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Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (78511)	7/28/2006 10:05:09 PM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Tim - I think there are a lot of situations in which the market contributes to or exacerbates problems rather than solving them. I mentioned the idea that we should reduce oil consumption in this country, which is a good idea for at least three reasons. One, relying on a finite resource as a primary energy source is not a viable long term strategy. Two, petroleum is a threat to the environment. Three, relying on the good will of foreign governments is a threat to national security. It's because those arguments are pretty much undeniable that even our current President has to at least pay lip service to the idea. You said that the best way to accomplish that would be to increase taxes on gasoline, which would inevitably reduce consumption, and motivate people to conserve. That sounds logical, but it's a terrible idea. It would penalize the poor and middle class disproportionately, for one thing. It would also take a very long time to work, and conservation alone doesn't solve the overall problem. A better solution would be to initiate a massive research and development program to bring technology to bear to find a way to produce alternative, renewable energy sources; to force automakers to improve fuel efficiency and to build more cars that use the alternative energy sources (if Toyota can do it, Detroit can, too), and to enlist the oil companies themselves in the process of creating the necessary production and distribution channels. The problem with market driven solutions to problems like this is that the people with the most money and the most power in the market don't have any motivation to change their behavior. Nor do they necessarily even know how. They are fixated on the next few quarters' results. - Allen