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Hybrid Owners of America Formed to Advocate for Interests of Owners of Hybrids
17 August 2006
A new organization—the Hybrid Owners of America (HOA)—launched itself today to organize and to advocate for the interests of the roughly 500,000 Americans who are driving hybrid cars and other gas/electric vehicles.
In addition to tracking federal, state, local and private sector incentives to keep hybrid car owners armed with the latest information, HOA is encouraging hybrid vehicle drivers to get involved by urging Congress and the White House to embrace a five-point hybrid-friendly agenda:
Lifting the current cap on the federal tax break for hybrid purchases;
Creating a new federal tax incentive for those who undertake a plug-in hybrid conversion;
Promoting a new federal tax break for corporations that provide direct incentives to employees who buy hybrids;
Rewarding US automakers that undertake more hybrid research and production with assistance in dealing with health care and other high-cost issues; and
Setting a target of switching over federal vehicle fleet purchases to hybrids of 10% for 2007, 20% for 2008 and 30% for 2009.
The Hybrid Owners of America is a project of the Civil Society Institute and 40mpg.org.
August 17, 2006 in Hybrids, Policy | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: Matthew | August 17, 2006 at 11:46 AM
LOL. It'd be classic if they pulled the same elitist sludgery that's been rattling cages in California and outright denied membership to anybody horning in with an SUV hybrid.
Then the wronged parties can create their own special-interest group, and clog up the works even more. Go America!
Posted by: Mel. | August 17, 2006 at 12:25 PM
I'm all for promoting Hybrids. I bought a HCH a couple of years ago.
Now all we need is more of them being made so everyone can get/afford one.
Posted by: Lucas | August 17, 2006 at 01:53 PM
It is a fact of life that tax breaks are easier to pass than tax increases.
Myself I would favor a polluter pays tax system. We could start out with say a penny a pound carbon tax and then go up from there.
Electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids would pay for themselves in short order. The people polluting the air with low-mileage Hummers can pay the tax. Cry me a river.
A tax like this would also get us clean wind and solar power for our electric grid much sooner.
Too bad Detroit can not build a car as good as my Prius.
Kyle Dansie
Posted by: Kyle Dansie | August 17, 2006 at 07:21 PM
Rocky Mountain Institute (rmi.org) has proposed "feebates" where people that buy gas guzzling SUVs pay a huge premium that goes directly to people buying fuel efficient cars.
I like it.
Posted by: sjc | August 18, 2006 at 08:42 PM
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Yay! Another special-interest group lobbying the government to lighten my wallet for them.