Bob Teixeira, the Unicycle Riding Guitarist!
Charlotte Observer – June 9, 2007:
Bob Teixeira decided it was time to take a stand against U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
So last fall the Charlotte musician and guitar instructor spent $1,200 to convert his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on vegetable oil. He bought soybean oil in 5-gallon jugs at Costco, spending about 30 percent more than diesel would cost.
His reward, from a state that heavily promotes alternative fuels: a $1,000 fine last month for not paying motor fuel taxes. He has been told to expect another $1,000 fine from the federal government.
To legally use veggie oil, state officials told him, he would have to first post a $2,500 bond.
Teixeira’s story began near Lowe’s Motor Speedway on May 14. As recreational vehicles streamed in for race week, revenue investigators were checking fuel tanks of diesel RVs for illegal fuel.
The investigators spotted Teixeira’s passing bumper sticker: “Powered by 100% vegetable oil.”
“It was like some twist of fate that put me there,” he said. “It was like I was asking for them to stop me.”
One of the quirks of being dependant on foreign oil is that they will make sure you use their oil no matter what you do.
Texeira’s story is perfect for those in the image tarnishing business, they just have to find the politician in charge of those laws and boy he/she has to pray the immigration debate is still happening during the election campaign.
You have to admit that government in the United States is consistent if nothing else. All of our politicians are useless.
You thought that if you run your car on vegetable oil you could drive on public roads? Nope. Not going to happen.
Someone has to pay for all those bridges to nowhere and roads with potholes big enough to swallow a small car.
If you try to reduce the consumption then that reduces taxes and the last thing that will ever happen is that taxes will go down. If you have to pay 60 cents a gallon in taxes for fuel and you cut your fuel use by half then the wonderful lawmakers will find a way to make it up.
steve
As far as I’m concerned he paid sales tax on the oil when he bought it from Costco. If the state wanted the tax to be higher, it should have imposed more at the time of purchase.
So how does it work if your vehicle is solar powered, electrical, coal powered, etc?
What if you purchase the vegetable oil to generate electricity for your car? What if that same system is actually installed in the car?
RBG
I’m just happy to hear that someone in my city (Char-town FTW) is this devoted to alternative fuel. Sometimes I think everyone else down here is a country bumpkin.
A guy in St. Petersburg, FL has done the same thing except he owns a seafood restaurant and uses the old fish frying oil in his Mercedes. They say it smells really good when he drives down the street. Here’s a link:
http://tinyurl.com/ywe5q4
Well this is pretty nuts! I don’t know if there is such a thing as “illegal fuel” in California (God knows there is every other sort of wacky law here!) but our State fuel taxes are raided every year and a large portion is put into the State General Fund. Very little , if any, of our State fuel taxes go towards maintaining the roads!!
The euros have been doing this since WW2.It costs about half of what diesal costs.But you have to pay for the roads…no free lunch.
#9. The guy is a patriot. He is being hammered for harbouring good intentions.
9. “But you have to pay for the roads…no free lunch.”
And you’re going to tax drivers of electric cars how?
How about a mileage tax?
My family name is the same as this guy. That’s our only connection.
I don’t use biodiesel, nor diesel. Just plain ol’ gas.
I just have to speak out something: You guys in the U.S. of A. should really stop bitchin about cost of gas… I pay here in Europe twice what you pay for gas (1.33 euros per litre, you do the math…) and about 40% of it goes out in taxes…And also we pay a yearly circulation tax. (50 euros for my civic 1400cc, 165 euros for my boss’s porsche 3600cc). My country also has a “special” car tax that is taxed (oh the humanity…) before VAT tax, thus really almost doubling price of a hi-market car when compared with the rest of europe…
And still, will people stay off buying cars and go for public transportation?Nooooo!! You’d be amazed with the Mercedes, BMW, and more exotic cars profusion I can see driving around daily…
My guess is that the car is such a powerful Status projection that will take ages or a worldwide calamity to bring people to their senses…
BTW. no ethanol, biodiesel or hydrogen alternatives (only butane propelled cars and natural gas buses.)
12. “How about a mileage tax?”
Shhh, they might hear you!
13. “You’d be amazed with the Mercedes, BMW, and more exotic cars profusion I can see driving around daily…”
That’s what happens as driving becomes the exclusive preserve of the rich.
But JoaoPT is right about one thing – we ain’t seen nothin’ yet when it comes to fuel prices. All we can do is bitch & complain as we do to delay it.
12. As long as bicyclists pay too. … What’s that you say?… Ok then, what if I used my bicycle to charge my electric car. Would I have to pay the milage tax then?
