SJ, what I've already written is probably 50% in alignment with what you said, but I think I can do better. As I said before, I agree that for those who need the capability, I have no argument; and for those who understand the arguments, yet decide, at the end of the day, that they still want a big SUV, I would respect that. In fact, I don't believe owning an SUV and promoting responsible safety and efficiency debate are necessarily mutually exclusive.
But labeling market reform as "socialism" is a stretch. I think it would be easy to show that unadulterated capitalism, uninhibited by any outside actors, can be very harmful to society. There are innumerable examples in our history where the government has stepped in to regulate products and business practices; yet I don't consider the US to be a socialist country.
The problem is that in the case of SUV's, the government's regulatory hands have been tied by auto and oil lobbiests who are not beholden to consumer's true desires, but to their own bottom line. In fact, a Time/CNN poll this month showed that 70% of consumers wanted Congress to enact better mileage standards for SUV's, yet lobbiests have spent tens of millions dollars to ensure that meaningful standards reform remains stalled.
Unless consumers apply some kind of pressure, the cycle of industry-sponsored efficiency and safety regulations will continue.
Because there are two sides to the payola equation, you don't necessarily have to give up your SUV to encourage the industry to consumers' true wishes. Those who reconsider their SUV purchase will help the supply side, but the rest can compensate by applying pressure to the demand side -- writing letters, and generally raising awareness to the point where it becomes too expensive for lobbiests' contributions to outweigh public opinion.
I agree that one way or another, the problem will eventually take care of itself. Oil extraction will either become prohibitively expensive or decades of slow, reluctant self-regulation will eventually add up to a satisfactory solution.
What is at stake, in the decision of whether to take the 5 year or the 20 year road is a substantial boost to the economy by switching to cheaper alternative fuel sooner, the extra years of waiting for significant improvement to overall air quality and road safety, and several billion barrels of unneeded Middle Eastern oil.
-Jason
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