Arizona Alternative Fuel Incentive Backfires

Arizona embarked on a plan to spend$10 million to "incent" people to convert their vehicles to clean fuels.

1 minute read

December 13, 2000, 9:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


But theplan will wind up costing the state some $600 million and still notclean theair.The specifics of the plan were sloppy enough. Owners of $50,000 SUVscouldreap tens of thousands in tax credits just by spending a few grand on anatural gas tank that their vehicle need not ever use.But the underpinnings of the idea are faulty to the core. Only a fewthousandvehicles could've possibly been converted, not enough to substantiallychangethe amount of particulate pollution in the air. Besides, the cars thatwouldundergo the change would already be among the cleanest burning in thestate'sfleet: new or nearly new models.Better to focus on the dirtiest cars if the goal is cleaner air. And$600million could buy a lot of tune-ups.

Thanks to Reason Express

Saturday, December 9, 2000 in The Washington Post

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