Rebounds

Rebounding is important

This sort of thinking isn't applied to most legislation. Think for a moment about safety regulations or safety improvements in automobiles. While there are some drivers who purchase cars for the protection of say, small children passengers, many purchase an SUV or other large vehicle with the presumption that it's safety features will protect them better. They might...except that these are the sorts of people who already drive aggressively and for whom the extra margin of safety becomes an excuse to drive more recklessly (and hence, get into just as many accidents with injuries and fatalities as before). That's the sort of thinking I mean. There's a rational adjustment that takes place. Gasoline is cheaper (and cleaner) for me to use so I can drive more often. Well yes...until everyone else does this thinking as well and clogs up the highways. Then you're not driving, you're wasting fuel and producing pollutants for no gain. Good job.

I'd have to agree with the post: I don't oppose having better environmental and fuel efficiency standards. It's even a potential boon for people who advocate for "state's rights" and forgot they lost the war. No, the actual problem is that taken in isolation, it's not very effective. It needs more to address the overall problem of energy inefficient use in this country. I personally would rather see much higher gasoline taxes and the use of things like smart lights and congestion toll prices on all highways around urban areas. These would all do more to address the actual problem of energy use and also achieve the same public (market) level of support for fuel efficient cars (notice what happened when gasoline was $4/gal, now imagine if the tax was even half that much and/or the subsidies on energy production were removed as well).