Two Billion Cars: Driving Towards Sustainability.

AuthorCulver, Nick
PositionFurther Reading - Book review

TWO BILLION CARS: DRIVING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY

Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon (United States: Oxford University Press, 2009), 320 pages.

The twin impending disasters of climate change and oil dependency have much common ground in the transportation sector, which is responsible for one quarter of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and more than half of oil demand. In Two Billion Cars, Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon offer a persuasive account of the public policies needed to reduce the use of oil over time. In short, the United States and China need new types of cars and new fuels to power them.

The authors set the stage with a colorful history of how the Detroit auto companies and the oil multinationals parted ways with the public interest by fighting off stricter mandates for air pollutants and fuel economy for sport utility vehicles. Sperling and Gordon propose tighter fuel economy standards, a higher quota for selling zero-emission vehicles and a system of revenue-neutral "feebates" under which guzzlers pay a tax and fuel efficient cars receive a credit.

On the fuel side of the coin, since price signals have not been effective in changing car consumer behavior in the past, the authors decline to endorse a higher gasoline tax--a policy favored by economists such as Tom...

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