Even more swiftly than the price of oil rose, it has tumbled to the range that seemed far-fetched when Reinert spoke and oil was more than $130 a barrel. Now that drop threatens a wide variety of game-changing plans to find alternatives to oil or ways to drastically reduce U.S. consumption. Full Story »
Posted by Kaizar Campwala
A fantastic story. On one hand, it cuts through the vague promise of electric cars and an petroleum independence to present the facts on projects that might lead to that goal, and the substantial obstacles that stand in the way of those projects. But at the same time, Mr. Mufson is the best kind of idealist. He points to the system obstacles in the way of electric cars, and asks a wide variety of smart people how to overcome them. A great jumping off point for anyone who wants to seriously consider how to make concrete progress towards energy independence in the United States.
Informative article about how fluctuating oil prices are threatening the production of future electric and hybrid vehicles. Well-documented, thoughtful report that explores an original angle that deserves serious consideration.
Primarily about the prospects of the electric car, I liked this piece because it examined the long term challenges and solutions to oil dependence in America and the world. Excellent article.
Mufson makes a crucial assumption that everything hinges on the direct cost of petroleum. The world has moved past that level of awareness. The hidden costs of global climate change, pollution, and resource wars must be taken into the cost and human action space if our biosphere is to survive. Threats of mass species extinctions, acidification of the oceans, pollution, and other effects of our current transportation system and culture demand changes that add government restrictions, subsidies, taxes, and research to convert lifestyles to use less energy, and to convert energy sources to carbon free renewable resources. Mufson's insight here is so limited, it makes even his good observations a form of disinformation.
The topic is important, there are more thorough treatments of the subject that perhaps could be linked with more research. The movie "Who Killed the Electric Car" fills in much more on the multiple forces and corrupted appointment to the California pollution control board that short circuited the electric vehicle last time around. The question now is whether new science and awareness can succeed better now.
It's a very detailed, in-depth piece which raises a question that probably few people are asking. I like stories like this that question the motivations and problems facing the "dream" scenario of energy independece and hybrid cars. I like the statistic of how few hybrid cars are actually being used and how in 22 years there will probably still be less than 10% using them. This reminds the public that we are very slow to change. What used the be the biggest problem just 3 months ago is now being forgotten.
The article is decent but deceptive. Electric power for automobiles *may* help deal with the problem of dependency on foreign oil, but it hardly helps at all, if at all in the greater problem of global warming
The electric car is a complete non-starter as far as global warming is concerned. It deals with the real problem about as well as filter cigarettes deal with the threat of cancer. The article fails to point this out.
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