Comments phil6142 has made

Goverment

Why would we even expect that the goverment can offer any real help with such an important problem?

Every goverment agency or project that I have observed is plagued with inefficiency and wasted time and money.  A goverment mandate on fuel economy will mainly cause car manufactures to hire lawyers to try to find and exploit loop holes such as the one major loop hole mentioned above.  What then will help us to improve fuel economy?  High oil prices.  The higher oil prices are the more customers will demand greater fuel economy.  Also the higher oil prices are the more attractive alternatives become, economically speaking from a capatilistic point of view.  Car manufactures and energy companies like any other for profit companies must respond to customer demand or they will be replaced by companies that do.  

I do think that the goverment has role to play but rather than produce laws that encourage lawyers to look for loop holes they should supply funding to researchers and entrepeneurs (sorry for the spelling) who are working to develop more fuel efficient engines and alternative sources of energy.  The Bush administration has done some notable things to fund this initiative but it is not nearly enough.  But where will the extra funds come from?  How about this.  A one dollar per barrel of oil tax in which the proceeds will be funnelled directly to alternative energy research.  Or better yet a one dollar per gallon of gasoline tax now that would improve fuel economy all over the country.  But they won't do that because it is too simple and what would the lawyers do all day.On Obama leads bipartisan effort to raise fuel-economy standards posted 3 years, 3 months ago 5 Responses