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Originally posted by Gattigap
In any event, David Ignatius covers the obvious ground of political cowardice in dealing with the problem, but also shines the light (solar powered, naturally) on a plan I hadn't seen before, and kinda like:
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I find this idea pretty fascinating. I think it's going to take some strong intervention to get this country off its current gas guzzler course, and maybe a plan like this would be the ticket.
I certainly disagree with the admin that the hydrogen fuel cell car is the basket to jam our eggs into, since the technology is unproven at best and uncertain at worst, and because it gives the drivers of the gas guzzlers a false sense of security that "something" is being done to free us from the bonds of foreign oil dependence, and that "something" is over a decade away. (In other words, "In the meantime, fill 'er up. I'm going to do some donuts in the junior high school parking lot.") At the same time the admin has shifted tax incentives in favor of SUVs (liberalizing small business owner writeoffs) and away from more efficient models (phaseout of tax deduction for buying a hybrid). Just like the budget deficits, it's a way of punting our oil consumption problems to the future.
Let me be clear: I support the rights of people like Hello to drive his SUV around every city in the country to catalog the laziness of welfare recipients if he wants to. I just believe that if we all concede that there is an added geopolitical/security cost to ensuring access to a large portion of the world's oil resources in the age of terrorism, we should find a way to price that collective cost into gasoline usage. But with all the handwringing about the recent gas price spike to "record levels," I am (as usual) not optimistic that this will come to pass under the way things stand now. I have not seen any numbers on this Ignatius plan, but it at least provides several counterarguments to the inevitable cry that a gas tax increase will hurt too much.
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* AON, I (finally) watched the South Park movie the other night. Watch this space for an endless stream of horribly dated references until the fever passes.
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It's funny to think how times have changed for Saddam since he "starred" in the SP movie back when he was still running his country into the ground. Kind of like seeing OJ in the Naked Gun movies and realizing that he was once a respected rental car spokesman.
