James Jacobsen wrote: "There is no shortage of [natural gas] from within the United States, it is cheaper than gasoline or diesel, and it is pollution free."
I'd like to correct James on this one. There is no fossil fuel that is "pollution free." Natural gas is lower in most emissions than coal, oil, or gasoline, but it is by no means perfect. There is one pollutant (VOCs? I can't remember...) in which natural gas is actually substantially higher. This is not to say that natural gas isn't a better option than gasoline, but it is certainly only an interim step towards weaning our society off of fossil fuels completely. As long as we're considering making the capital investments to change the engines in our public vehicles and the fuel distribution systems in our city, we should skip the natural gas step and move directly to truly zero-emission hydrogen power. Question for the list. Is there any long-term planning going on at the city level to prepare for the major infrastructure shift our society will need to undergo sometime in the (hopefully near) future? Perhaps the transition would be easier if we started the planning process now, and if we did not rely totally on the current energy delivery system. Robin Garwood Seward _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
