Letters to the Editor: NYC Entry Fee, More on Biofuels
These letters appear in the June 18 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
N.Y.C. Entry Fee
Who do the people of New York City think is going to pay this new tax? You would have to be a fool to believe that any trucker bringing essential freight into the city would do anything but pass through this additional cost of doing business to the people who need the freight (“Trucks Could Face $21 Fee for NYC Peak-Time Entry,” 4-30, p. 5). (Click here for related story.)
The notion that the revenue generated is going to come from outside the city is laughable.
Michael Riley
President
Motor Transport Association of Connecticut
Hartford, Conn.
China and Biofuels
China is waking up to realities that the scientific community has been aware of for a long time. The numbers just don’t add up yet on biofuels. (Click here for previous coverage.)
That being said, the reality is that we are going to run out of oil much more quickly than anyone suspects, and the search for alternatives is a critical survival issue.
I am glad to see that someone is waking up to the fact that if we spend all our agricultural resources growing alcohol crops, we are going to have a lot of hungry people driving around in their SUVs. We need a tremendous worldwide research push to meet the challenges of energy supply for the next generation.
Kevin Michel
Manager, Logistics Operations
Cowan Systems
Aberdeen, Md.
More on Biofuels
This is in response to the TTNews.com online article headlined “Biofuels Could Cost Taxpayers Billions.” (Click here for previous story.) I think the statement that biofuels could cost taxpayers billions is just horse puckey.
Isn’t it true that any kind of vegetable oil can be used in diesel engines? And that you can make alcohol out of anything “green?”
The technology already is in place; that’s usually the largest investment in anything new. We should be able to make alcohol out of anything, including grass clippings. We can make oil out of almost any vegetable that will work in diesel engines.
Why aren’t we doing it?
It was proven on the day before Memorial Day that racing engines can run on only 2% gasoline and 98% alcohol. We can do it for the Indy cars but not everyday cars?
I believe that not fully developing these fuel alternatives is nothing more than a greedy corporate attitude to squeeze us for more dollars at the pump.
At a time when oil companies are making record profits, they should be pumping those profits into building more alcohol-producing plants. Our automakers should be manufacturing automobiles that can run on any and all fuels that burn.
Consumers also have to get better educated about the alternatives that are available to gasoline. Consumers are the ones who have the power to demand these changes, and consumers will demand change if they are educated. We need to stand up to the automakers and oil companies.
Ben Harris
Manager, Portland Office
Barlow Transportation Services Inc.
and Barlow Truck Lines
Portland, Ore.
