Field Of Dreams Economics
President Continues to Believe That ‘If You Mandate It, They Will Come’
Washington– Today, President Obama spoke at an event for his Clean Cities program which gives taxpayer dollars to local governments and large corporations that use alternative fuels for some of its transportation. In response, Thomas Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research, issued the following statement:
“Today, President Obama told Americans that he plans to use ‘incentives’ to encourage the use of politically-favored vehicles that use alternative fuels. When Obama uses the word ‘incentive,’ Americans should beware. This appears to be the term that the President likes to use when talking about arm-twisting the American people and forcing them to perform actions he deems commendable.”
“President Obama again told Americans that he insists on having one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. So far, it’s not looking good. In January and February combined, there were 928 Chevy Volts and 173 Nissan Leafs sold. That’s 1,101 electric vehicles sold so far in 2011. At this rate, there should be about 26,424 on the road by 2015 – almost half of the amount needed to be sold each month in order to meet the president’s quota. To reach his goal, the sales of EV’s in America must be almost 38 times higher than the present rate.”
“Let’s not forget that there are currently over 254 million passenger vehicles on the road.”
“If these politically-favored vehicles actually saved people money, their manufacturers wouldn’t need the President to subsidize them. The economic reality, which the president can’t seem to wrap his mind around, is that people drive gasoline-powered vehicles because they are the most affordable, convenient options available.”
“Not every American can afford the $35,000+ price tag of the electric vehicles that President Obama would love for us to love so much. Although, it would not be a surprise if he had a government plan in the works to try to make that possible.
“If the President really wants to lessen America’s dependence on foreign oil, he would allow Americans to explore for and produce our vast domestic resources. The Congressional Research Service recently reported that America is home to the largest fossil-fuel resource base in the world. Instead of spending huge amounts of taxpayer dollars on subsidizing his pet projects, the President could allow American companies to create thousands of well-paying jobs and bring in billions of dollars to the cash-strapped federal government through royalties.”
“Instead of presenting real solutions to our energy challenges, the President continues to present nonsensical plans that satisfy his anti-energy supporters. The president needs to present a real energy plan: get the government out of the way and allow American ingenuity to produce the energy our nation needs.”
