I hate 'environmental groups'...

[Sharky]

By cutting petrol taxes, other taxes would need to rise, shifting the burden away from motorists. Environmental groups want higher taxes to deter unnecessary driving.

We're not all ecomental hippies that can ride ethnic peace bicycles to work, powered by an overinflated 'save the planet' ego...

It's carrot vs stick - punish people for driving vs offer incentives for not driving. I'm kinda based in two offices at the moment - my main office requires a 45 minute drive if I leave early enough to avoid the traffic, or I'm in meetings in central London requiring me to drive to the station to get a train. Because I live in the sticks, that alone is a 5 minute drive. But it gets worse. Ever tried getting on the London underground? Getting a seat is usually unheard of. The tube really isn't viable - surprised health and safety haven't shut it down...

Either way, I can't walk to work.

Additionally, the way it is at the moment, I'm quite lucky to even have a job, so packing it in really isn't an option!

There... Rant over for now. Feel free to agree with me below lol

 

[carl6969]

I also live "in the sticks" 17 miles from the nearest (small) town where my primary office is currently located. This town, (and there are many more like it in the U.S. and around the world), has absolutely no public transportation of any kind. Drive, ride a bicycle, or walk. I am too old to walk or ride a bicycle 34 mile round trip to and from my office. I could use a bicycle for many of the trips I make around town and I actually do that sometimes. It is only about two miles from one end of town to the other. Transportation plus good exercise. But that is not always a good option due to weather. No fun bicycling in a Texas thunderstorm. And when business dictates that I transport cargo or take various pieces of equipment to a job site, a light truck is required for the task at hand.

And exactly what is "unnecessary driving"? I drive back and forth to my office. I go to the post office. I go the market and get food. I go to the local department store and purchase clothing and household items. I drive to meet with and provide service to my clients. Sometimes I make slightly longer trips to visit various family members. I bet the members of these environmental groups screaming about "unnecessary driving" use their own automobiles for the same purposes. I guess some of these folks might argue that my occasional trips to a restaurant or to go hunting or fishing are unnecessary but I will keep on doing those things anyway. I work hard and feel that rare and brief periods of relaxation are important to both my physical and mental well being.

I actually have absolutely no problem whatsoever with taking reasonable measures to protect the planet and our natural resources, but the key phrase is "reasonable measures".

 

[Sharky]

I wholeheartedly agree but the crux of my argument is the stick method that seems to be preferred here, of penalising the motorist, instead of the 'carrot', of incentivising the population to use alternative modes of transportation.

Although I think having the olympics here is a Bad Idea™, and suspect that as a country we will be financially ruined after (well, more than we are already...), I couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed that all the international visitors would have to end up using it.


I just paid about $8.50 per us gallon for regular 95 octane unleaded.

 

[kinley3]

What I absolutely love is that "green" transportation, specifically electric cars, use rare earth minerals which use acid washes in the process of mining the minerals. In other words, electric cars are damaging to the environment as well, especially when China mines most of the rare earths in the world and has relatively few environmental standards and regulations.

...Things that make you go "hmm..."

 

[carl6969]

I just paid about $8.50 per us gallon for regular 95 octane unleaded.

And folks on this side of the pond are in near panic because gasoline is currently around $3.50 - $4.00 per gallon depending on what part of the Country you are in.

"I wholeheartedly agree but the crux of my argument is the stick method that seems to be preferred here, of penalising the motorist, instead of the 'carrot', of incentivising the population to use alternative modes of transportation."

It appears that I may have indeed missed the primary point of your original post and it is a very good point.
While punishment or threat of punishment may induce people to change their behavior, I feel that a much better and more effective method, (in most cases), is to offer some type of reward.

 

[ChatIndia]

*Off topic

hydrogen is a better fuel than gasoline but very few refill stations are there in the world. Automobile manufacturer can't make anything for such a rare fuel. with hydrogen, residue is water and with gasoline residue is carbon monoxide.