Quote:
Originally Posted by Suzie's Dad
The problem is that a significant majority of the population -- fed by a cadre of left-leaning do-gooders -- has bought in to the whole limited resources / CO2 / global warming / alternative energy / ethanol / we're-running-out-of-oil mindset. These people vote. Politicians do what get them votes. So politicians are falling all over themselves to see who can write the most draconian laws to mandate high MPG, low emissions (not a bad thing in itself, but dumb when carbon dioxide is classed as an 'emission'), ethanol-in-gas, and so on, at the same time as they work overtime to prevent production of oil from massive reserves in pristine arctic wilderness, and dump all over Canada for our 'dirty' oil sands.
We can rant as much as we like -- and who here disagrees with what you say, PalBay? -- but it looks more and more as if heavy gas guzzlers such as the X6 are going to become less and less socially acceptable, whether we like to drive them or not. What happens when some bozo California politician manages to implement some kind of gasoline rationing in support of spending billions on hydrogen filling stations? It won't matter how affluent you are, you'll get the same gas ration as Joe Tree-Hugger in his Prius.
Maybe Israel has the answer. They have announced that they are going to build a couple more large nuclear power plants to supply an order of magnitude more electricity, then they will start encouraging the use of electric vehicles through tax breaks and subsidies, gradually weaning the country off their dependence on oil supplied by countries who are not exactly their best buddies. If that means we all get to drive Teslas, maybe all is not lost!
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I agree completely....Ranting will not solve the problem long term.I just don't believe a large part of the car loving/ performance car building segment really understand that their very existance is at stake.It is people like us and the car companies fighting to push for more oil exploration,more nuke energy,etc. that will help make a difference in this debate.I don't see leaders from BMW,MB,VW/Audi,Porsche,Maserati,etc actively pushing these issues out in public.Cars for the vast majority of people is way to get from Point A to Point B and carry the groceries home on Friday.( NOT GOOD FOR ENTHUSIAST).The don't necessarily care what they drive outside of some safety concerns and some utilility issues ( coach the baseball or soccer team).A SMART car or VW Bug or moped works fine for them...and does it get 35MPG.All I'm saying is.....the true high performance car enthusiast have no one covering our back.We're out here running naked. In 15 yrs if we don't do something NOW,our beloved V8's, ground pounding AWD performance cars are ALL going to be in a museum that we gotta pay $5.00 to get into and the $5.00 goes to an environmental fund to research "greener" mopeds.Unfortunately,the World is heading in that direction.Hug your V8 today!!!! Thanks. PalBay