|
How many people are on the fence right now about getting hybrid vehicles? Now imagine that gas is $4.50 a gallon. Now how many people are going to jump at getting that new 45 mpg Ford Explorer vs. the 18 mpg version?
How quickly would the infastructure catch up to the technology for fuel cells? In the 20th Century we sold our automobiles to the world and built an economic sphere of influence unrivaled in history. What if in the 21st Century we did the same thing with clean energy technologies?
How much better would we make decisions about foreign policy if there were no oil incentive to protect despotic stability over uncertain democracies in certain areas (Africa, Saudi Arabia)?
There are only two create change - with a carrot or a stick. Why not use both? Make an oil economy painful to sustain, and use the proceeds to fund the carrot.
-sm
|