“Did that car just wink at me?” Willie gasped!  “Don’t be shy big fella,” Electra fairly purred.  “Want to take me for a ride?”
            Willie spun around to see who had spoken, but he was alone in the sales lot surrounded by shiny new electric vehicles (EVs).  Then Electra Carr’s other headlight winked.  “Is that car talking to me?” he wondered aloud.  Once over his shock, he ventured an answer. “Well yes, I would like to take you for a ride.  I’m interested in EVs, but to be honest, I’ve got ‘range anxiety,’” he sheepishly admitted.  “What if we go somewhere and you run out of juice?” Willie Gettstuk asked. 

             Electra had heard that question many times before. “No worries!” she replied.  She explained that on average, cars and light trucks in the U.S. get used for only one hour per day and travel only 35 miles according to the Federal Highway Administration.  A compact EV like herself with a range of over 140 miles can easily handle that job.  Moreover, one recent study showed that more than 1/3 of all drivers could meet all their transportation needs with a small-battery EV like Electra that they plug in overnight at home.  EV’s are competitively priced and have low maintenance and fuel costs.  So folks who own of a compact EV can rent a longer-range vehicle a couple times a year as needed, and still be money ahead.

            But another issue had been bothering Willie. “Some folks say EVs aren’t actually more environmentally friendly than, say, a hybrid gasoline powered vehicle.  Are they?” he asked.

            Electra told him about a recent analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists.*  It compared the lifetime emissions of EVs with gas & diesel-powered vehicles.  They counted all the greenhouse gases released in the production and use over the vehicle’s lifetime.  Turns out that, on average, EVs beat all gas-powered vehicles, even hybrids.  In fact, driving the average EV in the U.S. is like getting 91 mpg, way better than hybrids’ mileage.

          Willie’s EV anxieties melted away.  Now it was his turn to wink.  “Let’s go for a spin, cutie!  Who knew that saving money and helping build a cleaner future could be so much fun?” he smiled. “Good thing too because this is the only home we’ll ever know.  It’s where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”
*www.ucsusa.org/resources/driving-cleaner

            Corinne Cobb wished she had the nerve to toss a tassel toward Sol.  He was just SO different than everyone in her family – tall, sturdy, and oh so shiny and bright!
            Then one lucky day a sunbeam bounced off Sol just so and hit Corinne right in the ear.  “Oh! Sorry Miss,” Sol R. Pannell apologized. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”  “Not at all,” Corinne blushed a darker shade of green. “I’ve been hoping to meet you.”  And that was the first of many chats Corinne and Sol had over those long summer days.
            As September approached, frightening rumors began to circulate through Corinne’s field.  “It’s something about a lady named Ethel Knoll and fuel for the farmers,” Corinne explained breathlessly to Sol. “I’m afraid it means I might have to leave!” she exclaimed through drooping leaves.  Sol knew it was time to tell Corinne the “facts of life” as he understood them to be.
            He explained that she and all the Cobbs were destined to become ethanol fuel.  Never intended to become animal feed, Corinne would eventually end up in someone’s gas tank.  Sol too was creating energy; however, he knew that some folks weren’t too keen about him using land that could be growing crops.  “But humans are already using thousands of acres for energy production; they might as well be efficient about it,” Sol reasoned.
             “A recent study* makes a compelling case for reducing the acreage planted for corn ethanol,” he continued. “It found that, when accounting for all inputs, the net energy production of solar is over 100 times that of corn ethanol.  In other words, if you consider all the energy it takes to make, transport and install a solar farm as compared to the energy it takes to plant, harvest and convert corn into ethanol, solar creates 100 times the energy that corn does!  Wisconsin’s 3,500 acres of solar is just 0.35% (1/3 of 1%) of the land currently used to grow corn for ethanol.  Maybe humans should use land for growing food crops instead of corn for fuel,” Sol suggested.
            As the harvester headed down Corinne’s row she cried out to Sol, “Keep shining my friend!  Help build a clean and healthy tomorrow because this is the only home any of us will ever know.  It’s where we’re all forever…Earthbound.”