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« Stimulus provisions possible first step towards ending child hunger | Main | Senator Robert P. Casey (D-PA) addresses the minority unemployment rate »
Friday
Feb062009

Spending too much money at the pump? Just plug it in! 

Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) spoke at The American Chemical Society and the Senate Science and Technology Caucus to discuss alternative transportation fuels.

Sen. Alexander gave his alternative thoughts on alternative transportation fuels. The Senator, who drives his plug-in Prius to work everyday, said he thinks that these cars are a subject on which there is a broad consensus and could be an easy fix because “the government is really not the one doing it. We have all the car companies falling all over themselves to produce the cars”

The Senator said that what he didn’t realize was that we have plenty of of fuel, meaning electricity. “The Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public utility in the country selling electricity, has the equivalent of 7 or 8 nuclear power plants worth of spare electricity every night that you could use to plug in your car”

The Sen. said that although it might take twenty years, it is realistic to expect that over half of our cars and trucks could run off of electrical power. In order to make this happen, no new power plants would be necessary, it could all be accomplished with spare electricity that exists already.

One problem that the Senator said needs to be addressed is that a lot of the electricity is generated from coal. It is still a smaller fuel print then other options, but there are still some problems. The Senator’s plan to address this is, “Smoke stacks, tail pipes, and give the money back” is a cap and trade system for power plants to take care of 40% of the carbon, a low carbon fuel standard for 25% of the carbon, and then he wants to send all the money collected from cap and trade back to the American people to help them pay for their electricity.

Senator Bingaman said “Obviously we have a big problem with this economic downturn right now, which we are trying to deal with. It’s obviously trying to solve a problem on horseback. I mean, I think that is the reality of it. We are obviously running behind” and Bingaman concluded that although there are pressing economic matters to take care of, at the same time policies to solve some of our long term problems in the energy area are being focused on as well.

by Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

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