PORTLAND, Maine — An environmental group says that with the right government policies in place, plug-in vehicles could reduce oil dependence in Maine by more than 542,000 gallons per year.
Environment Maine released a report Tuesday that says 2,300 drivers in Maine could purchase their first plug-in vehicle within the next three years. Overall those vehicles would reduce Maine’s carbon pollution by nearly 3,500 metric tons per year — and more if plug-in vehicles are powered by clean power sources.
Environment Maine says manufacturers are prompted to produce more electric vehicles by policies adopted in states and the federal government.
Maine has adopted goals to reduce its oil dependence by 30 percent by 2030 and 50 percent by 2050. President Barack Obama has proposed fuel efficiency standards to build clean, advanced technology cars.
Ayuh. Just plug into that coal-fired outlet…for free…and feel good about it.
Esp at the price of electricity here
Both my point’s already stated.
Or, you could buy 100% clean power through state Renewable Energy Certificates:
maine.gov/mpuc/greenpower/faq.shtml
Sources include:
Solar photovoltaic systems
Hydroelectric projects that meet state and local fish passage requirements
Wind turbines
Biomass facilities that use wood, wood waste, landfill gas or agricultural biogas
Tidal power projects
Geothermal projects
Fuels cells that utilize landfill gas or agricultural biogas
You do have options, you get to decide what clean air, clean environment is worth to you.
When you find one that is CHEAPER sign me up.
Get what we pay for–I know, let’s burn PLASTIC, there’s lots of that lying about…
(…no mention of the dioxins and many other nasty things released when plastic burns…but it is cheap!)
Buddy if there was a car that burned old plastic I would buy that one. Lots of free plastic around.
Electric cars are fine for shorter jaunts, but most of the state has longer distance trips. And just watch that battery level drop when you turn on the electric heater! Then you get to go home and plug it in to that expensive charging station you had to pay an electrician to install. Good luck finding one out on the road.
But then again, you do get a gubmint tax credit to help ease the higher initial cost of your green machine, so why not?
I purchased a Highlander Hybrid in 2005. 5 years later the battery system was spent. I needed to relace the system for $5000. not including disposal fees. The difference in fuel economy didn’t come close to making up the sticker price difference. I know these are pure electric cars, but are still operated off of a battery system. Batteries loose a lot of their efficiency in cold weather. It was a costly decision for me, and this will be a costly decision for future unsuspecting adopters. This is just a feel good approach to a big problem.
Clean energy? The carbon footprint of the Midwest coal plants which supply much of the power for the National grid is far greater than the difference between a hybrid and an efficient all gas vehicle.
Hybrids (We will use a 2012 Mitsubishi i-MiEV here 105 MPG) last (without a $5,000 battery replacement) about five years and cost about $10,000 more than the base 2012 Hyundai Sonata which gets 30 MPG. Adding the cost of the battery and price differential to the fuel costs, the i-MiEV costs $2,550 for 15,000 miles as opposed to the Hyundai Sonata which costs $1,800 for the same 15,000 miles. Add to that the down-time on the i-MiEV, the limited range, and the caustic substances which are the battery’s acid, and the i-MiEV is not green at all. It is far more expensive.
Electric cars are okay for early adapters, and street drag racing, but they are dependent on the one world economy which may (must eventually ??? ) break down … if not due to petro- political reasons, then climate change.
Real solutions for a better future, not just a short term report for meeting the “cut the budget to the bone ” current policies of our Neo-Know Nothings right wing leadership … so in fact an anti- alternative energy report, to filed on the shelf, actually… is more local decentralization.
Nothing but oil can maintain the internationalist corporate petro-economy where Americans use 25% of earth’s energy. So many of the posters do already, and more wil,l say so.
They are right.
But do they ever say how they expect to maintain the current levels of consumption ? Nope.
All they say is that there are no viable alternatives to the current, too big to fail, over consumption. And sure, they are right, too.
There are no painless alternatives, but they don’t say how we are to maintain the system where Americans use 25% of the world best energy , or anything about its negative environment effects. They can’t say. Just like they can’t explain why cutting taxes for the wealthy has not lowered the deficit or increased employment, yet. They have their heads in sand.
Survivalism, Darwinism and entropy will be what comes into play when the “too big to fail” corporatist, one world economy crashes and burns, for whatever its reasons for failure, eventually, really are. The specifics don’t matter. There are no alternatives to its eventual failure.
That, there are no viable alternatives to our over-consumption of energy ,
that are no painless alternatives is only real truth to all the anti-alternative arguments.
So of course this corporatist ordered study is just silliness.
It was meant to , it was designed, to be …. even if some well meaning people did what their bosses asked for in it.
Here is the direction of our hope; http://www.slowmoney.org/ but it is not really suited to discussion in this arena.
So just do it.
Big Government can’t.
And here is sincerely wishing good luck to you and your family’s long term future.
Electric cars are in their current states a complete waste. Low range and long charge times makes them impractical in a state like Maine where everything is so spread out.
Plug the cars in at one of Angus King’s wind mills… Leave your car there over night, jump into you gas powered SUV and drive home. Repeat everyday.
In Chicago a trucking company put electric motors in some of their big rigs with generaters and achived 20 miles per gallon with all the power they needed… The government told them to stop using these trucks… tax revenue you know.. Yet allowed a school bus company to continue using them.
Waste of Money. Waste of Time. Get in your electric cars, drive away and preach your new age religion, your mumbo jumbo to someone else.