Looking Beyond the White House for Strategic Planning in Clean Transportation

My colleague Jon LeSage writes in his Green Auto Digest:  The Trump administration is keeping the president’s campaign promises supporting fossil fuels and pushing back on clean energy and efficient, clean transport. The State Department’s approval of the Keystone XL pipeline last week raised hackles further for many. Low-to-moderate gasoline and diesel prices aren’t helping make the business case for clean fuel and technologies, either. Breakthroughs in vehicle fuel efficiency and emissions reductions, clean fuel infrastructure, battery range, renewables, and electrified vehicles sales, are helping solidify the business case for policy and funding support; but, it isn’t the right time to gain broader support.

Jon:  As always, you have many good points here; in particular, the president is keeping his promise to be as destructive a force to the environment as is humanly possible.

Having said that, low crude prices aren’t helping the oil industry either; in fact, in an era of newly permitted pipelines, they’re eroding the financial feasibility and justification for their construction.  As Bill McKibben said this morning on Democracy Now, “The Keystone XL was a bad idea when it was conceived six years ago.  That was before the crash in both solar and oil prices.  At this point, the idea has gone from bad to preposterous.”

You might be right about the timing for broader support of electric transportation; I’ve never been good at calling market trends.  But keep in mind that every day, the technology gets better and cheaper, and every year sets a new record for high temperatures.  Something’s gotta give.