Reducing Oil Dependance

Politicians have been trying to fight oil dependence and vehicle pollution by attacking those of us who commute to work.  What they fail to recognize is that, so long as we have to commute, there's very little they can do to change our driving habits.  Buses work for some, but availability and scheduling really make them a non-starter for most.  The problem isn't the commuters.  The problem is the power hungry business decision makers who consistently ignore the data and require workers to spend their time in an office, doing things that don't necessarily require them to be in an office.  If legislators really wanted to curb our over consumption of oil, fix the family, and put the country back on top, they'd punish businesses that require employees to work on site.

I generally hate government telling us how to live and work.  However, the technology to resolve this situation has existed for decades now.  Most of us can get our work done remotely, as telecommuters.  As CIO magazine points out, telecommuting actually improves productivity (http://www.cio.com/article/453289/Telecommuting_Improves_Productivity_Lowers_Costs_New_Survey_Finds)  Additional benefits include reduced load on the environment, reduced pollution, and increased net compensation to workers while reducing infrastructure and operational costs for business.  Despite this, most businesses refuse to allow workers who's jobs are not location critical, to work remotely.  I suggest national annual fee of $5 per employee per hour any company requires to work on site.  Most companies would then be faced with allowing telecommuting, or paying $10K per year per employee.  Call it an environmental impact surcharge.  For a company with 100 people sitting at desks typing away all day, that would mean $1,000,000 a year just to require those employees to drive to work.

As a side benefit, since Mom and Dad will be working from home, children will be better behaved and will have a much better idea of what to expect from the working world as they'll grow up witnessing their parent's working.  In addition, childcare and healthcare expenses will be drastically reduced as, again, children wont go to daycare, so they wont be sharing as many germs.  Plus, even when children do bring germs home to Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad wont be taking those germs to work to share.

What about...?

What about manufacturing?  Well, most manufacturing already leverages robotics heavily.  What this would cause is a greater push to automate those physical activities that currently require people on site.  The resulting improvements in automation would likely allow us to compete more effectively with 3rd world countries for manufacturing work, while also returning the automation industry to our shores.

What about retail?  Traditional retail is already all but dead.  Price conscious shoppers already default to online retailers.  Those retailers who actually provide some added value, such as expertise, lip service, and ego boosts will move into luxury markets.  Convenience retailers will have to up their prices, but that's a net benefit to the economy and environment, as it then indirectly fines us for not thinking ahead and ordering our groceries, clothes, and blenders online.

If you see any issues with this suggestion, please let me know.  Otherwise, let's push this country into the 21st century.  We're still a clerk economy, and we need to become a digital one.