[Grant-53]

Since you are a resident of Gaia perhaps your objections to all fossil fuels are religious more than economic. Is there an electric car available that will carry six passengers 400 miles without recharging or burning carbon based fuel that costs less than $25,000 USD? For me that is one year's income so that makes me and my family "poor" by federal standards. The demographic for the educated poor is growing. Is a wood burning vehicle or biodiesel generating station morally acceptable? The problem then becomes how to generate enough electricty. How do we compare the ecological costs of hydroelectric transmission lines, solar cell production, wind turbines, or nuclear fission wastes?
What really bothers me is a mind set that refuses to clearly examine the risks and benefits of any solution that doesn't fit a personal world view. Do we have the moral or legal standing to tell an Inuit hunter not to shoot a polar bear or ride a snowmobile? Do we really expect Brazilian farmers not to clear land and burn brush for crops? Would I trade my gas car for an equivalent electric car? Sure I would. My wife's ancestors were owners of Pierce Arrow car company in Buffalo NY that made electric cars long ago. I have built and raced electric slot cars for decades. I have studied mechanical engineering, economics, and operations research enough to know that an all electric economy including transportation is going to take alot of work and capital. It may happen in my expected lifetime (30 years) and involves solutions we have yet to see. There needs to be tremendous improvements in conservation of energy. We in North America use far more (6x) than most other economies. Tailored solutions are more effective than a nationally mandated 'one best way' approach. We are seeing Siemans taking an integrated approach to monitoring and control of energy for urban buildings and transportation. There are off the shelf solutions for electric trains, buses, cars, and scooters now in urban settings. The harder solutions are for semi-rural and rural applications. The awd station wagon for a traveling nurse needs sufficient range; the farm tractors and harvestors need to operate for long hours at peak seasons.
I look for ways to reduce my transportation costs both in terms dollars and kwH. Here and now that means using the bus and bicycles more to reduce driving a car for local errands or commuting. I can use hypermiling and streamlining to double the fuel mileage on the cars I have now. Streamlining the bikes and trailer will extend the effective range of operation by 50%. Alternative ways of thinking are an important part of devising viable alternative technology. I will continue to lobby our state legislators to legalize electric bicycles and homebuilt mopeds that can be carried on external racks on clean diesel buses.