Critics of the automobile will ask: What if scientists do succeed in demonstrating that increases in the greenhouse effect are real, harmful, and linked to rising carbon dioxide levels? Would this not prove that enemies of the automobile had been right all along?

It would prove nothing of the kind. If cars do contribute significantly to a harmful greenhouse effect, then we need to put into place measures that address this specific harm caused by cars. After all, there is no essential link between the “automotive ideal” and the use of internal combustion engines or the burning of hydrocarbons.

The Automotive Ideal

The “automotive ideal” is the concept of affordable and practical self-propelled vehicles for people and their belongings, regardless of the power source.

Internal combustion engines can run on hydrogen—which produces no carbon dioxide—and new designs may be developed that are much more efficient than present designs. A number of promising alternatives to the internal combustion engine are possible, andone or more of them will undoubtedly be developed and made commercially feasible early in the twenty-first century within the competitive atmosphere of a flourishing global economy. Among the new ideas for automotive power currently being tested and actively developed are fuel cells that convert gasoline and ethanol directly to electricity—with almost no pollution.

The same approach that is best for dealing with problems that may be connected to atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is appropriate for other potential problems brought about by the use of automobiles. Step one: Identify the problem rationally (get the facts straight; use reasonable caution). Step two: Require that the specific harm in question be removed or reduced to acceptable levels, but leave the question of how it should be removed to market forces. We must not allow politicians to exaggerate the problem for demagogic, political reasons.

Notes

1. Randal O’Toole, “Dense Feedback,” Reason, April 1999, p. 51.
2. 2.   See Patrick J. Michaels and Robert C. Bolling, Jr., The Satanic Gases: Clearing the Air about Global Warming (Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2000); also Jonathan Adler, “Global Warming—Hot Problem or Hot Air?” The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, April 1998, pp. 231-36.
3. 3.   UPI, “Global Warming Scientist Downplays Fossil Fuel Threat,” August 18, 2000.