We’ll all be driving electric cars, of this I have no doubt. But if we’re being honest, it isn’t going to happen in any wholesale way for a long, long time. Probably not in our lifetimes.
The switch from fossil-fuel cars to electric cars won’t be like, pardon the play on words, flipping an electrical switch. It will be a gradual shift. Battery storage will have to vastly improve and the cost of EVs (electric vehicles) must become cheaper than gasoline cars. And even when that happens (still a few years away, experts say) there will be decades in which the roads will feature electric and gas-powered vehicles. To paraphrase that old bumper sticker about confiscating guns, you’ll have to pry the steering wheel of that ‘65 Mustang from the owner’s cold, dead hand before it is mandated to a government scrap pile.
Look, I’m not smart enough to tell you how this is all going to play out, but Marin favorite son Elon Musk is, and he says that America doesn’t even produce enough energy right now to accommodate a wholesale switch to electric cars. So, that must change.
Those who think this switchover will happen in the 2020s — and therefore we need to artificially jack up the price of gasoline to facilitate the change — are just kidding themselves.
TURNING 60
Marin’s fabulous Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center is approaching a spate of 60th birthdays. Seems appropriate to note the relevant dates.
Ground was broken on Feb. 15, 1960. The first buildings in the project were dedicated in 1962. There’s a political story to the building as some powerful county supervisors thought Wright charged too much for his design. But 60 years later, as we enjoy the magnificence of this Frank Lloyd Wright design, it all seems worth it. It is a timeless structure and we’re blessed to have it in Marin.
WELCOME BACK, SMITH CENTER
I can’t tell you how glad I am to have the Smith San Rafael Film Center back and operating again in downtown San Rafael. (See Derek Wilson’s story on P1A.) It is my favorite place on the planet to catch a flick. While there will be no concessions at the start — bummer, no movie popcorn! — it will still be great to get back to watch movies on the big screen with fellow movie aficionados.
The first film is Nomadland, which I saw at home recently. It’s a fine movie starring Francis McDormand. Go see it.
WHY THE DIFFERENCE?
High schoolers in Novato returned to on-campus school in March. Tam high schoolers won’t return until the end of April. What’s the matter with this picture?
WORLD’S WORST D.A.
The world’s worst district attorney, Chesa Boudin, strikes again. This time it comes in the form of coddling one Allen Stewart, 25. He was arrested for assaulting a woman in the Potrero Hill area in September 2020. Despite his arrest for kidnapping and false imprisonment, he got out of custody with an ankle bracelet.
He then proceeded to sexually assault another woman in November in a parking garage in SoMa.
A San Francisco teevee station made a big deal out of it. Boudin still has no comment.
Postscript: A citizen group is attempting to recall Boudin. Can’t happen soon enough.
ONE MORE THING
— Procrastireading is the art of reading instead of doing whatever else you should be doing.
— They should make an alarm clock that makes the sound of a dog about to puke. Nothing gets you out of bed faster.
— You can’t expect to be old and wise if you were never young and crazy.
With that, I’ll pick up my knitting and let myself out. Thanks for reading. Be safe, be kind and mask-up. Please subscribe to Marin’s most interesting newspaper. See details on Page 3A.
(Sherman R. Frederick is the founder of Battle Born Media, a newspaper company dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/sherm.frederick/. He may be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)
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