Hop on the bandwagon for electric cars

This morning I was listening to NPR's "Oil Prices Gone Wild" on my way to work they keep talking about how the oil prices keep going up and they are only going to keep going up. How some of the oil producing countries are trying to get the prices to come down, but since all of the oil producing countries aren't increasing production the prices of oil continue to rise. I have also read John McCains Energy Policy he wants the ban to do off shore drilling lifted so we Americans can stop our dependence on foreign oil. This may sound fine to some Americans, but this isn't the solution to the problem and once the ban is lifted it's going to be harder to get the ban back in place. Trust me once oil spills start happening and our coasts are being ruined from them, and animals are washing up on the shore dead from oil suffocation, there is going to be a large public outcry. By then it will be too late, major damage will be done to our beaches and wild life, not to mention it will be difficult to pass legislation to have the ban reinstated because we didn't do anything but make our dependence on oil stronger. Does the American public even want to take this chance?

Americans should be working to rid our dependence on oil period. Brazil has been using Ethanol for years, and all of their gas pumps have been converted they don't even use oil anymore. We should be working on going completely to hybrids and electric cars, they have a few electric cars out now, one manufacture produces the Aptera and it looks promising but they are only available in California. There is also the Xebra but it has only sold 700 cars in America. Although the reviews haven't been great on it, the higher the demand the more cars manufacturers will produce hybrid and electric card and the vehicles quality will only improve over time.

Most people drive short distances unless going on vacation, or traveling for work. I bet 65% of Americans could go to using electric cars because of how little they drive. Those who do drive more could opt to get a hybrid to make up for the extra distance. Unfortunately most gas stations in America haven't even upgraded their pumps to supply ethanol, which should have already been happening. Car manufactures also charge an addition 3500.00 dollars on buying a hybrid when the consumer should be getting a tax break. Things aren't going to change in America until the consumers and voters start complaining, people should be writing their congressmen,senators, and local car dealerships voicing what they want. If voters were to start complaining in large numbers the representative in each state are going to want to push for economy friendly cars because they want to get re-elected.

I personally do not plan on buying a new car until 2010 because that is when some of the electric cars plan to go on the market. I only drive to school, work, and small errands. I probably at most drive 200 miles per week and I shouldn't be paying 80 dollars a month to fill up my tank for that kind of driving, especially in a Honda civic.