Posted on 06/22/2010 5:18:29 PM PDT by upchuck
My magic wand is on the fritz, otherwise we'd have a big, new federal program to free America from its dependence on oil. Like other environmentalists, I'm sad that the calamity in the Gulf of Mexico hasn't spurred Washington to more vigorously promote America's exit from thiscurse.
The fault may lie with President Obama's timidity, a public scared by major new government programs or fossil-fuel interests flashing their campaign dough. Probably it's all three, but the bottom line is this: An all-out effort to unchain America from hydrocarbons is essential to national security, a healthy environment and economic prosperity in the 21st century. But it's not politically possible.
And so we must look at what's passable. Fortunately, there's one piece to the escape strategy that business leaders, military brass and the buying public all like -- and would create jobs. Most importantly, it has bipartisan support in Congress.
We speak of electric cars, specifically the "Electric Vehicle Deployment Act of 2010." Sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., the bill's goal is to electrify half of America's cars and trucks within 20 years. That, its backers say, would cut America's dependence on petroleum by a third. Similar legislation is before the House.
The Senate bill would name at least five communities to be modelsfor electric-vehicle transportation. They would build stations wheremotorists could recharge their cars' batteries. Residents would be offered a $10,000 tax credit to buy electric cars. And the federal government would put $1.5 billion into research for improving electric-car technology.
Electric cars don't appear to be a very hard sell to those who would buy them. The first all-electric model, the Nissan Leaf, will hit the U.S. market at the end of the year. (The batteries will be made in Smyrna, Tenn.) But you won't be able to just pick one up, because the year's production is already sold out. More than two-thirds of the 19,000 preorders are from the United States.
The Chevy Volt will reach showrooms around that time. Its battery range of 40 miles is considerably smaller than the Nissan Leaf's 100 miles, but the Volt has a small gasoline engine to keep the car going if a recharging station is not handy.
In any case, more than 75 percent of Americans commute 40 miles or less a day. That means most of them could plug in their Volts at the end of the day and drive off fully charged in the morning.
Being both an environmentalist and a fan of high automotive performance can be awkward. But car makers are learning to put zoom into their fuel-efficient models. The Ford Fusion Hybrid, for example, gets 41 miles-a-gallon in the city, but can pull away from a stoplight at a respectable pace. "Sustainable mobility solutions" need not be as boring as they sound.
What about the source of the electric power? Although an all-electric vehicle puts out zero emissions, that is probably not true of the plant that provides the electricity. While California has moved its mix of electricity sources toward clean, renewable energy, other parts of America are still highly dependent on dirty, coal-powered plants.
However, electric cars cut global warming pollution even where coal supplies the power, according to a study by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. That's because cars plugged in overnight employ unused capacity in the current electric system.
So let the brawl over cap-and-trade proceed. Outside of the oil business, most everyone seems enthusiastic about accelerating a move toward electric cars. Nothing should stop Congress from revving up the process.
Right?
I'm gonna duck outta the way and let y'all have at it :)
The stupid is strong in this one. LOL
She’s a well known ditz.
Q: Why'd the chicken cross the road?
A: It was fried-day.
I'd guess the writer is the one person who never stuck a 9-volt battery on their tongue when they were little...or never heard of rain.
Just patch the patched pot holes will ya!
Yeah..the target is large and it is us.
We send tens of billions a month to OPEC and lots of that comes back and kills our treasure through weapons, madrassas, mosques, etc.
We have a choice: Either become energy independent by drilling more OR electrify the nation - electric cars—sounds real good.
What are you talking about?
Everyone knows that when you turn on a switch, electricity just happens. What could the downside be? (And it could even be used to melt the snow in the winter!)
ML/NJ
Sheesh - you don't have to read any farther than this, do you?
It ain’t just the 40 mile a day commute, it’s the occasional 300 mile trip to another city to visit the relatives or do some business.
Recharge time is a _key_ parameter.
They always make it sound like the Elektricity somehow
comes out of the thin air absolutely free.
Forty mile daily commute?
Where some kind of gated community?
Might as well have a golf cart or bicycle.
Socialistenviros, a plague on them.
I’m with you. I read that first sentence and thought, this has got to be on FR.
Keep shooting y’all.
I would buy one if they got over 100 miles a charge and if the charging for a week was less then the 50 buck I spend each week now for driving over 50 miles a day to work and shoping.
FRee ammo? Oh man .. I better close my bunker hatch.
Albeit with High Pressure Stratified Charge Fuel Injection w/exhaust so clean you can drink the distilled water it produces.
Which means that you won't really have to burn coal to produce the electricity to power the car. (Do I really need the sarc tag?)
There’s no logical reason to use anything other than petroleum products for transportation of goods and people. Nothing else is as efficient, plentiful, and cheap. The oil is there, and we have more than we could possibly ever use.
We should use it....anything else is just fanciful nonsense.
Hmmmm......then why is California abandoning so many of its electric producing reservoirs........?
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