[sustran] Re: 14 million USD cool license plate

[Zvi Leve]

Hey Todd,

In an perfect world polluter pays and high taxes might be the ideal
solution, but on planet earth no one wants to pay for anything (especially
if it is "free" already) and the long term is too abstract a concept to move
anyone to action. So should we stick to our principals and watch the planet
go down the drain, or maybe try to change the way that people perceive
things (that fuel is *just* something that one puts in the engine to make
the vehicle go), which might lead to larger changes further down the
road.... The profit motive is perhaps the strongest incentive known to
mankind. If it takes a marketing company getting involved to change people's
behaviour, then so be it.

I am involved in transportation because I too want to get people out of
their cars, but I cannot deny the fact that more and more people want to
move in the opposite direction. And this trend is even more apparent in
places where basic mobility is lacking. Calling someone "evil" because they
are rich or drive a car is not going to convince many people of your
arguments. More "disadvantaged" people probably aspire to be rich and to
drive a care than hope to remain materially "poor" with perhaps a chance to
have a better quality of life. Any tool which we can reduce car usage or
compensate for the externalities which it causes is fine with me. Don't
forget that paying more for fuel will increase the marginal cost of driving
and that a parked car can make a statement just as much as a moving one!

Anyway....

Zvi

On Fri, Jul 4, 2008 at 4:25 PM, Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
<edelman at greenidea.eu> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Paying taxes is one thing, making driving look "cool" is another. Sorry,
> but "green petrol"? "Green license plates?".
>
>