Who Killed the Electric Car Research Paper Example

Who Killed the Electric Car Research Paper Example Who Killed the Electric Car Paper Who Killed the Electric Car Paper Who Killed the Electric Car? Video Discussion Questions Summary: It begins with a solemn funeral? for a car. By the end of Chris Paines lively and informative documentary, the idea doesnt seem quite so strange. As narrator Martin Sheen notes, They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline. Paine proceeds to show how this unique vehicle came into being and why General Motors ended up reclaiming its once-prized creation less than a decade later. He begins 100 years ago with the original electric car. By the 1920s, the internal-combustion engine had rendered it obsolete. By the 1980s, however, car companies started exploring alternative energy sources, like solar power. 1. Create a table that outlines the positions of the major â€Å"suspects† from the video 2. What was the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate? A zero-emissions vehicle, or ZEV, is a vehicle that emits no tailpipe pollutants from the onboard source of power. [1][2] Harmful pollutants to the health and the environment include particulates (soot), hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, ozone, lead, and various oxides of nitrogen. Although not considered emission pollutants by the original California Air Resources Board (CARB) or U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) definitions, the most recent common use of the term also includes volatile organic compounds, several air toxics, and global pollutants such as carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. [3] Examples of zero emission vehicles include muscle-powered vehicles such as bicycles; electric vehicles, which shift emissions to the location where electricity is generated; and fuel cell vehicles powered by hydrogen that only emit water. 3. Why was the ZEV Mandate killed? 4. Why does the video let the batteries off the hook? 5. Why consider the fuel cells guilty? Isnt it just another technology that might help us clean the air in the long run? 6. How can any technology, like hydrogen fuel cells or batteries be a suspect in the video? 7. Is an electric car actually a zero emission vehicle? Explain your answer. 8. Why are other gas-alternative fuels not mentioned in the video? 9. Is the electric car really dead? Explain your answer. 10. How does the multi-billion dollar automotive bailout fit into this discussion? Explain. 11. Given the information provided in the film, do you believe you will be able to buy a hydrogen-powered car in the next 10 years? 20 years? Ever? Why/why not? 12. What one assertion in the film do you disagree with? Why? 13. What one assertion in the film troubles you the most? Why? 14. In your own words, explain why the car manufacturers collected and destroyed the electric vehicles. 15. Should the world oil supply be: 1) divided evenly according to population, 2) given to those able to pay the highest price, or 3) reserved for developing nations? Explain your response

The Word of the Year for 2012

The Word of the Year for 2012 The Word of the Year for 2012 The Word of the Year for 2012 By Mark Nichol Each year, the major dictionary companies trot out their choice for Word of the Year and its runner-ups, based partly on search frequency and partly on staff consensus. Note that these words are selected not for their staying power Words of the Year often fade into obscurity but for the significance of their usage in a given year. Merriam-Webster’s 2012 Word of the Year is a toss-up between capitalism and socialism, reflecting the controversy and debates about universal health care and discussion about the comparative government systems in the United States and in much of Europe. These words are straightforward except that they’re not: Capitalism is fraught with negative connotations (and not just by those who oppose the system), and many Americans, as an unfortunately lingering artifact of the Red Menace of the mid-twentieth century, confuse socialism (the concept, not the word) with communism and fear both even though the US government system, like many European ones, is irrevocably infused with socialistic components. Dictionary.com’s choice is bluster, which means â€Å"loud, swaggering, often empty boasts, threats, or other comments† an appropriate term, considering the unusually contentious political climate in the United States over the last year. The American arm of the Oxford Dictionaries chose GIF (pronounced â€Å"jif† and standing for â€Å"graphics interchange format†), thanks to the ubiquity of GIFs, simple animations consisting of a looped series of images, employed to humorous effect but also in scientific models and other contexts. They’re not new, but their place in popular culture has recently been elevated by the ease with which they are created. The selection by editors at Oxford University Press’s UK headquarters is omnishambles, which denotes a thoroughly mismanaged situation notable for a chain of errors. The sense is similar to the American English acronyms fubar and snafu, which originated among service personnel inspired with an ironic nod toward the military’s propensity for describing bureaucratic phenomena with abbreviations. (For the record, fubar stands for â€Å"fouled up beyond all recognition,† and snafu is an acronym for â€Å"situation normal all fouled up† except that I’ve substituted fouled for another word starting with f, as do many others who cater to their own or others’ delicate sensibilities when they spell these terms out.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Coordinating vs. Subordinating ConjunctionsAmong vs. AmongstMood vs. Tense