Time to Plug In Electric Cars

There may well be broader support for building that future around electric cars than any other approach. In short, perhaps electric vehicles are something both parties can agree to ride into a new and brighter energy future.

Already, similar bills are pending in both houses of Congress to push electric cars, and they have bipartisan support from real, live Democrats and Republicans. A blue-ribbon group of corporate leaders has formed to push the bills; they also are backed by retired military leaders who see electric cars as a way to ease the national-security concerns of dependence on Mideast oil.

The main Senate sponsors are Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee http://alexander.senate.gov/public/ and Democrat Byron Dorgan http://dorgan.senate.gov/ of North Dakota. Their bill would designate five to 15 cities or towns to become model communities proving electric cars can work. Those communities would get funds to build recharging stations, for example, and residents would get an increase in an existing tax credit for buying electric cars, to $10,000 from $7,500.

Would you buy an electric car if you had ample access to charging stations? (Please vote on the site)

Gerald F. Seib

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