All Maine Matters
Because All of Maine DOES Matter!
Vol. 1, No. 9 September 2006 FREE
Needed Reforms: Part 6 & 7
by Michael Fundalewicz
First, a note to our readers. I’m going to be adding another title to my articles’ list to refine their designation.
“Needed Reforms” was intended to, and will continue, address the domestic ills and needs of those of us who live in Maine, primarily, as well as the rest of the nation in general. These topics have covered issues ranging from alternative fuels to the zealousness in our political hypocrisies. Though I had placed a finite number of article titles in this category, it has since expanded into an ongoing venture.
“What’s Next”, my new title, will deal with both foreign and domestic issues which do not directly effect us in our day to day lives. Articles ranging in subjects like the Middle East, Korea and the H5N1 Bird Flu to today’s headline news will be addressed in this category.
Now, to get back on track. For those of you who haven’t followed this column, # 6 deals with a “People’s Car” and # 7 is relative to President Kennedy’s “Space Race” time line.
Pete’s sake, hasn’t the administration put forth a decree to mandate the automobile manufacturers design and build a simple, efficient and cheap car that we can all drive using E-85? And to incorporate the “Kennedy” factor, why hasn’t a timed goal been established. This is nuts!
All we’ve been hearing is rhetoric about how we “can” change things. What’s changed? Anything? YUP…the price of gas; and it’s not going down either.
In addition to the meadow-muffins they’ve been serving us via promises of grandeur in a new efficient world that relies on something not yet tangible, nor have the foundations of such a fantasy even been laid, they‘ve instead jeopardized the “dream” by creating further tension in the Middle East; Iran in particular. Though I agree Iran has to be stopped but let’s get real here; don’t go threatening the stability of yet another nation without first surveying our own situation first.
The same goes for the transportation industry. They’d rather fuel up an 18-wheeler and ship 3 cars from here to Florida on a flat-bed instead of putting them on a flat-car and short-hauling them to their final destination. Now that makes real sense doesn’t it!
Unless we ALL get off our duffs, snap out of our luxury-car-coma and demand that changes be made immediately, we’re gonna be in it for the long-haul and nothing will be left for our infants. That’s fact folks!
Let ponder this and hard ok. Why, for And what about the “super-safe Alaskan Pipeline” that wasn’t supposed to effect the environment whatsoever? Well, since they had the infinite wisdom to turn things over to B.P., that’s “British Petroleum” for those who aren’t aware, why weren’t they making sure this company was minding the maintenance like they should have. Ultimately, due to the lack of intelligence, and you can take that as you see fit, we’ve now lost 40% of its production. And that’s not even counting the cost of the clean-up for the spills or the repairs.
Yes, we do have a few new “hybrid vehicles” on the road now. I’ll grant them that much. They’ve managed to make them somewhat efficient using hydrogen/electric, gas/electric and some newer ones can run on E-85. My first question is, however, have YOU seen one? And secondly, can YOU afford one? They cost more than the average house! I just hope they come with heat and hot running water so they’re livable.
To top that off, where’s the nearest E-85 station? And to accommodate the hybrids, do local establishments or workplaces have metered outlets available to re-charge them? What’s the current price for a cubic foot of hydrogen? Can anyone out there give me an answer?
In short: We don’t have an affordable alternative vehicle and I truly don’t foresee one being made available within the next 20 years. In my opinion, the reason no on has put a timed goal on this “dreamscape” is because it’s just that, a dreamscape; for now.
Has anyone, in recent history brought up the subject of “mass-transit”? What if we had a passenger train that went north to south, Fort Kent to Boston. Would you take it? I would, in a heartbeat! From wherever I stopped, I could either take a hybrid taxi or rent an electric car, depending on the distance I needed to travel.
The Japanese, the Germans, the French and the British have been dependant on mass transit for years. That’s why we’re the largest consumers of fossil fuels on the planet. We prefer to utilize gas-guzzling road-hogs instead of common sense.
Michael Fundalewicz moved to Ashland with his wife and four kids in the early ‘90s to escape the dictatorial confines of the State of Massachusetts’ taxation policies and the mayhem of drugs and crime for the protection of his kids’ futures. He has, in recent years, come to see that those very same issues have followed him in the form of self-serving governing officials and the reluctance of the citizens of northern Maine to stand up and speak out for themselves before they wind up in the same mess.