Question of the day?

So here is the question of the day: President Obama is once again talking about electric cars and how they will create green jobs in the USA. Would someone please ask Obama this question: Mr. President, where will the electricity which fuels these cars come from? Believe me, that question is a show stopper.

Here's the answer: Just under 50% of the electricity generated in the USA comes from coal. About 20% of the electric energy comes from natural gas. A similar amount of electricity comes from nuclear energy. Most of the rest comes from hydroelectric sources. That means that electric cars will run mainly on coal with a big side helping of natural gas and nuclear energy.

Here's the importance of that answer: No matter what gets done to it, coal is nowhere near as clean as gasoline when it is burned. That means that the switch to electric cars will actually result in more pollution rather than less. Now it is true that nuclear energy is less polluting than gasoline as is also the case with natural gas. Nevertheless, the total pollution will rise with a shift to electric cars. There is also the issue of ozone production from electric cars, a much bigger problem with electric rather than gasoline powered cars.

And here is the rational solution to America's high use of gasoline made from imported oil: the USA needs to switch to vehicles powered by natural gas. Nat gas is abundant in the USA and much less expensive than oil. Switching 5 million cars per year to natural gas would reduce oil imports by at least a third in ten years. Further, nat gas cars could easily get up to 250 or 300 miles per tank while electric cars still require a charge every 50 to 100 miles. Indeed, the only advantage for electric cars is that every home has the power needed to charge them while only those homes with gas lines could have home filling capacity for nat gas.

Maybe if people began asking the president about nat gas cars and trucks he might actually realize their virtues and get on board to support them. Of course, that would required two very unlikely things: first the media would have to ask him about important issues rather than garbage like his birth certificate or his fund raising totals, and second, Obama would actually have to answer a question when he gets asked it rather than just giving a piece of his stump speech. Oh well, one can dream!