I haven't yet seen the new movie "Who Killed the Electric Car?" which opens next month, but I'm pretty sure I have seen the story before. The trailer for "Who Killed the Electric Car?" basically accuses GM (and other car and oil companies) of promoting cars like the Hummer instead of gasless electric vehicles because there's money to be made in oil. It's a m.o. I remember from a documentary I saw a few years ago.

"Taken For A Ride" is a documentary that shows how automobile manufacturers stifled public transportation projects that could have reduced Americans' dependence on gas-guzzling vehicles. The main charge in "Taken For A Ride" is that between 1926 and 1946 GM worked hard to buy up and then destroy commuter streetcar lines across America. This viewpoint is made quite convincingly in the film. As one reviewer quoted on the film's website puts it, "In short, 'Taken For A Ride' is advocacy journalism pure and simple. It is fascinating, irreverent, frequently hilarious, and depending upon your point of view outrageous, or great fun."

"Taken For A Ride" is difficult to get a hold of if your local library doesn't have access to the film (it'll cost you $80 to buy a copy, $55 to rent), but if you can get access to the film, it's well worth checking out.

[Source: New Day Films]