Energy plans without fuel
Mathew Wald at the NY Times looks back at previous attempts to legislate solutions to energy consumption in the US. As he points out, they have all failed. Legislating innovation is easier said than done.
The other failure and it is the one behind cap and trade is market manipulation. If OPEC or the oil companies tried to manipulate the price of energy as blatantly as Waxman and Markey they would be in serious trouble with the same people who support the government doing it.
The problem with all of these "solutions" is that the market, i.e. people making free choices as to how to spend their money, has rejected them. If people really wanted the kind of cars that Obama is pushing more people would be buying Honda Civics instead of SUVs. While the Civic is a fine car, it does not provide the room and comfort of SUVs and it can't haul what can be hauled in a pickup.
Much of this appears to be driven by a carbon phobia of some not shared by the rest of the country. As politicians take steps to reduce consumer's choices, they risk voters making different choices on who will win elections once those control freak policies are in place.
The other failure and it is the one behind cap and trade is market manipulation. If OPEC or the oil companies tried to manipulate the price of energy as blatantly as Waxman and Markey they would be in serious trouble with the same people who support the government doing it.
The problem with all of these "solutions" is that the market, i.e. people making free choices as to how to spend their money, has rejected them. If people really wanted the kind of cars that Obama is pushing more people would be buying Honda Civics instead of SUVs. While the Civic is a fine car, it does not provide the room and comfort of SUVs and it can't haul what can be hauled in a pickup.
Much of this appears to be driven by a carbon phobia of some not shared by the rest of the country. As politicians take steps to reduce consumer's choices, they risk voters making different choices on who will win elections once those control freak policies are in place.
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