That’s why I wear New Balance shoes. I also may end up purchasing a 2006 Corolla for $6500 today. Let me see, if I sell it for $9500…

35 miles per gallon / $3 gas (it’s an election year) = $3,000 if I travel 35k miles

20 miles per gallon / $3 gas = $5,250

Hmmm…. a $2,250 difference. That equates to a bit over $6 a day. Then again I can sell it for about $9500 and that would result in an immediate profit of $3000.

A lot of folks make the same type of short-term rationalization as it applies to their own business. The fellow who has a loaded up F150 may only get 15 mile per gallon. But he’s got a business to run, clients to entertain, products to haul in his truck, and he must endure the slings and arrows of daily traffic. That truck is not so much an expense to him as it is a profit center and validation of his overall work ethic.

Guess what? That fellow is going to keep his rig until the price of gas or tax get to near draconian proportions. The folks who are living paycheck to paycheck (or less) see what equates to $6 a day in extra cost and may scale down a bit at this point. This is especially the case where driving a fuel efficient vehicle is aligned with mainstream norms.

Those folks who aren’t as price sensitive will probably drive what they really want. If they see the running cost as high they may decide to buy a two year old version instead of a new one. In theory, you may be able to tax many of them out of their vehicle with one large sum in the beginning (gas guzzler tax), but they could care less about the extra $6 a day in running cost if the vehicle is an excellent fit for their work and tastes.

I don’t have any easy answer to this issue, but I do have one caveat. Taxation, pork barrel programs, and loophole ridden bills are almost always designed to let the big fellows (government and industry interests) make money off the little fellows (us). They never work. They’re nothing new. I’m sure the Romans had all different types of taxes back in the day that enabled the industries and government of that time to flourish at the expense of the common citizen.

Anyone who thinks that today’s world in the USA is any different should check out the cost of having a cell phone or DSL sevice in the US vs. most other developed countries. Check out the technologies used in most affluent and developing economies as well. We’re gradually becoming a footnote. Thanks in great part to a few companies that are pulling the strings of power in all levels of government.

At times I think the only way these forces could ever be countered is with a consumer advocacy group that would have massive media outreach and it’s own army of lobbyists. Even that is not a real solution to the inherent problem.

New CAFE or not, nothing will change. The automakers will build whatever they can sell, hopefully for a profit.
If building a gas-guzzler makes you enormous profits, but you have to pay a little fine due to CAFE, so be it. It keeps BMW’s doors open.

Tax the shit out of gasoline….people will use less of it.

Yeah then we can pass that huge tax on food…people will use less of it.

It works both ways

What if the pants are made of hemp and their owner only farts out Ethanol, not Methane?

Tax the shit out of gasoline….people will use less of it.

Simple, eh?

‘We’re a hybrid company,’ he said.”

Cough .. $85,000 Land Cruiser .. Cough..