EVcast #39: Weekly EVcast: President for the Day: Solving The World's Problems

You have to have Government funding on Research, and, by extension, new technologies- the cost is too great otherwise. In most cases, government has to sow broadly- but occassionally, government has to make an educated guess on certain, needed industries.  In this case, since we are at an energy crisis, having government aid in the adoption of alternative energy, energy transmission and alternative transportation, is not only appropriate, but perhaps even necessary at this late stage of our carbon-based energy existance.  And this type of proposed support for a new energy age requires a nationwide infrastructure and nationwide adoption- even as the DOT and EPA has safety standards for all cars or gas stations across the US.  (Interesting show by the way;-)

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I am sorry I did not get the chance to phone or mail in my own Presidential Platform- but here it is in brief- our problem is not just not having enough choices for EV's- it is our usage of carbon-based fuels for our transportation, for our homes, and for our industries.  If I were president, I would propose legislation to mandate the ending of new ICE vehicle sales in 5 years, and within 10 years having all of our energy generated by renewable resources and 3rd gen nuclear reactors.  I would also include in this a mandate to re-build our energy transmission infrastructure.  And I agree with Jason to implement a 30 percent tax on all fuels NOW to help fund this infrastucture change.  We have the technology to do this now, though hopefully this technology, especially energy storage, will only get better with more R&D generated by my policies.
 A lot of people have likened this challange to the Space Race of the '60s to the moon.  But I disagree- the space race was a crowning acheivement of a generation who had already won the larger struggles- our generation has not done much as yet.  That generation has been called the Greatest Generation- they survived both the Great Depression and 2nd World War with courage and sacrifice- our generation has a hard time sacrificing our ability to have pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, much less something larger.  Well, this is our chance- our generation's legacy is either going to be the wasteful spending of a lazy inheritance, or we can push ourselves back into the forefront of our global economy with a bold change!  And if we fail in this task, we will sacrifice our children's future to a nation with a shaky economy, failing health from our current energy's polutants, shrinking jobs, vulnerability to world terrorism- and will be unable to handle the next round of challenges, which will include water and food shortages.
 ...if I were President;-)  (Whew!  Let me off the spinning soapbox!)

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If I might return to my own spinning soapbox for a moment (you did encourage me to do so!)

I'd echo Paul's call for more funding, both private and government, into R&D, and Friedman's for more scientists & engineers to do that R&D. New technologies obviously, but maybe also old ones that are now suddenly cost effective. What's really cost effective is increasing energy efficiency, and simply using less energy. If you're not doing that yet check out http://energysavers.gov and get started!

You asked "what's the relevance to EV"? Well, where does the E come from to power the V? T. Boone Pickens advocates generating electricity from wind and running cars on natural gas. One of your commentators called for removing import tariffs on ethanol, and presumably favours running cars on ethanol. (Google "brazil ethanol rainforest" for the debate on some unfortunate side effects). If the political will was there, and the right technologies available, maybe a better plan would be to use wind and natural gas and (second generation only!) biofuels to generate electricity centrally, bury the carbon, and go to EVs as soon as possible?

Whilst there is certainly a global energy crisis, there is also a global food crisis. See "ethanol" above for a flavour of how they're connected. Messrs Bush, Gore & Pickens don't seem to have that crisis high on their agenda at the moment, in public at least. Neither do the rest of the G8 come to that, certainly in terms of practical action. For more on that aspect check out http://econnexus.org

Cheers,

Jim

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Sorry I wasn't available to add a suggestion.  I think the government should do something to help get the existing gas guzzlers off the road and I would suggest a tax credit for converting existing cars to zero emission vehicles.  That could encourage existing mechanics who face the possibility of extinction down the road with some incentive to start a conversion business, with or without eestor.  Such a credit could be designed on a pro-rata scale depending on the amount of emissions the conversion will reduce for a 10,000 mile per year vehicle or some other milepost.

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I did mean increasing standard deduction on federal income tax.

I would increase the tax on gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, coal, and natural gas to 50% of retail sales.  This would cover the cost of extracting oil on our public lands and partially pay for the environmental and health costs of these fuels.

I like hosts idea of bumping this up more to 75%.  This is not a sin tax, but to partially cover the true cost of fossil fuels which are not paid.  $8 a gallon gas will get guzzlers off the road quick.

I am not a big fan of government funded private research.  Seems 90% ends up being fraud.  I think money should come from investors or rich person believing in something.

I am not a big fan of rebates.  Yes, it would be nice to get 20% off your electric car.  But, it creates paperwork.  If there is a rebate it should come directly from point of purchase.  For example you buy 1200 watts of solar panels you get $1200 off the purchase price or $1 a watt.  Some of these rebates are complex and many force you to get contractors and utilities involved.

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Not sure how late I am with this post, but windmills do not kill birds.

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... the blades do (ba da bum)

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