From: Samantha Atkins (samantha@objectent.com)
Date: Mon Oct 01 2001 - 03:56:56 MDT
CurtAdams@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 9/29/01 7:48:06 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
> samantha@objectent.com writes:
>
> >I hope you are joking. Nuclear is cost-effective now
> compared to oil
> >without seriously killing an already ailing economy with an
> arbitrary
> >and utterly unnecessary 100-200% tax on gas. I can see why
> anyone
> >would propose something of this kind. Especially since most
> of
> >our energy needs are not for cars.
>
> We're discussing oil and gas needs, and planes, trucks,
> and automobiles are a huge portion (I think the majority)
> of oil needs. Can't put nuke plants on those. I disagree
> with the cost analysis even for power plants, given current
> environmental constraints. If regs were more reasonable
> you might be correct for that.
>
As I mentioned in this or another posts you would convert the
cars and trucks (at least) to electric, fuel-cells and so on.
We already pretty well know how to do this now. We just need a
bit of incentive. Getting out of dependence on Arab oil about
now might be incentive enough. The nuclear plants generated
electrical power.
> But whatever the reality, I proposed a plan that allows for
> it.
> Oil/gas taxes go up gradually, year by year, until imports
> stop.
> If you're correct imports will stop after a year or two of
> tax increases, and taxes will then stabilize. Because of the
> nature of the market, you're guaranteed that whatever
> techniques were adopted to stop imports were highly
> efficient ones, the best that could be developed by
> millions of highly informed people.
>
If the market was so efficient there would be no need for
screwing around with these taxes.
> Tax-induced depressionary effects should be stopped by
> compensating for revenue increases with reductions in other
> taxes. That's an important point, and I forgot to mention
> it.
This is the old stupid game that fluctates economies out of
control. It is part of why our economy was going bust even
before 911. Doing more such shenanigans is simply administering
more of the poison that has already seriously sickens us.
I would also point out that you aren't going to reach a lot of
extropian dreams without much more economical, clean, available
and sustainable power than you have today. There are more than
sufficient incentives without slapping huge tariffs on.
- samantha
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