The Energy Bill

Recently, the Energy Bill proposed by the White House and personally supported by President Barack Obama passed by a narrow margin in the House of Representatives. We will see if the Congress will also approve it, considering its legendary resistance to changes.

I think a consistent effort should be made by the Administration for the information of the population regarding the issue. As the avalanche of phone calls before the vote from partisan and/or misinformed people demonstrates, there is a big need of such a campaign.

The Energy Bill contains some of the premises to develop low-carbon footprint industries and clean energy technologies, absolutely necessary for the future. Any average-IQ person cannot sustain to sacrifice the future of his/her children just to protect the present income of oil corporations and automakers. So, the fact that many people called, without having a direct financial benefit, to ask for a negative vote to the Bill says a lot on their lack of information.

Middle East

I think by now there are very few people still convinced that the US has nothing to be shame of regarding the continuous tensions in the Middle East. After WWII, the American politicians saw the opportunities in the area as a “source of power” for many years to come – and dominating the main source of oil was the foundation of American domination in the last part of the twentieth century.

Exporting democracy to the countries in the Middle East was from the beginning out of question, because in this case the people from those countries would not have had any reason to blindly obey the American orders. Instead, totalitarian regimes were supported by the United States, disregarding the wealth of the people, human rights, and so on.

From time to time, we get news about fights – these days in Iran, after the elections. Wouldn’t it be better to get rid of the dependence of American economy on imported oil, and let the countries in Middle East evolve toward democracy?

Green Motors

After the California Zero Emission Vehicle act passed back in the 90s, GM (and other automakers) was forced to develop electric cars. GM apparently had the greatest success with its EV1 electric vehicle. Some infrastructure was built, and the waiting list of people wanting to lease such a vehicle was growing fast. The experiment demonstrated that technology was already available to build electric vehicles, at prices that would have become competitive with scaling up the production.

Unfortunately, the automakers continued also the war in justice against the new regulation, with the important support of oil companies and the decisive support of President George W. Bush. After the regulation was loosened, GM decided the end of the EV program, saying it lacks orders (!). The few hundred persons who leased the EVs were not permitted to buy them at the end of the lease period; the vehicles were collected in a hurry and destroyed, the facility where they were built – dismantled and the people fired. As if GM was anxious to get rid of the “electric vehicle nightmare”. The facts are well presented in the movie “Who killed the electric car?”.

Few weeks ago, we have assisted to another “funeral”: GM was declared bankrupt. After decades of eating up billions of taxpayers money and invest them in old technology instead of innovation, GM is closed but it still gets federal aid of billions.

However, GM is dead! Some would say, it’s the revenge of lost opportunities, of keeping on the side of oil corporations instead of satisfying the needs of Americans. Who knows, maybe they could have been saved by the EV, if they wouldn’t have killed it.