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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (3283)	10/20/2006 6:36:01 PM
From: cirrus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10087

If the US didn't have to import any foreign oil we would still have political and national security interests in the Middle East. Our allies would import oil from there. Terrorist would eminate from there. Israel is located there. And a disruption in supply would effect the price of oil in the US even if we didn't import a drop. True, but without the current reliance on oil we would be in a much stronger position to deal with these issues. If the national security need really is overwhelming (and that could be debated as well) it would be better to work with markets, and distort them just a bit, than to just set up a huge expensive government program. You could tax oil and/or refined products to a greater degree, and let the market decide how to deal with this extra cost. I think you need some government assistance to minimize economic disruption. The basic problem is that people can't buy hydrogen fueled autos unless there are hydrogen filling stations available. Who's going to build these stations unless there are vehicles that need the fuel? This is where the goverment steps in and starts the ball rolling. Start off with the GSA buying hydrogen vehicles and contracting for hydrogen pumps at some existing filling stations. Subsidize the purchase of hydrogen autos with tax credits - as we do now with hybrids. With some hydrogen stations available and incentives to buy vehicles, the number of hydrogen vehicles will grow. As they do, more fueling stations will come on line. It's not a Manhattan project by any means - we know the technology works. A combination of creating demand, incentives and subsidies is pretty much all that's required. It's not cheap, but it's certainly doable. A government that can mandate HDTV by 2010 can certainly set the wheels in motion for a hydrogen economy by 2025.