Everyone knows that incentives work. Employers offer bonuses to workers who exceed expectations on a project. Even the government frequently pays contractors a bonus to finish projects ahead of schedule. Why not use rewards to speed the production of a better automobile?
It may seem as if the internal combustion engine will remain around forever. But it won’t. Eventually, something will replace it.
Recall that just 100 years ago, many worried about whether cities could continue to grow. After all, more people meant more horses, and what would a city do with all the resulting manure? Cars changed all that. Tomorrow’s vehicles will do something similar, because once they’re invented, they’ll allow us to travel without burning any foreign oil or generating any exhaust.
But they won’t invent themselves.
Lawmakers have failed to solve our oil problems because they’ve tried to pick winners. Only the market can do that successfully. We need to set up a reward and then get out of the way. That will drive inventers to finally create something that’ll eliminate our dependence on foreign oil, and in doing so improve the environment. The next Henry Ford awaits.