Stickin' It To OPEC

Stickin’ It To OPEC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has something we want. They are willing to give it to us for something we have. This is the fundamental basis of economics. Unfortunately for us, they want to give less of theirs in return for more of ours. That’s called gouging. They can charge us whatever they want and we have no choice but to pay it.

They are in the Cat-Bird Seat. We Americans hate it when that happens. We certainly can’t go back to the horse and buggy days. Can you imagine what a mess that would be on the expressway? Who’s gonna clean that stuff up? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just go spend a few days on Mackinaw Island. It’s a smell you never get used to and it follows you everywhere.

So what are we going to do? Well, this situation will force new technologies to the forefront. Hybrid and electric vehicles, and bio-fuels are already available, but it’s going to take a lot more than that to keep us as mobile as we like to be.

There is one particular technology that has captured my interest. That is the air-powered vehicle. Cars are actually being developed that run on compressed air and these may be available as early as next year. Hybrid versions of this are expected to go as far as 500 miles before getting an air refill. Imagine air stations replacing gasoline stations. An air fill-up might cost $2.00 and take about 3 minutes.

MDI or Motor Development International is preparing to introduce such a vehicle within the next few years. Imagine cheap fill-ups; zero air-polluting emissions, and all the fuel you can ever use. It sounds too good to be true.

But if it is true, we can count on the Opekians to buy up all the new manufacturers and charge us whatever they want for these new cars. We can also count on our own Congress to find a way to put a hefty fuel-tax on air.

Oh well, you know what they say about death and taxes.

If you’d like to see this new type of vehicle in action, go to this page and watch the video.
http://www.celsias.com/2007/02/23/air-car-tantalisingly-close/