Quote:
Originally posted by smoothmoniker
There are only two create change - with a carrot or a stick. Why not use both? Make an oil economy painful to sustain, and use the proceeds to fund the carrot.
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Why not just leave things alone? What is it about the current system that isn't working? As the price of gas increases, alternates become more feasible and more people start choosing them.
When the price of oil climbs to the point that the developers of alternate enegy sources feel enough people will pay for it then they will invest the money to develop it.
Of course, the day we run out of oil may not come
as soon as we thought.
[edit - everything below is new - nothing above changed]
Besides, artificially hiking the price of gas will not ease the transition. Here's why: If the government added a $2.00/gal tax to gas making it $4.50/gal then an alternate energy costing $3.95/gal is all the sudden feasible right? Well, to develop (not produce but figure out how to make it then set up shop to make some) costs $20Billion dollars. What company is going to ivest $20B to develop a product that takes 3 years to develop when the only assurance they have that the product will even sell is an artificial gas tax (remember - if the tax is repealed then gas is back to $2.50/gal and the product won't sell)?
This sort of meddling with the economy is not good. The price of oil will determine what we do and when we do it.