[Winona Online Democracy]
Randy asked some great questions about the free market and new car technologies.
Of course that assumes we have anything remotely resembling a free market. The theory is wonderful but look at Wall Street and Washington D.C. Big business and big government (and big media) have morphed into something that is anything but the free market. Not even close. We can not wait for or hope that General Motors and Exxon will do the right thing. Simply look at what General Motors did to the electric car in the 1990's and the street car system in America in the first half of the last century. General Motors and large agri-businesses need huge government subsidies in order to survive. That is not the free market by any measure. (How about the nation's defense contractors? Where are the libertarians and fiscal conservatives?) My hope is for small business and small government (and small media). I believe we have the local talent and resources in the greater Winona area to build at least the blades (composite industries) for the large wind turbines, if not other parts of the machines. How about a local/regional business to produce a viable, four seat, electric car? If you do not need all the parts for the internal combustible engine, and if you can buy the batteries from somewhere else, the other parts of the car become much simpler. If we don't do it ourselves, the Chinese and French will gladly do it for us. They already have models headed for the American market. Using renewable and clean energy is one thing. Producing it yourself is another. (That also goes for local food supply systems, another form of local energy production and transfer.) It's not just about clean energy, it's about decentralized power systems; energy, food, democracy, et al. I'm afraid we are jumping from the frying pan into the fire as we finally and slowly begin to transition from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy. Almost all of the country's large wind turbine farms are owned by four super-large corporations. Ideally, those energy producing sites would be owned by local or regional groups of farmers and business people. One of the best lines from the video, "Who Killed the Electric Car," was from the inventor who said something like this, if you want to start a revolution, don't pick up a gun, invent a better way of doing things. He had a deep faith in science, technology, and human innovation. Maybe a little bit naive but still a powerful bit of advice. Can what remains of the free market and real democracy (and real media) overcome the entrenched powers-that-be? Dwayne Voegeli March 2, 2007 ================ ----- Original Message ----- From: MJ Greenwald To: Winona Online Democracy Sent: Friday, March 02, 2007 11:02 AM Subject: [Winona] Global Warming [Winona Online Democracy] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terri's post got me thinking of a couple ideas. A couple years ago now in Sustain Winona- we showed Amory Lovins talking about how we could end dependence on foreign oil- in a study he did partially funded by the Pentagon. It primarily focused on car production. We know so much about making much more efficient cars- lighter, safer!! It seemed so common sense; in a free market economy why don't we hop to it?? http://www.oilendgame.com/TheAuthors.html I was sobered not too long ago watching Who Killed the Electric Car? Below is a link to an introduction from PBS's Now TV show.. http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/223/index.html What will it take for us to have free markets that factor in our environmental issues and long term pictures vs short term quarterly profits? Randy Schenkat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.413 / Virus Database: 268.18.5/707 - Release Date: 3/1/2007
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