Backbencher

I read an article form the New Zealand Herald. The article was titled: Incentives and Penalties for Fuel Use in Cars. This article really caught my eye because this is currently a very hot and publicized issue. The article stated that in a recent poll 61% of people in New Zealand would support government grants of $3,000 for people registering low emission fuel efficient cars for the first time. The poll also stated 55% of the people supported $2,000 cash penalties for people registering cars guzzling more than 14 liters of petrol per 1000 kilometers. That’s about 9 gallons per mile in our language. The article goes on to talk about how New Zealand has one of the oldest fleet of cars in the world, and this lead New Zealand to be one of the highest greenhouse gas emitting countries. The article also talked about New Zealand’s liability under the Kyoto Protocol. In my opinion this kind of falls in New Zealand’s cultural identity because they like to seem themselves as friends to the environment and such. Does New Zealand have any manufacturing plants for cars? Where do they get their cars from? Is there a great need for cars there or do they prefer public transportation and bikes?

This article really made me think. What would the response be in the US if we took this same poll? I drive a truck, and I have to admit that my vehicle doesn’t get the best gas mileage, but I don’t think I should be penalized. That seems a bit radical to me. I guess I don’t have a problem with the government giving money to those who are registering fuel efficient cars, but where is that money going to come from? I don’t want to be taxed for that.