“Drill-baby-drill” has been mantra for the fossil fuel interests ever since Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin introduced that chant to the political mainstream in 2008. Trump has taken up the cause with zeal, promising that if the US just produced enough oil for its own needs, we would be free of the Middle Eastern theocrats who were using control of oil supply for their own nefarious interests. American politicians gleefully used the claim of FREEDOM to explain the benefits of drilling for more oil. We were promised ENERGY INDEPENDENCE if we didn’t have to import. We would be FREE from the Middle Eastern oil-ogarchs. Both parties embraced increasing US oil production, and we now are a large net exporter of petroleum products. Have we gained our independence from Middle Eastern oil fiefdoms?
You probably know how that turned out. But what can you do? You could ask your president to support renewable energy. Funny. You could write your congressperson to support American EV adoption. Hah! For the time being, proponents of clean energy have nowhere to turn but to themselves. Of the things you can personally control, there is very little that you can do except drive an EV. Because EV operation depends solely on the domestic electric grid for fuel, and because the cheapest new sources of electric power are local and renewable, EV drivers are largely free from petro-dictators.
If you already do drive electric, it may be time for a quiet smirk. If you, a friend, or a family member are holding back, think it over again. If fear of road-trip charging is holding you back, visit Durango’s Earth Day in Buckley Park April 18th 11 AM – 3 PM. There you have an opportunity to see a free 15-minute demonstration of how road-trip charging works in practice. You will be taken to a fast-charger to watch how it is done. Seeing is believing.
If economic concerns have stopped you from buying electric, consider the used market. Large numbers of EVs are coming off lease at this moment, and these cars can be obtained for good prices. Shorter-range used-EVs can easily be obtained for less than $10,000. They all have good batteries and will last the car’s lifetime (albeit with some range reduction). The complexity is that most of these used vehicles are on lots in the Front Range or further afield. Online marketers understand these drawbacks and offer the following: 1) they will guarantee the mechanical condition of the car and battery (see specific deals for the details), 2) they will send you dozens of photos of the vehicle inside and out, for you to visualize the car, its colors, and its condition, 3) they will allow you to return the vehicle if you are not satisfied for any reason (details vary). For example, without leaving home I recently purchased a used Toyota RAV4 plug-in from a dealer in San Francisco. The online broker took care of all the paperwork and billing, obligating me to pay only $400 if I wanted to return the vehicle for any reason. It was delivered to our door on a flatbed. It was in mint condition and eagerly serviced by the local dealer when the time came.
If you currently have a favorite gas-car that you aren’t ready to part with, consider the likelihood that chaos in the fuel supply chain is likely to continue for a long time. It might be better to get out now and save yourself the worry.
If you are a renter or frequent mover, and do not have off-street parking, it might not be practical right now to buy electric. But you can agitate for residential chargers where you live or workplace charging where you toil. In our sun-infused Four Corners, daytime charging is perfect because we have a surplus of daytime electricity.
For all of us, it is time to consider whether we want our politicians to continue to provide windfall profits to the fossil fuel interests, or whether it is time to instead accelerate EV adoption in our country. The mid-terms are approaching. It is probably too late to catch up with the Chinese and Europeans in EV adoption and infra-structure, but we can still reduce the smog, social inequities, and health risks of the drill-baby-drill ideology.
