Live and Let Drive
Andrew Sullivan and I are at odds again. Over the same damn thing. An entry from Andrew’s web site today…BUSH IN CARTER-LAND: The president is now asking Americans to conserve gas? I wonder what's next. Will he ask his own government to balance its budget? Not so long ago, the vice-president derided conservation as a matter of "personal vanity." Now it's a national duty? Once again, you see how incoherent this presidency has become. If a government wants to conserve a particular product, it does not need to make rhetorical pleas for people not to use it. It can adjust its own policies to make us more fuel-efficient and less dependent on foreign oil, especially from the Persian Gulf. The Bush administration has, alas, never made this a priority. I think they're right to drill in ANWR and encourage new energy development in the U.S. and they've been better on fuel standards than their critics will concede. But the obvious complement to this - conservation and sane energy taxes - remains unthinkable to them. Simply put: We need to increase the cost of gas to force the auto industry to move to newer, better fuels and (force) consumers to make wiser choices. A phased in gas tax of a dollar on the gallon is a tax that most sane economists support, helps wean us off foreign oil, helps the environment, and defunds the terror-masters. Bush should have proposed it as an anti-terror message after 9/11. Pathetic pleas now to stop driving on Sundays and the like are no substitute for something that actually might solve the basic problem. Look: I'm a low tax kind of guy. I support Bush's tax cuts on most areas (I exclude the estate tax, because it rewards inheritance rather than work). But this is an area that, in every substantive regard, is a win-win. Except that politically, it's lose-lose. The test of leadership is whether a person can persuade people that an unpopular measure is still better for everyone in the long run. Has Bush ever done such a thing? Or even tried to?
Now, I must preface this with the fact that I realize Mr. Sullivan is making a point against the current administration…it’s how he argues the point that irritates me.
What made the corners of my mouth droop in disgust is bolded….about forcing consumers to make wiser choices. Of course, he is alluding to SUVs…again. This really pisses me off. First of all, I believe all vehicles must meet federal requirements that determine how cars are designed, built, manufactured, etc. So, when you get down to brass tacks, the government ALLOWED this unwise choice of automobile to be manufactured. Gee, I don’t suppose it had anything to do with the fact that consumers would have to buy more gas and, thus, pump more money into the economy and government – could it? Nah. That’s just crazy talk.
If the government doesn’t want people to unwisely choose SUVs as their primary vehicle….stop making them!!! Hello?!! American consumers, out of the goodness of their hearts, are not going to collectively decide to stop buying these vehicles, because, let’s face it, there will always be people who can afford to put gas in them. So, Andrew, until you convince the government to stop provinding this awful choice of vehicles, you should shut up – you’re wasting your breath. And I happen to think Hummer’s are the most ridiculous vehicle ever manufactured for commercial use but if someone wants to drive one it’s nobody’s fault but our own society’s. (And even I'll admit that when they arrived on the scene, I was a little seduced at first.)
Where Andrew and I DO agree, however, is with the administration’s plea to conserve gas. Now. When there’s a problem. Until the problem goes away. Idiots.
I want to know when the government will make it easier to not own/drive a car in the U.S by providing a well developed, WELL RUN and WELL MAINTAINED public transporation system. This country encourages ownership of motor vehicles. (China has now started down the same road, btw.) Having traveled a good part of the world, I can safely say that this country’s public transportation system is a travesty….and that’s not news to anyone but there are so few things that I can safely say, that I like to point out those that I can. It’s a small joy I have in my life….please don’t deny me it.
I would love nothing more then to walk to a station at the end of my street and get on a train that would drop me near my office. Sweet! One of my great joys when I visit our international offices is walking to work each morning…it’s awesome….even when it rains. If I lived in the city today, I’d have to take a bus to a station to grab a train to a station near my office, where I can then catch a bus to the office park. Doesn’t that sound pleasant? What the hell.
I agree we can be more gas concious and I applaud the new hybrids that are finally coming to market. It’s been my understanding that we’ve had this technology for many years but the government blocked it because the oil business is far too lucrative. I’m even considering a hybrid for my next car…Lexus makes an SUV type of vehicle that’s a hybrid. I’ve offerred those people on my staff who are equipped to work at home to do so once or twice a week and I am doing the same. I’m even driving more slowly in an effort to do my miniscule part.
When will the government do theirs? (And I can do more, I know.)
So, while I agree with Andrew’s overall point, I wish he’d stop pounding on the SUV owners. If I want to own an SUV, it’s my choice…if you don’t, that’s yours.
posted by Cherry Indigo (Cindy) @ 9/27/2005 12:28:00 PM
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