RBG
#15
“That’s what happens as driving becomes the exclusive preserve of the rich.”
Well, it’s an odd country, you’d be amazed with the subcompact profusion. Seems that there’s no middle layer here. A lot of Clios, Corsas, Polos, and then a lot of beemers… crazy land…
As being rich… well… an average american makes more than twice what I make. And believe me, those Mercedes and Bmw owners here would be middle class there…
Makes sense. Next.
So here is our government—an energy policy designed to keep us dependent on oil, both foreign and domestic, no border control, no universal health care, etc.
Pretty obvious who our government serves.
A mileage tax would be based on the weight of the vehicle. A bicycle would be too light to qualify.
Mexico must really suck if they are trying to break into the US
I wouldn’t have thought the Tax authorities in North Carolina would have been, this smart, but what the hay….
Even so, isn’t it the sellers responsibility to collect and remit the tax. Smells like a lawsuit.
Also, I suspect it’s the case for used oil as well. Any resturarant giving it away, would be responsible to collect and remit any fuel taxes.
Turns out Free Fuel = Free + .40/gallon = .40/gallon.
19. Ok, a tiny hydrogen-based car whose weight is offset by connection to a large hydrogen balloon filled with gas generated from water electrolysis from an electric generator powered by tax-free vegetable oil… Would you believe…
RBG
#13. Just to add another fact to the whole nonsense around here in PT. Natural gas would seem a nice temporary alternative until we’d have really clean energy sources. Nevertheless, our laws forbid natural gas running cars to park in closed spaces, which undermines a lot their utility. Until now, I’ve never heard of one of those cars blowing up, so the safety reasons behind those laws seem rubbish to me.
As about the fuel prices, I have mixed feelings… One the one hand it is indeed painful each time I stop at the fuel station for diesel for my car or gasoline for my bike. On the other hand, that pain makes me be much more careful with my fuel consumptions, which, along with my growing ecological conscience, leads to me to emit less carbon. In the end I don’t mind such high prices here in PT (just because of the carbon emission aspect) and I would really be happy if the entire world would have so high prices. Instead of taxing vehicles, I think it would be clever for oil dependent countries to tax even more the oil we consume.
One very good thing about our laws, however, is that hybrids do and will pay much less tax, which allows us to by hybrid cars to actually cost about the same or even less than their non-hybrid counterparts. For instance, Honda is selling a very unexpensive hybrid Civic here, in spite of its production cost being higher than a regular car. On this one, our lawmakers did it right, indeed.
#5: So how does it work if your vehicle is solar powered, electrical, coal powered, etc?
What if you purchase the vegetable oil to generate electricity for your car? What if that same system is actually installed in the car?
RBG
Indeed. Will it soon be illegal to ride a bicycle? What if you walk?
I hope everyone agrees that the roads, bridges and potholes have to be paid for (well maybe not the holes).
After that it’s a political decision how.
Could be a fuel tax, an income tax or any tax at all.
Yup. California is already struggling with this problem. They’ve actually managed to reduce fuel usage enough that they’re seeing a tax shortfall.
Aren’t we still paying more for gas in taxes since the earthquake that hit SF back in 89? You know they spin all these tax increases (and not just on gasoline) as a temporary thing to fix a temporary problem. Yet has anyone ever seen a tax on anything been lifted after whatever problem the tax was for, has been solved? Funny how a lot of temporary thing become permanent, when it comes to a persons livelihood.
#27 – Yes. Just last year they did away with the phone tax that was put into place in 1898 to pay for the Spanish-American war – thus by precedent we should expect any temporary tax to last at least 108 years.
Aren’t gas taxes used to pay for the roads? In that case, shouldn’t they be charging for alternative fuels as well? I expect that in the future this will lead to car tracking and charging based on miles driven. I think California is already feeling pressure from the switch to more electric cars.
Something to think ON:
With the Current business practice…
IF more people went to Person powered vehicles, the price of gas would just go higher. And many would cut back, and it would go Even higher. Until the taxes would need to be forded to another Venue(source) such as the Property tax.
But its interesting to think that, WHAT causes most of the damage tot he roads.
Bad building, and formation of the freeways/streets/roads.
Heavy vehicles(over 5 tons)
Chains in those cold areas.
DID you know that 18 wheeler Trucks pay $200 per year to Go thru the state. No matter how many trips taken.
If you charged the largest/heaveyest vehicles $50 per Entrance to the state. Many states could CUT taxes to $0…
I live on the State hiway in Idaho, and at least 1000 vehicles per day go thru.