To the Editor: Now that U.S. President Barack Obama has taken control of General Motors, he would be well advised to order that its many active and empty factories be retooled and converted to manufacture bullet trains, light rail transit equipment, energy efficient busses, wind-powered generators, batteries, solar panels, and other innovative forms of clean energy.
Meanwhile, production of traditional internal combustion autos should be replaced immediately with all-electric or hybrid electric vehicles.
These moves would serve to preserve the jobs of current workers and to provide jobs for those that have been laid off. They would stimulate the economy while concurrently reducing the damage being done to our environment.
Such action may sound revolutionary. It would take some time for the population to become accustomed to a different form of transportation. However, in my view, nothing short of such revolution will halt our headlong plunge into environmental and economic disaster.
William Dascavich
Edmonton
