Can't Win for Losin'
Well, that's just perfect.
Driver ticketed for using biofuel.
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 is one of a growing number of fuel-it-yourselfers -- backyard brewers who recycle restaurant grease or make moonshine for their car tanks. They do it to save money, reduce pollution or thumb their noses at oil sheiks.
They're also caught in a web of little-known state laws that can stifle energy independence.
State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Denton, is known around Raleigh for his diesel Volkswagen fueled by used soybean oil. The car sports a "Goodbye, OPEC" sign.
"If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt" from state taxes, he said.
The state Department of Revenue, which fined Teixeira, has asked legislators to waive the $2,500 bond for small fuel users. The department also told Teixeira, after the Observer asked about his case this week, that it will compromise on his fine.
How magnanimous (and logical) of them. Sheesh.
Oh, but it's not about the oil. It's not about the oil...it's not about the oil...
Posted by: Diane | Tuesday, 19 June 2007 at 12:27 PM
Nope, not remotely about the oil at all. What oil? Who said oil? Why are we talking about oil? Does somebody in here hate Murka? Thought so.
Posted by: arse poetica | Tuesday, 19 June 2007 at 02:54 PM