Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: TimF who wrote (78618)	7/31/2006 10:51:35 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

>>Taxes on gasoline distort the market but at least they work through the market. They give people the freedom to decide how to respond to the higher costs, and over time they will find the most efficient way to do so. That's better, both in terms of freedom and in terms of efficiency than even more intrusive solutions. And yes this change happens over years. That is better than trying to force change all at once. Change over time is less expensive and disruptive than sudden change. BTW - I don't have a problem with more research and development of energy alternatives. In many ways I would support that ahead of an increase in gasoline or other energy/fuel taxes. But basic research takes even longer to have any serious effect than a gasoline tax increase. Also the basic research on many alternatives has largely already been done. What's needed is development and deployment. But development and deployment will have to largely be funded by the private sector. Also it won't happen much unless the price of current energy sources go up. I anticipate the real prices of current alternatives will go up over time. That will get these alternatives deployed (although your talking years or decades, major changes like this happen slowly). If you want to speed up the process a bit (although it would still be slow) taxes on conventional fuels and energy sources would do that.<< Tim - Yes, R & D takes time. Using your approach, the serious R & D efforts would begin only after higher taxes had pushed the situation to a crisis point. Thus, it would take a lot longer than a plan that involves a government sponsored initiative to accelerate the R & D. >>Arguments that even Bush supports an idea go nowhere with me. One thing we can both agree on is that Bush is far from perfect.<< Far from perfect is a massive understatement. I was pointing that support for the idea is pretty much a no brainer. Bush has tried throughout his tenure to lead our country boldly into the 19th century, as far as energy policies go. ("This nation is afraid of coal", he once said.) Yet even he cannot entirely oppose a concept so fundamentally obvious as this; for many reasons, relying mainly on fossil fuels to power our nation is unsustainable and foolish. - Allen