Independence Day for Slugs NO MORE HYBRIDS

As many Americans celebrated US Independence Day, I was quietly celebrating our independence from any additional onslaught of hybrids. While we still have the old hybrids, we now have independence from having to look at new "smugs" with their brand new cutesy Prius's or hybrid SUVs with paper tags. And to those of you who cynically bought to get in under the wire I say: Enjoy it now because your days are numbered, and that will be even more obvious come August /September when the daily HOV jams are back.

HOV traffic is down at least 25 percent in the early summer (probably 50 percent this week). That gets us back to where we were a few years ago before the hybrids. So we get a feel for how it will be when we boot them out for good.

raymond, does it make sense to you that if I were the only supporter of the hybrid exemption that its extension would pass the legislature with such an overwhelming majority?

I travel I-395 nearly daily, and with varying times for the return trip outbound. The express lanes nearly always travel above the speed limit for both the morning commute and the afternoon commute. Coming into DC, there is a knuckle that SpongeBob discussed over a year ago dealing with the Pentagon off ramp - which has nothing to do with hybrids and everything to do with poor engineering.

However, few vehicles are going less than 70 mph as you zip past exits 3-7.

I agree, NoSUV, that many consumers have voted with their wallets by buying hybrids. And I appreciate their initiative to take action to do what they feel is a positive step in solving the many problems associated with fossil fuel consumption. But the reality is that we cannot "buy" our way out of this mess. As I have said, I applaude the fact that people generally want to do the right thing. However, most do not know what the right thing is and are influenced by marketers who tout hybrids as the answer to our problems.

Unfortunately, science and economics tell us that hybrids are not the answer. And while marketers have the advantage of well-funded advertising programs designed to polish and promote their propaganda, science and economics has not the means to fight such a publicity battle. So the "feel-good" message we hear is "go green with a hybrid," and many well-meaning consumers respond like sheep being herded to the checkout stand, by lining up to buy a hybrid (did we see you in that line?).

Once again, I am not a "hybrid basher," nor do I hate hybrid owners, but I think hybrids are a distraction from real solutions to our complex problems. I also think that marketers have taken advantage of the "activist sentiment" sweeping the nation by promoting hybrids as some sort of cure for our foriegn oil addiction and our polution problems. Locally, marketers have positioned hybrids as a traffic congestion relief pill. By definition, all of these approaches are radical; a proposed simple solution to complex problems.

The local hybrid exemption is a small issue relative to the larger and much more important issues associated with foriegn fossil fuel consumption and traffic congestion.

Bob - of course, the real solution is to ban ALL private vehicles. Ask how many lanes have been added over the past 20 years, and compare that with the number of people who need to use those lanes. Has the transportation capability kept up with the population growth? Has there really been ANY significant improvement in transportation?

I think not. So, this crossroads to which you refer - since the population growth isn't slowing, does that mean that more lanes need to be built? Or should we instead revert to HOV-40?

Actually, HOT brings us much closer to the solution of not having to give up more property for roads. Hop on public transportation and avoid the tolls and congestion. If fact, if we just look to what governments AROUND THE WORLD have done, we can clearly see far better examples of how to control congestion - after all, if the "slug" method was so good, don't you suppose that in 30 years of use that another place (NYC, LA, London, Paris, Madrid, Berlin, Tokyo...) would have picked it up?

But, if we MUST drive a private vehicle, we need to set the national example that ALL vehicles owned and operated in the region will contribute as little as possible to polution. What we have in government is NOT special interests, but great Americans who are trying to solve several problems at once - while creating the tiny concern that slugs may not have free rides anymore.

So, either get on the bus or get a hybrid. Make your world better.

And, yes, I believe that something better will eventually come along. It's not ethanol. It may be hydrogen. Shoot, it may be wind/solar power. But we need to live in the here and now, stop sitting around, and do what is right for our planet. Today, we can measure our success by the hybrids parked in the commuter lot.