[QUOTE=mtdjed;2070128]
Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinSE
Uh, yes, there is a startup industry making e-planes, and uh, most of the rest of the world run Trains on Electricity. Even many areas of the US have electric trains.
N- Planes were attempted in the 1960's. That did not go well. Nobody flying on E-Planes and not in our lifetime. Trains run on Electricity which for the most part is generated by fossil fuels.
Pollution problems can be overcome through technology also. Look at LA today verse 20 years ago.
We are addicted to, light, heat, AC, Food, travel, medicine, water, sanitation all of which happen to be consumers of energy. That addiction is supported by energy that has been mostly supplied by fossil fuels. That per cent is not changing fast. Claiming that E-Trains and E-Planes is the "Future" may be true, but Electricity isn't magic because you have a nice clean plug in the wall. Follow that wire back to the generator, the turbine and the energy source and you will find that most are fossil or nuclear fuels. Even water power comes with pollution and damage to the environment.
I support change also. LED lights as opposed to incandescent really works. I will adopt others that are introduced. However, I look at the 80% reliance on fossil fuel at this time and am not convinced it will transition to a lower percent quickly. So to keep our current addictions, we have to reduce our reliance at a rate that equals our migration to Non fossil sources.
Continuing to produce fossil fuels during this transition is not going back. Higher taxes on these sources is not going to eliminate "our" addiction to comforts that we have .
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I have no issues with almost everything you said. I will point out that change won't happen until it is cost effective, and it will not become cost effective until it is in mass production. So, early adopters, like Tesla owners, home owners with sufficient panels to get off the grid, etc. are helping to get us off fossil fuels and onto cleaner alternatives.
But, even so, I agree we are looking at a decade at least maybe two. But, without trying it will never happen. People like to continuously talk about how it isn't the time, but it will never be the time until it is.