Why do we need government for Nat Gas???

Hi,

I believe in free markets and economic sustainability. I also believe that the economic system that is in place in the US nowadays is far from what Adam Smith advocated (ie. it is not a free market). Now, there is room for a lot of argument if a 100% free system is good or bad and I don't intend to discuss it here.

The reason I start this thread is to know why we need a legislation on making Nat Gas popular. If it is so cheap and beneficial to our economy, why doesn't it kick off with no legislation and through private investment? Again, I understand that the kick off time might be long if we only rely on private funds (and no tax breaks. We might have not an internet has it not been through government support). However, my question is, now that some states are converting to Natural Gas, why do we need federal legislation on this? Why don't individual states can have legislations. Was there ever a "Gas" Act to popularize the use of gasoline in cars (I don't know the answer myself)?

I would appreciate your comments and ideas. Maybe through education, people start adopting Natural gas themselves without any federal legislation.

Thank you.

Ps: if the discussion has already been posted in another thread, I would appreciate it if you can post a link here so that everyone can refer to. Thanks.

Tags: Federal, Legislation, adam, break, congress, free, gas, market, natural, senate, More…smith, tax

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Permalink Reply by neil cox on May 25, 2012 at 6:29pm

I agree, but apparently most of our Democrat and Republicans leaders do not, nor do they believe in our constitution which should allow individual states to regulate natural gas powered vehicles in defiance of DOT, EPA etc. You can modify your own vehicle for CNG at only slight risk of jail time and/or big fines. Your insurance company may refuse to pay claims if they are aware of your do it yourself modifications. Apparently the conversion is easy, if you know how and the resuts are are passible, or better at minimum risk of fire, most of the time. Professionals don't want to risk trouble with the government, nor with lawyers so you are on your own. A few car and truck models have been approved, but the professional conversion is too costly to help your personal finances. Worse there are very few places where you can get your CNG tanks refilled. Last I heard, the $1200 pump to fill your own tank, was no longer being manufactured. Neil

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Permalink Reply by Saeed on May 25, 2012 at 8:15pm

Thank you Neil. What amazes me is that Honda, which is not an american company, sells CNG civic in california but domestic car makers don't sell any (at least I haven't seen any). It's not that they don't have the technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_gas_vehicles .

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Permalink Reply by Robert S Culpepper on July 5, 2012 at 9:30am

Natural Gas can be very dangerous if mishandled. Government oversight is necessary because greed is rewarded while safety is not.