Why Force when you can Encourage?
I found this Washington Post article interesting. GM has a reputation for producing gas guzzlers here, but as a leader in fuel economy over in Europe. Why is this?
“We could sell the OPC here and make money because gasoline is near $6 a gallon,” Lutz said. “If we had $6 gasoline in the United States, we could sell it there at a profit, too,” he said. But he said it is unlikely that Americans would buy a little car at $30,000 “when they’re paying $2.50 for gasoline.” “We need $6 gasoline” in America to make sense of the Corsa OPC in that market, Lutz said. [Lutz is GM’s vice chairman for global product development]
Auto manufacturers can do it with the proper motivation. In this country we seem to have an imperative to force fuel prices lower any time they threaten to rise. Then we simultaneously try to force companies to produce more fuel efficient cars. Neither the consumers nor the manufacturers have the motivation.
One of my least popular personal ideas is simply that gas prices should be higher in this country. Frankly, it would inconvenience me if they were, but it would be good for our economy and for the environment in the long run. One of the reasons we do not have the type of efficient mass transit that folks have in Europe is simply that it is not economical, even when subsidized.
Two things would serve to appropriately raise the price of gas. First, don’t react with panic to rising prices with such politically expedient but stupid ideas as releasing petroleum reserves. Second, cover a reasonable amount of the environmental impact through gas taxes. I know I’m bound to hear about gas taxes being too high already, but I don’t agree.
