Chalupa’s Movies

If you’re into documentaries, Who Killed the Electric Car? is another must see. I remembered hearing about electric cars when I was in high school. They were in California being used in the big cities. It seemed impractical for where I was from because there weren’t any charging stations anywhere and I didn’t just drive around in a city. I also periodically took trips that would leave me stranded either on the way or after I got there. They seemed like an awesome idea though.

Eventually I stopped hearing anything about them and almost forgot the ‘electric car’ entirely. This documentary explores the reasons and factors that led to the disappearance of these automobiles. I know these types of movies often seem very slanted one way or the other, look at Michael Moore’s movies, but I didn’t feel that way here. It could very well be because I agreed with it.

This all started with the state of California creating a mandate that automobile makers had to start selling a certain percentage of emission-free vehicles every year if they wanted to continue doing business. These companies had two options: comply or fight it.

The environment wasn’t something I thought much about until I got out of high school. I knew not everything was renewable and recycling was a good thing to do, but I didn’t really have a grasp of how some of the things we’re doing affect the world we live in. I know some people who don’t believe global warming is happening. I know some people that think we’ll never run out of oil for gasoline and other commodities. I know some people that don’t see a problem with burning whatever they want, when they want. I tend to disagree with them and would like to do something to improve the problems I see and foresee.

So for those of you that like where I’m going, I guess the only real issue is what to do. Honestly, there’s a lot we can all do. We just have to commit to doing those things. That’s the hard part.

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