The price of gas has gone down a ton. Don't worry about the supply until it starts hitting $5/gallon. When it gets to that point, then we're running out of it.
I am very much against taxes on SUVs and trucks. Only on the West Coast/Southwest do people really own those without need of them. Everyone else in the country and big cities buy as needed. I don't mean to be against the West Coast - but, most people out in rural areas NEED the power of an SUV/truck, and most people living in big cities get a smaller car because it's easier to manuver. So if the states in question want to put a tax on SUVs, they can, but it should never be a federal tax. That would be very close to start violating some rights, because it is a case-by-case judgment call on who would need an SUV versus who is just getting them as a social status.
Personally, I think most SUVs are ugly. I don't know why anyone would want to buy a Lexus SUV or a Cadillac Escalade. <there is a pause in which she stares at someone sitting to her right> They're really very ugly.
Putting a tax on diesel trucks/semis would be ridiculous, really. We depend on a majority of them for trade. Putting a tax on THOSE would just raise the price of state-to-state traded goods, and once again, we'd have even more people outsourcing to India than we do now. Plus, the whole point of diesel was that it was a lower quality of oil that normal engines couldn't handle - so, instead of it going to waste, they have a powerful engine use it. Diesel is dirty, yes, but there isn't much more they can do with it in that state. They're getting more bang for their buck - more use out of a barrel of oil than they did before.
They ARE, however, able to make less dirtier synthetic diesels, now, out of wood, straw, corn, garbage, etc. It isn't a cheap enough process for them to massproduce it, yet. But you can make your own fuel for your boat, now, if you know how. I think all you need is the right ingredients and a blender and quite a bit of time.
Now, what people SHOULD be doing is investing in companies like Valero. They take low quality oil - semi-crude - and refine it into the quality that normal gasoline engines can use. They can't quite make it jet-engine quality fuel, but it's good enough for your car. The whole point of THAT is, once again - rather than it going to waste - they're getting more out of the barrel than they could before.
But yes, we definitely need to invest in alternative fuels, such as hydrogen, etc. And the government should definitely give some sort of small tax incentive or whatever to people who have alternative fuel vehicles - because really, it IS an inconvenience to have them, and they are no where near as effective as normal cars.
It would also provoke manufacturers to invest more into research.
But no business is going to go into the red just to help the environment, nor should they be expected to. Why invest $50 million into research for possible profit in the future, when you can use that $50 million to buy more oil that you KNOW you'll get a profit from? No brainer.
We aren't anywhere near Doomsday when it comes to fossil fuels - not yet. It's definitely something we should be thinking about, and we are, but nothing to panic about yet.
Edited by Casilla, 16 December 2005 - 06:07 PM.
