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Yesterday, in the L.A. Times, I read a story that made my blood boil. People with the initiative and the where-with-all to make their cars run on vegetable oil, thus saving themselves money and us all fumes, are being smacked down by the state government for not seeing to such things as, oh, a $300 license from the Meat and Poultry Inspection Branch to collect grease from kitchens. Oh, and road tax, God forbid these forward-thinking citizens should get away without chipping in on the road tax normally included in gas pump prices! That would mean their noble efforts might actually be rewarded. Matthew Tiffany had to shut down his Good Earth Grease Haulers because of too much red tape and fines. What was he thinking, trying to help us all convert our vehicles to help work towards a healthier planet? Dave Eck and his fryer-oil cars, why, what a little tax cheat! Even the governor got nailed for running his Hummer on Costco cooking oil (now there's an odd sentence), without paying the state 18 cents for each gallon of oil, which is apparently the law, clearly as a punishment for setting us all an example.
This ranks right up there with an article that set my teeth on edge last week, where House members were complaining about how an amendment to last year's energy bill requires their office-funded vehicles (that's right, no actual cost to them), to be switched out for more fuel-efficient cars. Two of the reps are quoted trying to explain their need to drive Chevy Tahoes, Joe L. Barton's excuse being that he's pretty sure his district in Texas doesn't mind, (I bet they don't, sadly), while California's own Diane Watson referred to questions about the issue as "idiotic" and insisted she needed her Lincoln Town Car, because she was over six feet tall.
Well, I guess I don't mind if we destroy the planet, as long as you have your leg room, honey.
This is the point in science fiction where the aliens give up, shake their heads, and just kill us all. Because we clearly don't deserve our spot in the galaxy. One step forward, five steps back.
Image courtesy of Brooklyn via Flickr
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"Two of the reps are quoted trying to explain their need to drive Chevy Tahoes, Joe L. Barton's excuse being that he's pretty sure his district in Texas doesn't mind, (I bet they don't, sadly)"
I'm positive his district doesn't care:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/07/us/07garbage.html
"The diversion rate includes recycling, composting and source reduction" — the last term representing "everything businesses and residents do to reuse things rather than throwing them out."
With the exception of Chicago, which boasted a 55 percent rate in 2006 — Eastern and Midwestern cities lagged well behind their California counterparts. According to the most recent annual survey of the trade magazine Waste News, in 2006 New York City was at 30.6 percent, Milwaukee at 24 percent, Boston at 16 percent and Houston at 2.5 percent.
omg this infuriates me too.
my dad's company got him a big ass Dodge truck for his company car (replacing a relatively more efficient sedan) because of "image" with his "customers" (he works in industrial sales & spends a lot of time in rural areas).
my parents obviously aren't happy; the fucking thing won't even fit in their garage. they're selling my mom's car and getting a hybrid.
I can't see the $300 License for collecting cooking grease, agreed. The gas tax, though, is a tricky call.
The gas tax is sort of like a sin tax. The more gasoline you buy, the more driving you're doing, the more you're using the roads, and the more pollution you're generating.
But if everyone switched to electric cars, you'd still have lots of people using the roads. But you wouldn't have the taxes to pay for repairs.
So, yes, even if you're switching to cooking oil instead of gasoline, you still need to pay for the roads you're using. And that means paying your taxes.
That article pissed me off too Simone. Thanks for doing a post on it.
I agree, RedMercury, everyone should have to pay road tax in general, but I think that right now, we could use not having to pay it as an incentive to get more people to switch to alternative fuels. We need all the help we can get, right? I just don't think anyone should be getting punished for that at this point.
Torrmoz, thanks for that link - this part is fantastic:
"Mr. Newsom will soon be sending the city’s Board of Supervisors a proposal that would make the recycling of cans, bottles, paper, yard waste and food scraps mandatory instead of voluntary, on the pain of having garbage pickups suspended."
Buyers moving wholesale to small cars is a major shift for the American consumer, with more shifts to come….
http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/05/small-cars-pardigm-shift-for-america.html
N.A.’s big three weren’t ready.
I wonder about whether it's the best thing to link food to driving our butts everywhere... That is, I know it's cool to be the indie due in the old Mercedes and what-the-hell, we're just trying to do our part and all but, really, we're talking about using what is a staple (and I'm not talking about the collected lard from restaurants) to most of the world and using it to fuel what we already know is our natural, indulgent behavior. I can see us spending more time and money planting more food modified to make a better fuel and patenting that - and then, as if it's not bad enough to imagine the policing of that patent after unintended (but natural) cross-pollination - imagine the shortage of actual food that real people need to eat. How much does this stuff start to cost then? Will poorer countries be seduced into growing food for fuel that, like indigo and coffee, they can't even use to feed their families?
I think this is a fine time to stop and reconsider what we've been so thrilled about here. It's awesome to get away from fossil fuels - it's even greater to get away from cars (especially big ones) all together.
Exactly, AlbertOMG. Ethanol is not the be-all end-all energy source everyone was hoping for. I think better alternatives will be developed, but I wouldn't be too excited about running your car out the grease trap because you're putting a huge demand on energy that is grown, thus reducing the food supply and thus making Corn Flakes and Coca Cola much more expensive for the rest of us poor slobs that can't afford or chose not to own cars and instead ride public transportation.
So... you know, if you want to get angry about something, that might be a great place to start. After all, fuel taxes, even if they are on more "eco-friendly" fuels, still probably apply in your state and probably are still needed to maintain roads and bridges.
Just going to repeat my earlier comment in response to LoudMouth:
I agree, RedMercury, everyone should have to pay road tax in general, but I think that right now, we could use not having to pay it as an incentive to get more people to switch to alternative fuels. We need all the help we can get, right? I just don't think anyone should be getting punished for that at this point.