What we need are alternative fuels, not excuses why they won't work. Ideas, instead of pissing and moaning about how many cars are on the road.
Where's that good old American ingenuity? Let's find a way around this problem.
People *used* to live close to each other, form communities, and work together. The automobile allowed us to rush away from our have-not neighbors rather than staying and fixing things. This philosophy has proven perilous both to our environment, our health, and our spirits.
We used to live closer -- and we can do it again. We used to live without cars -- and we can do it again.
None of the alternative fuels, no matter how great, will be *cheaper* than oil based fuel. Converting nuclear-generated electricity to hydrogen to run cars -- crazy expensive. And the effluent will last 10,000 years. Everyone knows about the problem of nuclear fuel waste. What no one talks about is the cost of closing down a nuclear plant.
We don't need new fuels. We need a paradigm shift.
We need to think about building communities and work places around a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour. We need to be restricting the size of vehicles that can be owned for personal purposes. These steps are essential to allowing lighter and alternative vehicles (like electric vehicles) to safely compete on the freeways and to encourage mass transit. With a national speed limit of 45 (As it was during our last real, DECLARED war) you could bike anywhere, and you wouldn't take much longer.
We WILL run out of oil. Killing people to take their oil is morally reprehensible ... and won't buy us much time. Aternative fuels will be more expensive and nearly as bad for the environment as the real thing.
Meanwhile, as long as people feel free to buy Hummers:
G A S I S T O O C H E A P !
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... And its reached $3 in my county.