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Originally Posted by sheepdog 44
How much better if he championed these solutions? Instead of coming to the misguided conclusion that Electric cars will/cannot save the environment. That does no good, neither does his solution that we should just keep driving our gas cars.
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We shouldn't. Well... ideally.
Personal mobility doesn't have to be tied to the motorcar. Those of us in Asia are only now starting to see mass movement to motorized four-wheel mobility, but we've been doing public transport and motorcycles for ages. 60-90 MPG... could be much better with aero-fairings and more efficient motors... but the upfront costs and lifetime costs are much smaller than cars.
As prosperity increases, the desire for cars increases. Even with large fuel taxes and expensive middle-eastern oil. And the desire for suburbanization also increases.
While living out in the suburbs is nice, having a huge mass of people wanting to move out into the country while working high paying city jobs all over the world doesn't bode well for oil conservation.
Urban living (if you work in the urbs) is energy-efficient. And it lowers the need for motorized transport. Especially if you set it up to be pedestrian-friendly, like Singapore. It won't be the answer for everyone, and people still need to live out in the country to grow food and do... other stuff... (and those that do grow food have the potential for the smallest carbon footprint of all) but it's a good medium term solution to the fossil fuel situation, at least in a world run on international commerce.