More subterfuge. They have completely ignored that fact that hydrogen is ALSO AN ALTERNATIVE TO GASOLINE which would help provide for the added competition and needed supply to meet the demands of a healthy economy.
It is true that cars, that are "smogged" up in California are burning gasoline very cleanly now. But the enviro-whackos cannot say that, since they would be out of a job when it comes to inventing more dirty air....
At the very time he's at the Republican National Convention wowing FReepers with his "what a Republican is..." speech, he's signed a bill to work toward locking up all the private land in 1/5th of CA and blowing smoke up everyone's differential about the "Hydrogen Highway!"
Can't anyone here see how totally absurd Arnold truly is in his bad-acting roll as a "Republican?" Would any of you do business with such a huge "bait and switch" artist? Or would you call the DA and have him charged with GRAND LARCENY???
I want some credible answers from consistent conservative FReepers, right here and right now!!!
But is it a BETTER alternative? If so, why aren't companies producing them and people buying them without government interference?
Oh, wait, because you have to have government interference in the market to remain competitive, right? Like the Prius, which would only sell with government subsidy--NOT!
Going to hydrogen would a big waste of money that wouldn't do squat to solve energy problems. It'd just create more. It doesn't do squat to solve pollution problems--the pollution just moves to the new power plants we'd need to build to make hydrogen, and burning hydrogen creates pollution of a different sort anyway. It doesn't do squat to solve our infrastructure issues--it would require paying for a whole new infrastructure just for hydrogen!
Let the market solve the problem. If consumers think there is one, they'll invest in what they consider the best solution to the problem.
It is an alternative to gasoline only in one sense--both are point energy sources you can drive around with.
The difference is that gasoline is itself an energy source. That is, you get a lot more energy out of gasoline than it takes to make it.
Hydrogen is NOT a source of energy. It is best thought of as a battery, and not a very efficient one. Why? It takes more energy to produce hydrogen than you get burning it.
Deceitful greens and gullible conservatives run around proclaiming hydrogen is how we break free of the sheiks. Nope. Unlike oil, there are no pools of hydrogen lying around that we can mine. Instead, we have to extract it from water (H2O) and that takes a lot of energy.
So while greens are driving around in their hydrogen cars feeling self-righteous, they ignore that it took more oil or coal to produce that hydrogen than they would have used were they driving a gasoline powered hummer.
So in it's most important sense, hydrogen is NOT an alternative to gasoline. It is just a way to get energy from fossil fuels to a car, albeit indirectly--a battery.