Comments on: Green Campaign Watch: McCain's $300M Clean Car Prize, Hansen & Friedman's Oil Rants

By: UK Launches £100B Green Revolution « Earth2Tech

UK Launches £100B Green Revolution « Earth2Tech — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:57:03 +0000

[...] We’ve heard strong language from world leaders before. President Bush, who said in his 2006 State of the Union Address that the United States is “addicted to oil,” has come under heavy attack recently in light of his call to lift the ban on offshore drilling, a “solution” critics are calling “get more addicted to oil.“ [...]

By: Green Campaign Watch: Obama & McCain Bicker Over Energy « Earth2Tech

Green Campaign Watch: Obama & McCain Bicker Over Energy « Earth2Tech — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 18:03:06 +0000

[...] proposed gas tax holiday as a short-term non-solution. He added McCain’s recently announced $300 million battery prize to the list of “gimmicks that will only increase our oil addiction for another four years.” [...]

By: Electric Car Roundup: Dyson Vacuums, ZENNs Come Home & Brits Plug In « Earth2Tech

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:38:01 +0000

[...] that not matter who wins, PHEVs will have support from Washington. Still, he worries that McCain’s battery prize and Obama’s cleantech fund give the impression that more research needs to be done before we [...]

By: Craig

Craig — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:08:50 +0000

The problem i have with opening up importing ethanol from Brazil is that it may help "solve" our dependence on the middle east for oil, and increase our use of "Alternative" fuel - but it wont help reduce global warming as all the increase in demand will do is lead to more destruction of the rain forest and hence negate the slight advantage sugar based ethanol has over conventional in terms of GHG.

I say halve the $300M and invest the other $150M into at home solar charging modules for all the EV's that are coming.

By: rs

rs — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:38:42 +0000

The problem that guys like friedman et. al have is that this apporach will cripple our economy in the short term. The right approach is multi-faceted, yes we need conservation and alternative energy sources but we also could use additional oil that we produce so we can get off middle eastern oil. In fact McCain's best plan would be to remove the ethanol tariff so we can import inexpensive sugar ethanol from Brazil. I feel much more confortable sending money to brazil than saudi arabia

By: greensolutions

greensolutions — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:53:37 +0000

I'm no McCain fan, but I must say that the $300 million for EV batteries and a $5000 credit for ZEVs is a good idea. What's not a good idea is nuclear and "clean coal" (which does not exist, even in theory). The "hydrogen economy" is something that was promoted to make people stop thinking or doing anything about our crisis and just wait for that magical technology to come about. Mile for mile, hydrogen fuel cell EVs use way more energy than battery EVs because of the enormous inefficiencies of hydrogen production, processing, transport, etc. The last thing we need at this point in time is another inefficient technology on our hands so we can hemorrhage more energy (not counting the enormous amount of energy it would take to build that much infrastructure). Hydrogen fuel cells are anything but progressive.

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:48:19 +0000

The hydrogen fuel cell economy? Don't make me laugh. Hydrogen is a pipe dream (literally), and far less efficient than battery storage. Looks like you just put your foot progressively farther into your mouth.

By: Lon Phillips

Lon Phillips — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:38:48 +0000

One would THINK that a better use of the $300,000,000 would be to establish the infrastructure for a hydrogen fuel cell economy. Of course, this is McCain, so nothing that progressive would ever enter his feeble brain.