With all of the media coverage over the primary election, I just need to know your thoughts on who will be the "greeniest" President for us hybrid owners? Who would be the most likely to fight and pass a new Energy bill making us a GREENER nation?

Ralph Nader.

Find a three sided coin and toss it.

The one that gets sea sick?

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

If you are expecting politicians to make things better, you are destined to be disappointed, regardless of who is elected.

Trying to remain hopeful, it took laws to get seatbelts, airbags, crash testing standards, CAFE standards, et al.

Perhaps it's time for a Federal PHEV mandate and a ZEV mandate.

Trolley=EV0, Volt=EV2

Ken, I could NOT agree with you more. I just heard that if we do not get another solution besides GAS by 2012, we could be paying as much as $7 gallon. We need to get these CAR COMPANIES jumpstarted on an EV SOLUTION now. I am not sure what impact a new President could do starting in 2009, that leaves him/her VERY LITTLE TIME!!!

The reality is that we NEED to be paying $7/gallon. No one wants to hear that and no politician is going to take that position, but our oil usage won't go down with regulations and subsidized gasoline. With $3.50 gas, gas taxes currently fall short of the income necessary to maintain our road system. If we legislate smaller cars/hybrids/EVs (the only way to get significantly higher mileage) people will just drive more. And the politicians (given past history) will probably just build in the loopholes for their favored constituents.

Regulation is probably the only practical way to implement safety and emission improvements. But the goal is to use less gas, not make it cheaper to drive. Significantly higher gas prices is probably the only thing that will work.

I agree, KenG
I hate paying through the nose at the gas pump just like everyone else.
But higher prices are the only?/best?/quickest? way to begin weening us (at least the vast majority of people in the US) off oil, especially foreign OPEC oil. The higher that gas prices go, the better other alternatives look (to investors, manufacturers, and to customers). Hybrids would not have come even this far had it not been for (perceived) high gas prices. Now, PHEV vehicles and EV are soon to be available.
I've at least done something about it (HCH2), as will others as their "pain at the pump" becomes more and more unbearable.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

Recent advances with E85 in making it BTU equivalent to gasoline is another avenue to reducing imported oil. Better yet, ethanol is currently sold at the ethanol factory for around $1.50 a gallon.

There is another thread on this site that details this information ..http://greenhybrid.com/discuss/f22/h...11/#post169454

2005 AWD Escape Hybrid
Best tank trip MPG 39.02 (scangauge II) for 402 miles on I-70, 10.3 gallons used over mostly flat terrain.