America needs aromatherapy

Tim May tcmay at got.net
Mon Oct 1 13:29:19 PDT 2001


On Monday, October 1, 2001, at 12:32 PM, Karsten M. Self wrote:

> on Mon, Oct 01, 2001 at 11:57:18AM -0700, georgemw at speakeasy.net
> (georgemw at speakeasy.net) wrote:
>> On 1 Oct 2001, at 11:05, Eric Murray wrote:
>
>> Not to mention things like "travel delays due to road congestion
>> ($46.5 to $174.6 billion)," which not only would still exist with
>> electric cars, but is a cost ALREADY paid by automobile users.  To
>> call something like that a "hidden subsidy of the oil industry" should
>> be enough to get this "study" rejected by a reesponsible reviewer.
>
> Electric vehicles are far more efficient idlers than ICE vehicles.
>
> Idling is essentially paying the oil companies for the privilege of
> sitting still.  It's not an inconsequential cost.
>
> Other congestion costs are not as attributable to oil, but direct
> combustion is.
>

If people don't want to pay this "cost" of idling then they won't.

But it's not in any sense of the word a "hidden subsidy."

Calling various costs "hidden subsidies" does a disservice to the 
language.


--Tim May





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