The Future of the Economy

 A very brief post today, but I did want to speak a bit to GM's recent announcement that they will go all electric by 2035, phasing out all gas and diesel engines. This is an ambitious plan, to say the least, given that they are just over four years since releasing their first full service electric car into the market. That said, fortune favors the bold (most times), and I suspect this will end up being a good move for GM in the long term. 

I've often been somewhat perplexed by both the Democrats and Republicans approaches to alternative (green) energies. This seems to be an area where there are a few undebatable facts:

1. fossil fuels are finite, and likely to run out this century. This will lead to catastrophic shortages long before the last feasible resource is pulled from the ground.

2. This, in turn, makes it pretty clear that whichever nation manages to master green, renewable energies will dominate the globe economically by the end of this century. 

3. The US became a world power in the 20th century on the strength of our natural resources. We used that strength to position ourselves well to maintain global influence as the world became smaller with globalization. If we want to maintain some semblance of that international influence, as well as the domestic lifestyle, we have to create a modern day economy that thrives on whatever the next wave of energy is. 

That argument, conveniently and intentionally, leaves aside the "hottest button" in this argument, which is climate change*. I, for one, think this part of the argument is as persuasive as it is undeniable. I also recognize that the discussion on climate change unfortunately falls into "facts are not as viable as my own opinion" territory. Still, conservative or liberal I think we all have a stake hold in the economy of the future, and green energy is inarguably going to be the linchpin to economic viability, let alone dominance, throughout the remainder of the 21st century and into the 22nd. 

I cannot fathom how that isn't a winning argument that both sides of the political spectrum can rally around, but GM, at least, seems to have bought into phasing out fossil fuel dependency as a factor in their long term economic viability. It should be interesting to see if Ford or another major manufacturer follows suite. Regardless, good on GM for taking a bold position and trying to lead a major portion of the US industrial economy into the future realistically, as opposed to so many segments that seem comfortable keeping their collective heads in the sand. 

*By the way, if you didn't see, 2020 tied 2016 as the hottest year on record globally. Yeah, this stuff is real, we (human beings) are the single biggest contributor, and bad things are going to continue to happen as the globe warms.