Fortunately, during the next century we may be able to afford green mobility. In fact, we can clearly see its elements: cars, powered by fuels cells; aeroplanes, powered by hydrogen; and maglevs, powered by electricity, probably nuclear. The future looks clean, fast, and green.
Yes, such a future is possible. I get so freaking tired of reading predictions for the future filled with gloom, saying we’ll live sharply reduced lifestyles and this will be our penance for our wanton, profligate ways. You want to live in a yurt? Great, but spare me the Old Testament moralizing about how we deserve to be doomed. Instead, let’s do as this NYT blog post details, figure out clean, green ways to do what we need to get done. Moving large numbers of people with clean, renewable energy mass transit would be a huge step forward – and it can be done.
Considering 30-50% of the energy in this country is wasted, we could easily and cost-effectively cut our footprint with just a little effort and expense– but we can’t even get people to do that! If our future is to be other than gloomy, people need to start caring about it.