Dear Editor:
Stop the politicians from investing millions or even billions of our tax dollars to entice private corporations into our province to build batteries for electric vehicles (EV).
VW and Stellantis (Chrysler) both have their greedy hands out to scoop up federal and provincial handouts in the name of prosperity, local growth and a cleaner environment.
Sorry to burst their collective bubbles, but batteries will very quickly become solely relegated to your items such as flashlights, cell phones and computers – not transportation and large needs for electrical power.
“Hydrogen is the fuel of the future”. This statement is based on current scientific facts and most important on reality. Instead of ridiculous handouts to greedy corporate entities, let’s spend our tax dollars to develop realistic plans for a cleaner environment based on a future of hydrogen fuel.
Electricity generated by fuel cells produce “O” emissions except for water (H20). If we build EVs with fuel cells just imagine the positive impact on our environment.
We need industry, aided by government regulations and enticements, to stop this crazy race to build batteries. Instead, we need to develop realistic long-term plans to produce and distribute hydrogen.
The gasoline industry accomplished this in the early 19th century, now we need to do the same for hydrogen this century. The transportation industry has made amazing progress in the design, manufacturing and implementation of fuel cells and using hydrogen as a fuel in ICE (internal combustion engines) vehicles. The large-scale hydrogen production and distribution to end-use customers is now our biggest challenge.
Governments around the world must provide leadership, vision and a clear path forward to a hydrogen-based economy which will facilitate meeting the Paris Accord objectives for our planet.
So, let’s stop wasting precious time and get on with reality.
Michael Brooks,
Alma