As an economist, I'm lost on this one. I just cannot figure out why America's entrepreneurs are not jumping to make cars powered by natural gas, and why they are not rushing to open stations selling natural gas? I mean, when I gas up, it costs me about $3.50 a gallon, yet I'm told natural gas would be about $1.30 a gallon. Natural gas is abundant in America, and it burns cleaner.
Why then, as a nation, are we not jumping all over this? Why aren't we demanding an immediate switch from gasoline?
Save at the pumps, and end our dependence on the Arab world, to boot? What is holding us back?
Given it was time to buy a new car, and we could buy it at the same price as a gasoline-powered model, who wouldn't buy a natural gas-powered vehicle? It seems we all would, if only they were available, and fueling stations in place.
Opportunity knocks, and no billionaire answers?
Now, someone out there has floated an idea to help kick start this conversion to natural gas. There's this proposal called HR1380, aka the New Alternative Transportation to Give America's Solutions Act of 2011. That's right, it's a bill to give tax incentives to makers and buyers of natural gas vehicles. When it was introduced back in April, some were saying it would sail through, and quickly. It gathered in about 157 co-sponsors in the House and won favorable comments from President Obama.
But, now it has stalled, and, if I understand, co-sponsors are dropping off. Some say the oil industry got to them, but I don't know but what they just said, "If this is such a good idea, why does it take government subsidies (tax credits are a form of that) to make it work?
I'm with that. Good question. Isn't it said, "Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"? That might be a simplistic way to put it, but it's still one of the principles of economics.
So, I'm lost on this one -- and I'm an economist. (Well, I make payments on a house and still have money left for groceries. That's kind of an economist.)
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