When H2 isn't green...

[Statistical]

Rep. Eric Massa, the newest elected member from NY, decided to play Leo DiCaprio for a day and insist he drive a hydrogen fuel cell car from NY to DC before his congressional swearing in. One problem: The trip to DC is just under 300 miles and the fuel cell car he had hoped to drive could only guarantee him 175-200 miles.

Not to fret. Massa crunched the numbers before he left and decided he’d have a second hydrogen car towed to a halfway point, in which he would then swap cars and continue his journey. At the end of each leg, the cars were then towed back to to their respective homes in New York.

Are you as baffled about this as we are?

Here’s how it went down. Massa drove one fuel cell car while a hybrid SUV towing an additional SUV followed along. Once he got half way, he switched to new fuel cell car. The empty fuel cell was then towed back by the first SUV. As he continued on his journey, the second SUV followed. Once Massa arrived in DC, the second SUV then towed the second fuel cell car back to NY.

We’re too tired to do the math, but even Al Gore might agree that the emissions released into the air for this stunt were far more than they would’ve been had he strapped on a hard hat and drove a bulldozer to DC.

http://famousdc.com/2009/01/09/congressional-pr-stunt-falls-a-few-miles-short/

I think I did the math right:
1 H2 vehicle = 150 miles (NY -> half way)
1 H2 vehicle = 150 miles (half way -> DC)
1 SUV = 600 miles (NY -> DC then tow H2 from DC -> NY)
1 SUV = 300 miles (NY -> halfway then tow H2 from halfway -> NY)

So a total of 1200 miles of which the majority involved an SUV towing another vehicle to drive 300 miles "green". :wtf: What a fool.

[grannie4peace]

1. who's saving what?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Earth_First]

2. LOL (not even sure I should be posting this...)

But I work as a contractor for GM at the facility that researched/produced these vehicles.

I saw them setting this 'rig' up for this stunt wondering to myself what was up.

Now it all makes sense.

Thanks!

:rofl:

[ThomWV]

3. Do you know where the Department of Energy proposes to get all the additional Hydrogen?

They intend to process coal directly to remove the hydrogen from it. Of course that is cleaner than burning the coal to run the power plant to power the facility where hydrogen would be liberated when water was broken down.

[crikkett]

5. I thought wed' just put out buckets and collect it from the sun. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. dere's dis new-fangled contraption dat does purty good. Called an iron horse.

damn thing goes plumb straight on these iron tracks, and goes damn fast, too! Sometimes faster than a mule in heat! And you don't neither need to steer it or anything.