Who killed the electric car

I just saw the 2-hr documentary (on a Canadian TV network) called "Who Killed the Electric Car", specifically the GM EV1. Well, actually, its demise caused other EVs that were in the works to be killed, also. It was a great little car, quite fast, charge it up at home, drive 100 miles, everybody who had one loved it. They were only leased, though, not sold. GM took them all (several hundred) back and destroyed them all. Even though people begged to be able to buy them, GM insisted there was no demand. Etc., etc. Then they start touting the hydrogen car, which could never be viable, and even if it was, would be way less efficient than a straight electric. One knowledgeable person called the hydrogen car the mechanical rabbit at a dog race track. See the film summarized & reviewed in Wikipedia. It was only released on DVD.

This show would not be aired on US TV, unless things have changed a lot. And this is the company that people want to save from bankruptcy. Hmph.

Kids can cut power use

On Huff Post, Ariana had an article about how she's getting greener. This is a post I put on it:

Here's a chance to tell folks about a cool trick about saving electricity, for people who have young kids.

When our family of 4 lived in Malaysia, in the 70s, electricity was relatively expensive, and we had a 9-yr-old son who never turned off anything. So we told him that we were going to change his allowance. Instead of getting $3 per week (a normal allowance for his age), we would give him $100 per month. When he had gotten over some of the shock, we told him about "the catch" -- that he would have to pay the electric bill out of his allowance! And the last electric bill had been $118, so, if he couldn't cut down on power-usage, he would be in the hole.

The next month, the electric bill was $67, and never again went over $75.

How did he do it? He prowled the house, looking for things to turn off. He took cold showers. When my husband and I were both reading, he moved our chairs closer together so we could share the same lamp. He "helped" the cook wash the dishes, to make sure she didn't use too much hot water. He changed the light bulbs, even getting fluorescent lights for his room and the front porch. He studied power usage in a library book (no internet then). He stopped watching TV and, if his brother started watching TV, he would get him to play a game or do something else instead. There were probably other things that I have forgotten, but you get the idea. .