ERD50 said:
So, make a suggestion.
-ERD50
I just don't think our freedoms should be compromised just because SOME people "THINK" that Humans "MIGHT" be responsible for global warming. When if it can be absolutely proven, then, and only then, should anyone be FORCED to do anything. In the meantime, the market will adjust when people feel there is a great need to conserve fuel and reduce emissions. If driving an SUV becomes prohibitive, people will look for better options. As people demand better products, they will be produced, and people will buy them. Why should we penalize people in the meantime for having large families or for having a need for an SUV? Look, my husband drives to the mountains, where the roads are icy and dangerous for 9 months out of the year, weekly because of work. We want him to be safe, therefore, he drives a 4WD Subaru Outback. Why should we be penalized for that?... We have to be penalized for wanting my husband to stay alive? That's crazy! It is a PENALTY.
My suggestion is, let the market dictate the need for more efficient products. Even as we speak, it is becoming obvious that a large number of people are beginning to demand more efficient cars. Why do we have to un-naturally create demand by imposing penalties on people who don't want them yet, when eventually, the large majority will WANT more energy-efficient choices? When the time comes, and when the great majority of the population demands it, profit-seeking producers will invent better and more efficient products in a cost-effective manner, and then people will buy them. After all, fossil fuel is a finite resource, so there WILL come a time when we all WILL need alternative sources of energy. As supply dimishes, price will become prohibitive, and people will begin to demand better and more efficient products at that time. My hypothesis is that the world will not come to an end before that time...I'll even go as far as to bet that Polar Bears will not be extinct by then, either....
In the meantime, we can choose to drive our smaller cars when we don't need to transport lots of people or tow campers, and we can ride share, etc... in order to conserve on our OWN terms, without someone forcing it down our throats or penalizing us unneccessarily.
If you believe so strongly that HUMANS are definately the cause, why don't you start your own non-profit charity to collect money that can be used as rebates for people who buy Prisms? Why do non-believers have to be penalized? Why do certain people feel the need to IMPOSE their unproven beliefs on other people?