Daily Archives: September 5, 2008

McCain Is in the Game

No, not that game.

Much more significantly, by outlining an energy plan as comprehensive the one that Barack Obama outlined last week, John McCain is now in the running for one of these:

As we announced on the most recent edition of FastForward Radio, we will be awarding the presidential candidate who outlines the most speculicious program — that is, the plan with the most Speculist appeal — with a FastForward Radio coffee mug. Remaining zealously apolitical, we will not be endorsing any candidates for President, but we are pleased to provide a significant motivation to both candidates to get focused on positive future scenarios, especially those driven by emerging technologies and emerging possibilities.

While McCain did not put a timeline on his plan to get us off what I’m going to call hostile foreign oil (not necessarily all foreign oil) he did specifically mention one of our favorite approaches to energy independence: flex fuels. He also had some intriguing things to say about retraining the workforce in a global economy. We’ll take a look at McCain’s speech on Sunday’s podcast and decide whether he has taken the lead in the race for the mug or whether Obama still has the edge.

And a reminder to both Senator Obama and Senator McCain — if either happen to be reading this — any use by either of you of the phrase “space elevator” ought to just about clinch this thing. So don’t be shy.

Recommended Weekend Browsing

Check out FutureCars.com. They provide a fairly comprehensive overview of future automobile technologies with an emphasis on future fuels. Plus, they provide a good run-down on the various ways that the flying car scenario might be realized, including this summary of the challenges that need to be overcome:

A flying car should:

  • be able to utilize the current infrastructures for both cars and airplanes

  • feature a flight system that does not require the owner to have a pilot’s license

  • meet all FAA regulations

  • be fuel efficient and economically viable for the average car buyer

  • be powered by renewable fuels

That’s a pretty good summary. I would venture to guess that we will solve our energy problems and have some fairly sophisticated AI in place before we see a true flying car. A machine that flies but that requires no more highly developed skills than those required to operate an automboile is going to have to be highly automated.