I just got a call from Jefferson Stewart ( a good friend from graduate school who needs to build a website so I can link to it) warning me about the new fines being levied on alternative fuel users. Apparently folks that are using any type of fuel they did not pay for are seen as evading taxes in some states. It makes sense I guess. The tax being paid on gas goes to maintain the roadways. Using the road while not paying the tax = tax evasion. But do revenue collectors really believe that people are purposefully trying to evade taxes with the act of using alt fuels? Apparently in North Carolina they do. Some NC dude is having to drop a couple thousand dollars to do right by the state and federal revenue collectors. Our crew could name a ton of things we love about south, but it’s really hard to love a region that is sometimes on the forefront of stupidity. Come on NC!

Tax evasion didn’t even cross our minds when proposing the idea of running our bus on used vegetable oil. I wasn’t even really concerned about the environmental benefits. We just wanted something we could afford… free. We calculated that if we used free veggie oil, we would save nearly ten thousand dollars. Almost a grand of that would equate to our tax evasion quota (obviously depending on the state we evade in).

So to let the inner nerdboy speak for a second…

I’ve been working on the map section of this site to allow friends to make suggestions. Check it out under the map tab. If you’re reading this, consider yourself a beta tester. thanks!
I think my eyes will fall out soon from the penetrating lcd photons.

nerdboy out.

One Response to “alt fuels, alt country, and why I hate the south”

1. Bob says:

   June 26, 2007 at 8:04 am

   I realized that I never mentioned the alt country that the title refers to. Well I saw Wilco’s new album in Starbucks the other day, which I should’ve taken as an omen not to listen. I ignored the sinking feeling that this was going to be yet another horrible album and downloaded it. There are a few alright songs, but as a whole the album is very much in the genre of adult contemporary. Think Norah Jones or new hootie and the blowfish (yes, they still make music). I miss Wilco’s “being there” days of Alt country.