A thousand-mile transmission line, taking wind power from the plains to the city, and the wind stops blowing? We have an answer, and perhaps there can be an earmark in the stimulus for us, for our little idea.
Ack, sorry, no earmarks. We forgot.
Anyway. Here's the thing: We have a program for this. When the wind starts to die down in Wyoming, President Obama sends out a text message to the million or two people who have signed up for it. Anyone with an electric vehicle who's anywhere near that transmission line can detour a few miles and plug in. Our cars can be power sources anywhere, any time, and we would save metropolitan economies at the same time. On vacations, we could give something back.
Something in return would probably help. A tax credit, maybe. Or that plug in Nevada would be wired into a network -- a very smart grid, remember -- that would credit the power I just fed the grid to my home electric bill. Or to the plug-in station that I'll have to visit very soon to charge up. Because, um, I probably will. Or maybe I just wait for the wind to start up again in Wyoming.
While we wait, we have the opportunity to keep up a texting dialog with ... maybe not the president. Maybe it would be Steven Chu's job. Caroline Kennedy's?
This might not work at all. Fine. But the text message part is good.
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