On the burning of fossil fuels…

In virginia we have this law that states that hybrid cars can use the HOV (High-Occupancy-Vehicles) lanes on I95 north, I395 into DC, and also on I66 and state route 267 (the Dulles Toll Road).  THe theory being that if a car gets three times the gas mileage of a regular car, (I guess with 12-17 being the average) then it deserves certain privleges, like not having to sit in traffic for hours on end.

I thought it was a great idea.  And for the longest time it created so much incentive to buy Hybrids that they couldn’t be had in the area.  (I got mine through a fluke of getting to the dealership the day they were unloading them)

Now the law has been amended to say that hybrid cars bought after July 2006 no longer have the right to use the I95/I395 corridor HOV lanes.

Why?  Because the people who carpool were complaining..  Not quite sure about what, they carpool lanes are not really more crowded than they used to be, and as such it didn’t really affect them.  I guess they figured that those who were inconvienenced by having to carpool to work shouldn’t be put out by those who were savvy enough to go out and buy a hybrid.

I say removing the incentives for people to buy hybrids, motorcycles, EV’s, etc. should be criminal.  Anything that increases our dependance on fossil fuels, thereby piping more and more money to the middle east, should be considered a terrorist act and dealt with accordingly.

That includes removing the incentives for Americans to buy highly efficient vehicles.