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• Tuesday, July 3, 2007 12:15 PM

  Re: Gas Tax is the only way to go

  A gas tax would drive consumer behavior and create bottom up demand for more fuel efficient cars. Any manufacturer would have to respond to that or lose market share.

  Regulations, such as CAFE, on the makers creates top down supply for which there may be little demand.

  Taxes may distort the market, but not as much as the externalities of the war, environmental damage, national security, and all of the other things that are not paid for in the gas we purchase.

  A gas tax would allow entrepreneurs and investors to start technology ventures to help solve some of these problems without their worrying that the oil producers will drop their price for just long enough to put them out of business (it has happened before).

  A gas tax could be used to start paying for the war in Iraq (why else do we care about the middle east, but for oil?), or it could offset an income tax cut, thus transferring tax revenues from income to fuel consumption.

  I view a gas tax as the best and really only solution to the problem.

  I own a Prius. I am very happy with it. I did not get it to impress my friends or to demonstrate any sort of moral superiority. I also did not buy it to save money over the lifetime of the vehicle, though I won't spend much more and odds are actually pretty good that I will save money if gas prices go to where I think they are going in the coming years (think of the demand from China, India, Eastern Europe, ...).

  I bought it so that I could be less of an impact on things that I don't like. I bought it so that I could give less money to oil producers and more money to a visionary auto maker that took a huge risk.

  I would rather that my money end up in Japan producing even better cars than in the middle east producing "better" terrorists.

  I don't judge anyone else, but I do control my own actions and purchases and when I buy something I am placing a vote for and against.

  I got tired creating a demand that sends other people's children off to fight in foreign wars in order to keep our energy supply safe.

  I got tired of sending money to people who fund the people who fly planes into buildings, blow up nightclubs, and otherwise kill innocent people all over the world.

  So far I get 48 MPG. That means that I create one third the demand to be in foreign wars and I send them one third the money to fund terrorists than I did with the my previous vehicle.

  Is my Prius saving the world all by itself? No. I do what I can, when I can. So do others. You can do whatever you want. I am not passing judgment. If anything, I have had to defend my purchase to friends. It is amazing how much hostility a car can produce.

  What would happen if everybody got 48 MPG?

  Lastly, thank you. For you are helping to subsidize my Prius through Federal and State income tax credits. You also subsidized my wife's Prius. :^)

  —c5kolb Read c5kolb's other letters
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