It’s hard to believe anyone is against improved fuel economy. From the politics and economics of importing oil from unfriendly states in the middle east, to burning a limited resource and spewing smog and carbon emissions into the air. It’s all bad.
Still, when does encouraging fuel efficient vehicles go too far? Many get tax breaks, often federal and state. Some allow you to drive in reserved lanes on the freeway in some metropolitan areas. Charging stations for plug-in vehicles take premium parking spaces. Some cities and shopping centers even have prime parking spots dedicated to hybrid or other fuel efficient vehicles.
Such parking spots may be enforced by municipal ordinances, while others may be simply suggestions. While hybrids usually have a badge of some sort to identify them, what defines a “fuel efficient” vehicle? Is it a clean diesel? A sub-compact? Anything better than average for its class? Who decides? The city? The parking enforcement officer? Maybe you do? Suppose you drive a monster SUV but that hybrid spot is the last one in the lot and you’re running late to bring in a few sick kids to the doctor’s office. It’s a lot more fuel efficient for you to park there than to drive around for 5 minutes spewing toxic stuff into the air, right?
So, what do you think?
Don’t forget about the huge government subsidies for producing alternative fuels (like E85), as well as the subsidized ethanol in ALL fuel these days. I’m not against innovation when it is for innovation’s sake. But when you have a taxpayer-sponsored initiative that drives subsidies instead of innovation, we all lose. When’s the last time you saw a truly “green” vehicle that actually fit a family of five or more (especially those families that need to fit three or more kids in child restraints)? IMO, right now a business that caters a parking spot for expectant mothers or families with young kids is going to get my business much more than a business that caters to the so-called “green” initiative. I probably WOULD take that spot and claim rightful use of it since my tax dollars help pay for the ethanol in my gas tank and everyone else’s (and then I pay for it again at the pump), plus my tax dollars towards the subsidies for the hybrid vehicles and my shopping/tax dollars for the public electricity to charge the electric ones – I do think I’m doing as much, or more, than the person who paid less for their government-financed hybrid, to finance the whole racket, at least! Ask me again when we have true energy-saving options that aren’t forced or sponsored by the federal government. I’m sure I’d have a different answer. 😉