$10,000 E-Car Rebate: Ramblin’ man will be walkin’ or busin’ instead

I don’t know how many words I’ve written re Premier McGuinty’s pricey rebate for electric cars but it’s too many, for sure.

I tend to ramble on, eh?

All I needed to say was, “Put the money into mass transit, electric if possible.”

Canada is third highest in the world for greenhouse gas emissions per capita already.


["I’ll be on my 12-speed or walkin’ to Valu-Mart": photo GAH]

Cars per person - 7th highest rank in the world at 563 cars per 1000 people.

[If that’s 563 per 1000 people, no matter the age, and not 563 per 1000 people who can drive, then the number is astounding. Highly excessive. There’s likely more vehicles than people who can actually drive them. That strikes me funny as we grow fatter by the minute.]

Debt and deficits, nationally and individually, are growing at ever-increasing rates, so our window of opportunity to splash money around is rapidly growing smaller. So, what good are electric cars and supporting infrastructure if we can’t afford to buy them or maintain the roads?

In my humble opinion, government leaders would be farther ahead (so would be the environment) if they paid people not to drive.

A free lifetime pass for mass public transit would generate more benefits to our personal health, environment and future than any electric car.

A plan to convert fossil-fuel powered buses to electric trolleys, and expand the fleet, would reduce the number of vehicles on our highways, which would be one small step for the individual, a giant leap for mankind.

Me? When we can collectively no longer support the vast numbers of cars on the road, or the infrastructure, I’ll be on my 12-speed or walkin’ to Valu-Mart for groceries.

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