From Cold War militarism, to the draft, to his new scheme for national gas vouchers, W.F. Buckley is always on the cutting-edge of conservative statism:
We will need to encourage alternative energy sources while adopting a voucher-based gas-distribution program. For the duration of the emergency, gas users would have access to magnetic debit cards in which were embedded a national quarterly target of per-consumer gasoline. Drivers whose allotted amount of gas didn’t meet their needs could buy part or all of someone else’s allotment. For the average driver, this distribution plan would not increase gasoline costs. A consumer would pay the same out-of-pocket cash per gallon, and the government wouldn’t get its hands on any more of the taxpayers’ dollars. It is a more efficient way of distributing energy because it employs market incentives to allow heavier gasoline users to get what they need without increasing overall consumption of energy.
(Thanks J. Cook)
