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

To: TimF who wrote (79183)	8/30/2006 11:26:59 AM
From: Cogito	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 81568

Tim - Nobody said it wouldn't be expensive. But your analysis overlooks a number of key points. First, replacing (at least partially) parts of our infrastructure that keep us tied to a fossil-fuel based economy would have long term benefits in several ways. One, if we can reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we can revise our foreign policies to reflect our values, rather than being forced to make dangerous compromises. That leads to a benefit in terms of our security. Hybrids are far more expensive to build now, but as we scale production, the cost differential would decrease rapidly. The other thing to remember, which people often don't when talking about hybrids, is that they produce drastically lower emissions. It's not just a matter of better gas mileage, they pollute far less for an equivalent amount of fuel burned. So there's another huge benefit. Cleaner air is better for everyone and reduced greenhouse gas emissions are a good thing. Think long term. Increasing taxes on gasoline and having market forces drive change would be slow, disproportionately harmful to the middle class and poor, and create a significant drag on the economy, as prices of nearly all goods and services would have to rise. Breaking windows and then fixing them doesn't create an economic benefit, but building new, more energy efficient houses does. I'm not advocating a 5 year plan to eliminate all oil usage. But I think we could accomplish a lot in a decade, if we had the vision and leadership to get it done. The market, if left to itself, will try to maintain the status quo, because that's the option that makes the next few quarterly reports look better. - Allen