In looking at the immense problem that we face with vehicle greenhouse gas emissions and the impact on Global Warming (aka "Climate Change"), it will pay for us to be pragmatic and to use basic common sense.
When considering how to either regulate or incentivize the public and/or businesses, one wants to choose wisely and target one's campaigns to achieve minimum disruption while also achieving maximum gains. Campaigns are costly, and the wrong balance of impacts and gains can quite thoroughly derail an initiative.
So, what actions can we take to achieve the greatest benefit with the narrowest disruptive impact? Well, it's clear right away that there is a segment where a relatively small number of vehicles rack up the lion's share of travel miles: fleet vehicles. Because, when you get right down to it, it's really not so much about the number of vehicles that you replace with hybrids, but - more importantly - which ones you replace. After all, who cares about the global warming impact of a Hummer H2 if it's actually sitting mostly idle and unused in someone's garage, only to do the occasional grocery run to the supermarket down the street?
One person traveling to work and back in Silicon Valley may clock up about 30-50 miles in a day. A taxi cab or pizza delivery car, on the other hand, that is on the go for the entire day could clock up 300 miles or more! If you could replace only one out of those two vehicles with a SULEV (Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle) hybrid, which one would you choose? (oh, and that was a rhetorical question, BTW).
We have a fleeting opportunity to realize substantial gains in the war on Global Warming. We should seize this opportunity by introducing regulations and/or incentivization programs that are very narrowly targeted at vehicles that are heavily used and that travel the most miles per day. Given the auto industry's still limited ability to respond to demand for the newer fuel efficient, low emissions technologies, we shouldn't squander this limited supply by directing it all at a demand that has the least benefit to us. We need to get as many fleet vehicles converted over to green technologies as possible, and as soon as possible!
And, apparently, I am not the only person who thinks this way. New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg has got it right with a planned initiative that would have all the yellow cab taxis in New York City converted over to hybrids by 2012...
Read the article: NYC taxis to go green (cnn.com)