By definition an advocate is “a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.” One can also infer from the definition that an advocate is also a biased person, unless he/she always presents facts with pros and cons considerations. So what do we do with all these new green transportation advocacy trying to get public funds for their pet projects?

First, here’s the problem. I do recognize that green transportation advocates play an important role in society. The advocates bring to the forefront important upcoming technologies and their impacts on our lives. But because of the nature and challenge of new technologies, not all are practical and can be implemented at the same time. Additionally there is only so much funding available at any given time. And when you have programs competing for resources, the net result is numerous choices, conflicting information, countless prototypes and demos, endless debates, and one confused public. The real bottom line: waste of public funds.

So here’s what we need. We need leaders who have the guts and intelligence to prioritize for the best mix of technologies in the near-term, mid-term and far-term future. The keys here are prioritization and phase-in time periods. This is what the people need. This is what the country needs.

Planned insertion of transportation technologies will do a number of things. First, it shows that we know what we’re doing, we understand what makes sense and what doesn’t, and we know that the country needs a practical and realistic national policy. Secondly, it prepares for the proper transition of new technologies to replace or enhance the olds; this is important because there’ll always be needs for large cars and trucks, and we can’t just go blindly and replace them all. Thirdly, it’s the only way to get the most bang for your money, as development is allowed to progress at its best rate and efficiency. And finally, if a particular technology has any merit, it will get its fair chance, its development matured, and implementation carried out, while pie-in-the-sky concepts will get weeded out.

Now that sounds very much like the space programs. Maybe. But it should work just as well for new and advanced transportation technologies too. It’s important for the future of the auto industry. It’s how you and I get our future cars. Now if a private company wants to develop its own concepts using its own money, then that’s okay. We’d love to see what it’ll come up with. But for the rest, a national technology policy may be what we need.

What Will Your Future Car Look Like? Can’t Believe All The Advocates is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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