Birdblog

A conservative news and views blog.

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Location: St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Tuesday, August 02, 2011

Blood for Oil

Timothy Birdnow

This from the good people at the Science and Environment Policy Project:

With great fanfare, the number of the week was announced by the US President, taking time from the critical deficit ceiling issue. By 2025, 54.5 miles per gallon shall be the average mileage of automobiles sold in the US by a manufacturer. The number was agreed to by the White House, EPA, Department of Transportation, California Air Resources Board, several major automobile manufacturers, environmentalists, etc. All the major players were represented except one - the American public - the consumer who is expected to buy the automobiles manufactured under this standard.

A quick look at the costs of automobiles on web sites, such as one by US News, gives examples of the impracticality of thinking displayed by this announcement. The vaunted Toyota Prius has an invoice price of $22,108 plus but gets only 51 mpg city and 48 mpg highway - it does not qualify under the proposed standards. Comparing apples to apples, the low cost 2012 Honda Civic has an invoice of $14,388 plus and gets 28 city and 36 highway. The hybrid version gets 44 city and 44 highway but costs 53% more with an invoice starting at $22,134. A low cost SUV, Ford Escape, gets 23 city and 28 highway with an invoice of $20,120; the hybrid version has an invoice of $29,997, or 49% more, and gets 30 city and 27 highway. Frequently, hybrids get greater mileage in the city than on the highway. The regulations are orientated for the urban public and severely punish the suburban and rural public.

What is clear is that the administration is demanding the American public bends to its will and buys electric automobiles that have yet to prove their worth at significantly higher prices than gasoline automobiles. Electric vehicles have a limited range, and those employing gasoline engines do not get the mileage that is proposed. By claiming these standards will save households money, the administration continues the mantra that by forcing the public to spend much more money for energy and transportation, the public will save money.

The President has promised that the Federal government will buy many of these new, expensive automobiles, as if Washington does not recognize there are unemployment and revenue problems. Please see articles referenced under "Subsidies and Mandates Forever."

End article.

A NOTE FROM TIM:

Bear in mind that this will not only drive the price of automobiles way up - and driving the poorer of our citizens onto the liberals beloved public transportation - but will also mean major reductions in the size of our vehicles. Remove mass and you make them more dangerous. There will be blood. But, you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, right?

The Left has always wanted to control our ability to move freely, as I pointed out some years ago at Enter Stage Right. http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0708/0708drillingconsright.htm This is but a backdoor way of doing it.

The first thing tyrants do is restrict the ability of the public to move about. Strange, in our "free society" we are doing the same things.

I'm sure Lenin wished he had that kind of power after the Bolshevik revolution.

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