Another bad column, another takedown:
We expect regular eco-trashing and McGuinty-bashing from Ms. Wente, but there is an election going on in Ontario, and it behooves the Globe and Mail to provide readers with facts relevant to his policies. In addition, Wente’s suggestion that Costco’s decision indicates lack of demand for current Nissan, Toyota and GM electric products is misleading and should be clarified.
Actually, Imp has a good piece on the same topic.
The comparison with the space programme 3 years in is very apt. A government supported kick start of an entire industry that continues to pay dividends today. Naysayers rule in the early days.
ReplyDeleteBut in WWII, both the left and right wing governments on all sides agreed that government support was the best way to get an atomic bomb within 5 years. The nazis were reputedly only months behind, the Japanese a year or so by mid 1945.
For a counter example, look at the defining machine of our age, the steam engine. It was actually invented in Bible times. After 1700 years, market forces alone were only starting to advance the technology.
Then, as always, government support came, in the form of a 1772 court decision.
By sheer coincidence, it just had to be a complete coincidence, no possible connection, that a 1700 year old invention suddenly got lots of R&D work done on it around the same time, leading to the Industrial Revolution.
I'd like practical electric vehicles and infrastructure in my lifetime, rather than 1700 years from now, if it's all the same to you, Margaret.