Is financing a gas discount program morally irresponsible?

Question

Given the likelihood that AGW is occurring and could potentially cause major problems all over the world, and given that people seem to be much more concerned about fuel efficiency now that gas prices are so high, is it ethically irresponsible to offer gas discounts?

The discounts I am talking about are things like gas tax holidays and Chrysler's $2.99 gas guarantee. My local grocery store offers 10 cents off per gallon for every $50 spent at the store, and recently there was a $2.50 gas promotion where a politician paid the difference.

Do these kinds of programs have much effect on consumers' transportation decisions? Would the money invested in these programs be better spent promoting greener living?

Answer 1

It's certainly not morally responsible, but business rarely is.  Like most companies, Chrysler is out to make as much as possible, and that's about all they're interested in.

Fortunately, few consumers are falling for this gimmick.  Chrysler's sales have plummetted despite the incentive.

Answer 2

Businesses are out to make a buck, which in a free system they do only by meeting consumer demand.   How is that immoral?

Answer 3

Who's agenda? The examples you list are companies who, as long as they stay within the law, have no moral obligation not to reduce prices in order to gain market share and increase profits,

The issue is not just about consumers'  transportation decisions but the way in which we have become so reliant on oil and have designed our systems and economy around the abundance of cheap oil. For example mega corporations can fly out of season baby carrots half way across the world and sell them much more cheaply than a small local farmer can produce those carrots.

As consumers we have few alternatives at present, the more socially disadvantaged we are the fewer options we have. The things we in the West consider to be essentials to living are not usually produced locally any more. For example people on low incomes may be forced to travel to their out of town supermarket to buy those flown in carrots because they can not afford produce from, nor get to other places to shop.

In principle I agree, in some ways it may be morally irresponsible to give discounts on petrol/gas, but what are the alternatives at present? We need to learn to live without our excessive consumption of oil, to conserve natural resources.  We need to redesign our systems to force companies to pay a premium for practices that are more damaging to the environment and to  USE that money to restore/remediate some of that environmental damage.

We need protection from the law and taxation for people on low incomes that prevents food prices and transport to work etc becoming prohibitively expensive. We need to use sustainable forms of energy and redesign every aspect of our lives from food production to transportation so that people/governments/companies do not have the option of being morally irresponsible.