Representative John Dingell (D-MI) set it all in perspective when he stated, “Our dependence on oil is a matter of major national security concern. Now we import less oil from the Middle East then thirty years ago. But the world still relies on oil extracted from dangerous and unstable parts of the world. And our military is regrettably and unfortunately placed in the position of being the guarantor of the world’s energy supply.”
While our present situation is perilous, the promise of a plug-in future is bright.
“We could fill up the batteries in these cars at the cost equivalent of 75 cents per gallon of gasoline. There would also be a net reduction in carbon dioxide emission.” Representative Dingell continued, “Electrical vehicles and plug-in hybrids have the potential to revolutionize not only the American automobile industry, but our entire energy mix.”
Moving to an electric-powered transportation economy, will force us to consider the source of the new power.
We must look at the big picture over the long haul.
“If every new vehicle sold in the next decade is electric,” Dingell said. “We will confront a situation where we will have to ask, ‘have we simply pushed the source of carbon emissions upstream?'”
