Automobile club Better World Club has announced a pricing structure which will reward drivers of hybrids while surcharging those who drive "gas guzzlers."
Automobile club Better World Club has announced a pricing structure which will reward drivers of hybrids while surcharging those who drive "gas guzzlers.
The Portland, Oregon-based club offers a year of free membership with the purchase of one year for the owners of hybrid cars. The announcement is timed as many of the original hybrid car owners are seeing the end of roadside assistance coverage provided with the purchase of their cars.
At the same time, Better World Club announced a surcharge on the three worst gas-guzzling cars released in 2005: the Dodge Ram 1500, the Lamborghini Murcielago, and the Hummer H2. According to government statistics, each of these cars gets approximately 9 miles to the gallon. The surcharge will be 20% on each of these cars for any auto membership.
The surcharge itself will become part of the company's environmental donation program.
"At a time when the car companies are charging more for hybrids, when states like Oregon have charged higher registration fees for hybrids, Better World Club wants to recognize hybrid owners by charging them less," says Mitchell Rofsky, Better World Club President. "Hybrid owners are taking the lead in helping to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil and deserve to be rewarded."
"The Gas Guzzler surcharge is unique: it's like an ice cream company surcharging the obese. As for the Dodge Ram 1500 and Hummer H2s, there's really no excuse for 9 mile per gallon cars today. Come on. The most efficient result would be if the market did more to penalize automobiles that impose their pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and gas guzzling on others. Our carbon-offset program shows that there are conscientious consumers who will pay extra to mitigate their pollution. We hope that the owners of these cars will do the same.
And we had to include the Lamborghini but, as we don't believe we have any Lamborghini members, it wasn't a big sacrifice on our part. Next year, I hope we can limit the surcharges to the Lamborghinis alone."
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, if the U.S. would:
--Raise fuel efficiency standards on American cars by one mile per gallon, in one year, Americans would save twice the amount of oil that could be obtained from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
--Raise fuel efficiency by 2.7 miles a gallon the United States would eliminate all the oil imports from Iraq and Kuwait combined.
--Raise fuel efficiency by 7.6 mpg, the United States would eliminate 100% of its gulf oil imports into this country.
Hybrid cars generally increase the fuel efficiency of comparable automobiles by more than this 7.6 mpg goal.
Better Word Club says it is the world's first and only roadside assistance club dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of travel. Also, the company says it donates 1% of annual revenues toward environmental cleanup and advocacy. The company provides roadside assistance, bicycle assistance, travel services, and insurance.
Source: World-Wire and www.betterworldclub.com
