Goodbye Hummer! An article in the New York times (which can be found here) revealed on Thursday that General Motors will be stopping production of the gas-guzzling SUV. Their deal to sell the brand to a Chinese company recently fell through, which many people suspect was due to the Chinese Communist Party being worried about their image as one of the most polluting nations. The article went on to discuss a proposition made by many political analysts to raise gas taxes. They think that this will encourage people to buy more fuel-efficient cars and would increase use of public transportation. Statistics show that Americans drove 3.4% fewer miles in 2008 when the price of gas shot up to around $4 per gallon. This increase in fuel prices also drove down the number of Hummers and other large SUV's that were sold.
I am glad that I will soon be seeing less Hummers on the road because I think that they are really ugly and obnoxious vehicles. Not to mention they are incredibly inefficient when it comes to fuel consumption... As far as the increase in the fuel tax goes, I don't think that is such a good idea. I personally would support it because I think that we should be doing more to protect the environment, but I have a feeling that a majority of Americans would not be very pleased.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Editorial #1
http://www.newsweek.com/id/233854 <--- Editorial
In this editorial, Zakaria was responding to Sarah Palin's comments that Barack Obama can show he is a tough commander-in-chief by going to war with Iran and that she would support that. This discussion is timely because, as noted by Zacharia, the IAEA now believes that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. However, Zacharia also pointed out why it would be an incredibly bad idea to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities at this time. For one thing, it would cause Iran to retaliate by having their allies attack US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. There would also be increased terrorism and it would cause the opposition (the Green movement) to support their government rather than oppose it. Not to mention it would also raise oil prices... The attack probably wouldn't do anything more than delay their nuclear development by a few years, at best. Instead, Zakaria advocates working harder to get a stronger coalition to put in tough economic sanctions on Iran and work to support the green movement against the government in Tehran.
I agree with what Zakaria is suggesting. Even if Iran gets the bomb, there is no way they are stupid enough to use it because they know they will be wiped out. After all, we've got a whole lot more bombs than they do. On the other hand, it would be difficult to stabilize things in Iraq and Afghanistan if Iran decided they had nothing to lose and they started causing even more trouble.
In this editorial, Zakaria was responding to Sarah Palin's comments that Barack Obama can show he is a tough commander-in-chief by going to war with Iran and that she would support that. This discussion is timely because, as noted by Zacharia, the IAEA now believes that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. However, Zacharia also pointed out why it would be an incredibly bad idea to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities at this time. For one thing, it would cause Iran to retaliate by having their allies attack US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. There would also be increased terrorism and it would cause the opposition (the Green movement) to support their government rather than oppose it. Not to mention it would also raise oil prices... The attack probably wouldn't do anything more than delay their nuclear development by a few years, at best. Instead, Zakaria advocates working harder to get a stronger coalition to put in tough economic sanctions on Iran and work to support the green movement against the government in Tehran.
I agree with what Zakaria is suggesting. Even if Iran gets the bomb, there is no way they are stupid enough to use it because they know they will be wiped out. After all, we've got a whole lot more bombs than they do. On the other hand, it would be difficult to stabilize things in Iraq and Afghanistan if Iran decided they had nothing to lose and they started causing even more trouble.
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