Sarah Palin, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate

[Maxxthepenguin]

so... we improve electric infrastructure?

no one really says the switch is gonna be a snap of the fingers kind of thing, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it.

I'm just saying, there are a lot of barriers that would require a lot of work to get through.

We have the technology, but it would be very hard to implement.

There is also the problem that there are competing technologies and until one is decided upon and committed to, we aren't going to have massive acceptance. It may just take too long to get one committed to.

[archibaldcrane]

Apparently electric cars cost 1-2 cents per mile in electricity to drive. So $180/year in electricity.

The average cost of residential electricity was 9.86¢/kWh in the U.S. in March 2006. The average household used 888 kWh/mo. in 2001 and would pay $87.56 for it based on the March 2006 average rate. (random stats for some comparison)

So, at 10 cents per kWh, it takes 1800 kWhs to power your car for a year. That's 150 kWh per month, which would be an additional 16% electricity consumption for each electric car in the average household. That seems fairly significant as far as power grid strain goes, but the fact that most of these cars will be charging at night, when electricity usage is at it's lowest, would help reduce the strain.

[Beckwin]

wouldn't it be great if companies competitively bid for government contracts to improve electric infrastructure instead of being handed fat defense contracts so we can spread democracy?

[Nystul]

Before I get behind electric cars I'd like someone answer some questions:

What will the batteries be made of?

Where will we get those materials?

Will we be able to produce batteries on the scale that it would require for a 100% or near changeover?

Will we still have to rely on foreign resources to produce that volume of batteries?

Do we have a plan for disposal or recycling of these batteries?


But in all the shit I've ever read about electric cars, no one ever brings that stuff up.

[Deftscythe]

It's not often addressed, but a lot of the country's power grids wouldn't be able to handle everyone having electric cars. Some areas already have problems with outages simply because of too much electrical demand. We need infrastructure improvements to make widespread electric cars feasible.

Obama's energy plan as presented on his website actually does include improving our national electric grid by moving over to a "Smart Grid," replacing our current one which has pretty much existed since Tesla. Obviously even an 8-year presidency is not long enough to completely overhaul the electrical infrastructure of a nation as large as ours, but beginning the process is on his agenda. Not saying he's got all the answers, but he has thought of it.

[archibaldcrane]

Well, remember Nystul - all cars do already have batteries in them. Granted these electric car batteries are somewhat different, and your questions have some validity, but we as a nation have been providing extremely varied and widescale battery production, including automotive batteries, and disposing of said batteries, for nearly a century.

Interesting questions, but I'm not particularly concerned about this aspect of it.

[Nystul]

The batteries that our cars currently have are nothing like the batteries that electric cars have. QUestion remains where the materials come from. If it turns out that the largest supply of Batterium, the essential element for electric car batteries, can only be found in mines in fucking Russia then I'd think we kind of have a problem. We're talking about a massive scaleup, why not answer the questions now before things get going? You'd rather get knee deep in shit and then ask where the soap is?

[archibaldcrane]

The thing is, current electric cars use a variety of different batteries. The technology is rapidly evolving. The front-runner right now appears to be Lithium-Ion, which is a common battery technology used in laptops and such - already produced at a large scale. I don't think there will be some rare or completely foreign-controlled substance which can be "pinched" like oil to threaten our electric car manufacturing abilities.

It's a valid question, I just don't think it's going to be a big problem. Maybe nobody is questioning it because no manufacturers see it as a potential problem and it's a total non-issue.

In case you were wondering, Lithium's largest mining sources are Chile and Argentina. It exists pretty much everywhere in the worlds oceans, and it is also produced in Nevada.

[Olo401]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHypCfEG5Z0

[Beckwin]

Biden handled that really well.

[archibaldcrane]

A good answer by Biden, well articulated position.

[Kuya]

I wonder who could disagree or even refute that.

[Correction]

I wonder who could disagree or even refute that.

Any republican will still try because ZOMG how dare we agree with a democratic rival for the white house!

:D

[Not Kuno]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHypCfEG5Z0

God damn he's pretty good.

[archibaldcrane]

I still wish I could find a politician who could just say the actual answer of "life begins at conception biologically, it's just that some human life is worth more legal protections than others."

[pohibaba]

I wonder who could disagree or even refute that.

I think that the question of when life begins is pretty stupid, honestly. It can't be answered scientifically now, or at any reasonable amount of time in the future, and so it's purely subjective. With that said, though, I think that you would have to be lying if you didn't agree that there was a logical chance at life once the egg implants itself onto the uterus. I believe that the logical chance at life should be protected as if it were life itself; that's why I'm pro-life.

[Beckwin]

people who are already developed, out of the womb, and most certainly alive have the potential to keep on living... does that mean you support universal healthcare and other forms of welfare?

[pohibaba]

people who are already developed, out of the womb, and most certainly alive have the potential to keep on living... does that mean you support universal healthcare and other forms of welfare?

No.

[Beckwin]

how can you take a position that favors protecting undeveloped life over developed life?

[Daimen-G]

people who are already developed, out of the womb, and most certainly alive have the potential to keep on living... does that mean you support universal healthcare and other forms of welfare?

he supports PULLING YOURSELF OUT OF POVERTY BY YOUR BOOTSTRAPS and all forms of BOOTSTRAPS

edit: pohi are you pro capital punishment, just wondering