and they have very high gasoline taxes, and small, fuel-efficient cars. When they get their common currency going, it will be a larger economy than America's, and may pose a significant threat to our dominance. |
