Published: June 03, 2006 10:11 pm            

Stephanie Salter: Hummer drivers deserve a break in gas prices

Aiming to capitalize on consumer angst about the high cost of gasoline, General Motors Corp. said it would cap pump prices at $1.99 for customers in California and Florida who buy certain vehicles by July 5 … many of the eligible vehicles are serious gas guzzlers … the Chevrolet Tahoe and Suburban … GMC Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs … Hummer H2 and H3 … Cadillac SRX SUV.

— Associated Press, May 23



Who cares if the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels is so bad that even our big-oil-bankrolled president uses the term “addicted”?

Who cares if, as the New York Times’ Thomas Friedman noted, “Our military is in a war on terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan with an enemy who is fueled by our gasoline purchases”?

Who cares if lip service is all Congress chooses to expend on creating authentically green alternative fuels, preferring instead to pass an energy bill that handed most of a $14.5-billion tax break to companies that produce energy from — surprise — fossil fuels?

Maybe Congress is where GM got the great idea for its “fuel price protection program.” After all, the Senate majority party briefly floated an idea to send 100 bucks to all of us to help offset rising gas prices.

Just to buy a Hummer H2, which gets about nine miles to the gallon, a person must fork over more than $100,000. A Tahoe gets about 13 mpg in the city (where most SUVs are driven), a Suburban about 12.

Who better to reward with a guaranteed price break on gasoline than drivers of these fuel fiends? Especially in California, where gas prices hover at about $3.40 per gallon?

Last year, as working-class America racked up credit card debt to keep autos and homes running, Exxon Mobil racked up an astounding $36.13 billion in profits. Its sister oil companies cruised close behind in a deep black sea of record profits.

Everyone in Washington talks about the shame of it all — global warming, too, now that it’s no longer just “a theory” — but solutions of consequence are as rare as an affordable hybrid or funding for construction of mass transit.

GM is in deep trouble. That its executives think a way out — in the current energy climate — is a fuel price protection program for gas hogs speaks volumes: about the company’s route to ruin and about the likelihood of it reversing course.

Friedman compared General Motors’ gas price cap to “a crack dealer looking to keep his addicts on a tight leash.” Imagine if a few other U.S. corporations and industries followed GM’s lead and tried to increase demand for some of their environmental and social liabilities by rewarding the folks who buy them.

We could be reading “news” items like these:

n Today R.J. Reynolds Corp. announced a new “smoke more/pay less” instant rebate program for most of its cigarette brands. Time-dated coupons will be included in every pack of RJR cigarettes. Tobacco consumers who collect 10 same-brand coupons in five days can redeem them for a pack costing $1.

The only brands not covered by the coupon program are the company’s cigarettes with very low tar and nicotine content.

n In a rare show of unity among competitors, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States says its members have launched a rewards program that will make consumption of high-proof and dessert-like alcoholic beverages more economically attractive to consumers.

Representing a dozen liquor giants, the council said its members were enthusiastic about offering this uniform incentive. Among the kinds of liquor that will carry rewards are 151-proof rums, 100-proof vodkas and sugary, tropical or milky drinks that are popular with younger consumers who prefer to mask the taste of alcohol.

The program, dubbed “Killer Whipped Cream,” will issue club cards with computer memory chips that keep track of purchases. Like grocery store discount cards, the club cards will provide instant check-out discounts on eligible liquors and record accumulated points that can be “spent” on club T-shirts, caps, party lights and disc jockeys.

n Burger King Inc. wants to thank millions of customers who have refused to embrace healthier, expensive-to-prepare menu selections that involve fresh fruit and vegetables and have held fast to cheaply produced, processed items that are off the charts in trans-fats, sugar and sodium.

For the next year, the fast-food company will automatically throw in french fries and increase the size of a soft drink for free when a customer orders any of the five menu items highest in calories, carbs, cholesterol, trans-fats and salt. Diners who order iced tea or water will not get a bigger drink.

As an added bonus, customers who also present proof of any cardiac event they’ve suffered will be given a second meal for free.

Stephanie Salter can be reached at 9812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com.

        

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