Those that are getting their regular paychecks may not feel it. Those that read and hear of others going through bad times, may still not get it. Real estate publications, economists, prognosticators, politicians tell us things are getting better. Some of us are scratching our heads.
Unemployment hits 11% in Florida, the dollar collapses, gold prices near record highs, foreclosures, bankruptcies, short sales, people moving in with other people, vacant houses, people can't get credit, people can't afford their real estate taxes, cities are going bankrupt because no ones paying their taxes, higher crime rates, people jumping off of bridges, people acting like their losing children in hot air balloons. Are these strange times we're living in or what?
Business owners, entrepreneurs, people in sales, independent contractors, and those that don't get regular paychecks don't know what to believe anymore. They read things are getting better, but why don't they feel better? The stock market is inching up, ok. But what's causing this.... book manipulations? layoffs which produce higher profits? Google clicks that tell us people are thinking about buying? holidays coming up? who knows? They are real numbers, yes, but what do they tell us? Yes, the market has been rising since March of this year.
But we all know something's not right. We haven't seen this in our lifetime, unless you lived in the 20s and 30s. I was selling real estate in the 80's with interest rates at 17 ½%, but this is different. There are more societal ills, things are more complicated.
Something's definitely broken. Obama is bailing everybody out and is on a Christmas buying spree. He wants to spend our way out of this recession, but what will the consequences be? Runaway inflation, socialism, or the downfall of the American society as we know it?
Our only consolation is that we live in a world economy now. Everyone is hurting. Our countries are interconnected economically. It is a world recession. We won't stop buying Japanese cars, because Uncle Sam asks us nicely. We can, however, start developing and enabling new technologies that are already here.
We need to develop the electric car and its infrastructure. This will bail us out and start the cycle of prosperity again. Millions of jobs will be created by this development, we will start eliminating burning of fossil fuels, and this will set us in the direction of the "green economy".
Many studies and research have concluded this. Larry Burns, the retired head of GM's research and development, has said that the electric-vehicle age will reshape the energy grid, redefine driving patterns, and generally improve the quality of life especially in urban areas.
First, there will be many types of electric vehicles, including the plug-in hybrid, the all-battery vehicle, and vehicles powered by the hydrogen fuel cell, which is essentially a battery fed by external source of hydrogen. These vehicles will come in all shapes and sizes, including all-terrain vehicles to large commercial trucks. These different vehicles will be able to tap into many different energy sources.
Solar, wind, or nuclear power, all free of co2 emissions, can feed the power grid that will recharge the batteries. Also, these energy sources can be used to split water into hydrogen and hydroxyl ion, and then use the hydrogen to power the hydrogen fuel cell.
Second, the storage capacity of the vehicle fleet will play an important part in the stabilizing of the power grid. Not only will the battery powered vehicles draw power from the electricity grid during the recharging, but when parked, can also feed additional power back into the grid, during periods of peak demand.
Third, the electric vehicles will open up a new age of smart vehicles, in which sensor systems and vehicle-to-vehicle communications will enable collision protection, traffic routing, and remote managing of the vehicle.
Automakers, utility companies, broadband providers, government road builders, and public-private funds will all have to contribute to this integrated system. The beauty of it is, it's already here, but it needs to be implemented and expanded in America. A company called Better Place has already built some of the infrastructure with battery swapping stations and recharging stations throughout Europe, Japan, and Israel. America must stay at the forefront of the implementation and development of this new coming electric vehicle age. Tomorrow is too late.
Several other studies have been done to show how many millions of jobs can be created throughout the world by implementing the electric car, its infrastructure, and the subsequent green technologies. The new age of the electric vehicle illustrates the opportunities that are now available as we make our way from unsustainable fossil-fuel technologies to a new age of sustainable technologies.
This is true not only for automobiles but in the choice for energy systems, building designs, urban planning, and food systems. So in a way the breakdown of the world economies has provided an opportunity for the new green revolution to evolve.
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