The Oil Drum

I recall hearing, in childhood, a story about a relative's well-buttered car engine. It seems butter wasn't rationed (or maybe was rationed more leniently) at Post Exchanges (PX's) on military bases. So he packed butter and other stuff into his car's engine compartment in order to smuggle it off base. And then got distracted and forgot about it. And eventually pulled into his driveway with the car reeking of butter, accompanied by gales of laughter when the rest of the family saw what had happened.

Most of the time, though, no one was laughing at all the corruption and arbitrary unfairness.

My first guess is that in any real world implementation of this awful scheme, the Al Gores and Ken Lays of this world will somehow be allocated quasi-infinite quotas, their constant private-jetting being obviously "essential". On the other hand, in order to support that, Joe Schmoe will be risking his neck on a bicycle to get to work at the local grocery store.

My second guess is that there will be an almost uncontrollable epidemic of forged and hacked ration cards, far more severe than the one we have with credit cards. In many respects, this scheme threatens people's economic, social, and as in the case of "non-essential" Joe Schmoe, literal lives.

No, thanks. As a citizen, I will perceive a need for Draconian action on GW only after I see all the big hub airports closed, and all physical academic conferences cancelled and moved to the Web or simply replaced by email and blog-like methods. This is of course symbolic, but in absolute terms, aviation is the fastest growing item out there, and one of the most profligate ways imaginable to consume fuel. I would accept such changes in elite behavior as indications that the preachers of GW gloom and doom actually believe what they say. I see not one shred of evidence for such belief at the present time.

While I believe that for socio-cultural reasons, it would be a good idea for most people to go overseas once or twice in a lifetime, a medium sized airport like McArthur on Long Island could easily fill that need for the entire Northeast, with no need for any of the others.

It is perhaps no accident that serious proposals of this sort are coming from Britain, land of George Orwell. He seems to have seen something in the British that they refuse to see in themselves...