Washington State has recently proposed construction of electric charge stations along the I-5. They are able to do this with a $1.32 million grant from the federal government. The thinking here is that if they build the infrastructure, then people will purchase more electric or hybrid vehicles. That seems to me to be a very broad assumption -- a broad assumption made at the expense of taxpayers.

The fact is that electric cars are still very much a fantasy and are at this point neither practical nor desirable for the average American motorist. However, that is not the main issue here. The issue is that taxpayer money is being wasted on this fantasy.

No one but the small minority of electric drivers could possibly benefit from this proposal. Furthermore, you all might have noticed that this country is in a kind of a… What do you call it? Depression? Yeah that’s right -- we’re in a depression. So how does it make any sense for the government to throw around millions of dollars for a fantasy while there are people struggling to make ends meet? The citizens of this country have bigger and better things to worry about than electric highways at present time.

The stations they propose to construct along the highway are referred to as Level 3 stations. According to the article “The Level 3 stations are the type that can recharge an electric vehicle's battery within 15 to 30 minutes.” My God! These stations are capable of recharging a cars battery in 15 to 30 minutes?! Wow. What a time to be alive. Or you know, you could fill up your car with gasoline in less than 5 minutes. I guess you should choose whichever one makes you feel good, right? And really that’s what all of this is about: Feeling good. Not improving productivity or providing something which will benefit a majority of the people, but just feeling good. That is the prevailing wisdom and it will doom this country to spending even more on feel good fantasies. 

The article mentions that there are still some details to be worked out, “There still are plenty of details to work out, like the exact locations and how consumers would pay for the power.” How will consumers pay for the power? It is an interesting question. However, an even more interesting question is how will the government pay for the technology?  

Let me make it clear that I am in no way trying to disparage the development and evolution of clean technology. However, I do see this particular venture as a total waste of taxpayer money at a time when taxpayers need all the money they can get. Furthermore, who’s to say that these recharging stations are the wave of the future? There are many other technologies out there and I think it’s foolish to gamble with taxpayer money on a technology that is still uncertain. Taxpayers must be vigilante if they truly wish to hold on to their money, especially in the current economic atmosphere.

It’s easy to get carried away when you’re being told that the world is in imminent danger. I’m sure many advocates of electrics and hybrids would accuse me of standing in the way of helping the earth. But I would ask them to cool their jets and remind them that a decision made out of fear never has a positive outcome. If we are to develop a clean, sustainable energy source we must take our time and make sure we are making the correct decisions. Otherwise we may wake up one day to find that we’ve blown all our money because it felt good at the time.