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"Demand for what? I think taxes will increase the demand for more fuel efficient transportation and companies will respond to that deamd in order to survive. Simple market forces at work."
The market can only respond with greater research and development. The customer is already demanding better mpg. Taxes can not demonstrably increase this demand. The results aren't linear. Tahoe, Exployer, Hummer sales are marketly down. The market is doing it now. Increase taxes two fold and you will not able to get a two fold response. That is the whole point. Are American's going to abandon the suburbs and move back downtown? NO.
"How's that? Higher taxes will create greater demand for fuel efficiency and/or create deamdn for alternative fuels."
The DEMAND for higher efficent vehicles is happening all around us. Toyota has announced that the 2009 Prius will be able to get over 110 mpg in Japan, and that all of their vehicles will be hybrids by 2020. GM, BMW, and Daimler just introduced 2 stage hybrids to be used on their heavy duty trucks, SUV's and later cars. Where these in response to a TAX? If you are arguing that gas demand is elastic, I would agree. But my point is that gas is now predicted to be at an all time high. Therefore, you can't stretch the elasticity any further. American's will not stand for it. Any demand for better mpg is happening NOW without the tax. The demand curve, as any economist willl tell you, is not linear. It CURVES. Adding taxes now will only punish the poorest Americans. Those that can't afford to buy new cars or change lifestyles.
But you keep believing your simple solutions to complex problems. Higher Taxes = Greater efficientcy = Less Demand. Right! Well why did that not happen in the early 1980's. Why did we continue to see large cars and trucks selling the majority of autos? Because Americans will buy what the want. We are still a free country... Well until the greenies take over and HELP us all into what is GOOD for us.
"Despite our technology we're still contribute by far more greenhouse gases than anyone and that's because we burn more hydrocarbons even though our population is only 5% of the world total. So we need a solution that includes some sacrafice on many fronts including our overblown creature comforts."
I am not concerned about your "greenhouse gases." By the way you are emitting them right now as you read this. Pathetic. The fear based on these theories is theoretical at best, and we are seeing many scientists challege them with new studies showing a general warming trend on Mars, and Venus. How many Hummers are up there? So spare me your politics on that issue. The point of these posts are how to achieve higher mpg.
Oh by the way the sacrifices that you are demanding, even the most liberal studies show will only have neglible impact on any of the "climate." But lets just make that all the worse for all of us that live in the here and now by TAXING our poor and making life more difficult for the everyday American, when NO Study has indicated that it will result in 1. Better Vehicles, 2. Improved efficientcy, 3. Marketable change in demand.
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