McLaughlin predicts gas cars will be gone in 50 years
The Thanksgiving episode (Nov. 23) of The McLaughlin Group had a lot to say about green transport. Topics such as the big three fighting with oil companies over ethanol and obesity as a reason for SUVs were talked about but the most important question was will gas cars be replaced? As you can see in the video above, Eleanor Clift says they will and McLaughlin agreed predicting the "automobile engine, as we know it, will be gone ... in 50 years."
On the other side of the argument, Pat Buchanan says the increase in the price of oil should make other technologies viable but global warming is mostly a power grab from governments. Tony Blankley thinks it takes a gallon of diesel to make a gallon and a quarter of ethanol (is that right?) and demand for oil will never go away. Let's turn the conversation over to you. Will the gas car be around in 2057?
[Source: The McLaughlin Group]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
BlackbirdHighway 1:46PM (11/27/2007)
Do you mean in a museum?
Hey, Jay Leno's 1909 Baker Electric is still on the road, so why not? If you're asking if the gasoline powered vehicle will still be the dominant form of transportation in 50 years, then I have to say no. By then we'll all have flying cars anyway.
Reply
Tim 2:27PM (11/27/2007)
"Eleanor Clift says they will and McLaughlin agreed predicting the "automobile engine, as we know it, will be gone ... in 50 years."
Who knows? Most transportation will be electric however the ICE will be with us for large vehicle applications for the foreseeable future. It will probably run on a blend of petro, synthetic and biofuels.
"Pat Buchanan says the increase in the price of oil should make other technologies viable but global warming is mostly a power grab from governments"
Yep! Scale, demand and market competition will create innovation and reduce down prices! He’s also right in that “Man Made” Global Warming is really all about global socialism. Bow down to the rich & powerful elites or die!
"Tony Blankley thinks it takes a gallon of diesel to make a gallon and a quarter of ethanol"
Yes, he's referring to energy density. It also takes much less energy to make biodiesel than any other biofuel.
Reply
Chris M 3:16PM (11/27/2007)
If someone had asked people back in 1957 what the world would be like in 2007, they might have mentioned flying cars, colonies on the moon, maybe cities in the ocean or even home nuclear reactors, but they wouldn't have mentioned home computers or the internet. Predictions are so often wrong!
Given that, I suspect Mclauglin is right, 50 years from now the IC engine will be obsolete and electric vehicles will dominate. I also expect automated guideways and PRT systems to be in common use everywhere, and the few remaining light rail lines will be nostalgic tourist attractions, much like the San Francisco cable cars are now.
The only H2 powered vehicles will be rockets, maybe a few airplanes, and a few antique cars.
Reply
Chris M 3:22PM (11/27/2007)
"Global warming" may be used as an excuse for a power grab, but that doesn't make it any less real. All sorts of real or perceived threats have been used as excuses to sieze power, why should this new threat be any different?
Consider how the Bush administration has been misusing the very real threat of AlQuaida to increase his power...
Reply
Tim 3:45PM (11/27/2007)
Chris M, I agree with your last 2 posts.
Elitists take every opportunity to grab power from gullible "voters". Maybe that's why we are all so angry with our elected officials who are ignoring us. If Billary is elected again that would mean over 20 years of Clinton/Bush!
What I want to know is where's the damn border fence and why are the owners of US businesses who hire the illegal invaders not in federal prison? What part of “Illegal” do ICE officials and federal prosecutors NOT understand?
You and I could go to federal prison for sending an email to someone who “may” be a “terrorist” or even mistakenly stepping on an "endangered" frog! Now that Habeas Corpus has been killed by G.W., they can hold us indefinitely without even have to tell us what we’re being charged with. It’s nothing short of Treason!
Reply
Braxton Perry 12:41PM (11/28/2007)
Well with GE snapping up carbon credits we already know who will win.
Plug ins are the game changer because if you can get to work and recharge and get home and recharge you will be buying a lot less gasoline. When business offer covered charging sheds while you shop at the mall or Wal Mart.
That is the game changer.
Reply
Tim 4:46PM (11/28/2007)
"...GE snapping up carbon credits..." Wait a minute, isn't GE that owns most of the mainstream media that's promoting man made global warming?
Reply
mike 7:22PM (11/28/2007)
The real conspiracy is the 1000's of scientists pushing the Southern Polar Glaciers into the Southern Ocean. Sheesh.
Pat Buchanan is high on my list of conservatives, with protection of the boarder, the debt and the effects of free trade on America. But, he's got a hole in his head about Global Warming. And it makes me wonder about his compensation.
Here's a question, if Exxon doesn't believe in the science of global warming, then why haven't they fired their geologists and seismologists. Why hasn't the whole of the capitalist system abandoned science? Because capitalism is BASED on SCIENCE. In almost no other area of science is there this much consensus on the causes and effects of global warming, but, in JUST this one case we're to abandon SCIENCE and listen to Political Hucksters.
I could put up the link to Scientific American which has 10 articles on Global Warming, but, Republicans haven't yet read "Collapse: How societies choose to FAIL or Succeed". As you can find in Jared Diamond's book, if we do nothing, we are choosing the 7/8 solution, just like the natives of Easter Island. A 7/8 lose in humanity on this planet.
Reply