In the last post I suggested that the U.S. learn from Europe in the use of high speed trains as a core component of a national transportation system. Trains are more energy efficient than cars, give off far less greenhouse emissions than airplanes, rarely get cancelled or delayed due to ‘weather’ or ‘flow control’ and […]
High speed trains must, and will become an essential component of the U.S. transportation system during the next 20 years. This seems to be obvious, but is something that the (lack of) leadership in Washington D.C. has yet to seriously consider. A combination of lack of vision, deeply entrenched vested interests, a troubled Amtrak system […]
There were three reported news stories last week that taken together point to clear trend lines. In a court ruling, the state of Vermont won the right to set auto emissions and MPG standards that are stricter than those of the Federal government. The dollar reached an all time low against the Euro and oil […]
It is important to realize that the way we power our vehicles today is based on the legacy of energy discoveries of the 1800s. Oil was first taken out of the ground in Pennsylvania in the 1860s. When the automobile industry came into being some four decades later, petroleum was the first candidate for the […]
It was reported yesterday that Americans are driving less, in large part due to the high price of gasoline. For the first time since 1981 the average American motorist is driving less. After 25 years of steady increases, the growth in total miles driven has leveled off in the last 18 months. This is in […]
We are all more aware of global warming than we were years ago. As a country we passed through the tipping point of awareness in the last year. We have a better understanding of what it is that we each do to contribute to global warming, and a number of us have taken action to […]
The news out of Detroit last week was that GM had given up the title of the world’s number one auto company to Toyota. This was a development that had been expected, but when both companies reported first quarter sales last week, the numbers made it official. Toyota sold 2.35 million cars and trucks, about […]
In my last post I wrote about GM and the presentation it made to some of us in the media about the new battery technology they are developing along with several other companies. At the end of that post I highlighted the two distinct lines of challenging questions that have come up in response. I […]
One of the most important research and development efforts in the world today is the quest for the perfect battery to power electric cars. We all know that there is global warming, air pollution, and an increasing dependence on imported oil. We know that petroleum is a finite resource that will be depleted in this […]
There was an article the other day in the paper with the headline “Phoenix Plans 24-Lane Highwayâ€. The article described the plan to widen a two mile stretch of Interstate 10 in Phoenix to 24 lanes. In each direction there would be six general purpose lanes, two high-occupancy lanes and then four lanes for local […]