@chris @MilitaryG

Electricity generating wind turbines were invented in 1883. Vancouver has had electric trolley busses since 1948. The first concentrated solar power plant was built in 1968. Germany set up funding for installing photovoltaic roofs in 1989, Japan followed in 1994. Ballard went public in 1993, I remember reading about their fuel cells and electric cars in high school.

All the tech existed in 1996, financial necessity would have pushed innovation a lot harder than environmental foresight did.

Frick, George W Bush advocated for turning to hydrogen as an energy source in his 2003 State Of The Union address, not for the environment, but to make America less dependent on foreign energy. I'm still bitter that environmentalists didn't use that opportunity to latch on to protectionism to sell renewables to conservatives. That could have been 23 years of preparation. Not much choice now.

@Space_Burger_Steve @chris agree but problem was battery wasn't so efficient as it's today the most effective was lead battery which would make car weight maybe 10 tons to drive maybe 50km

With li-ions it's much better.

@MilitaryG @chris

The first DC locomotive was built in 1837, AC in 1896. The first electric car was built in 1834, and in 1900 38% of the cars in America were electric. No way was an electric car impossible in 1996.

https://www.go-electra.com/en/newsroom/first-electric-car-history-and-origins-from-1834-to-today/

And even if it was, that's why I mentioned fuel cells, which is probably what W was talking about when he mentioned hydrogen. Batteries are better now, but in the 90s fuel cells looked like the better option. In fact, the company I mentioned is still making fuel cells today, apparently they're a good alternative to diesel for busses:

https://www.richmond-news.com/technology/european-busmaker-places-big-order-for-bc-based-ballard-fuel-cells-7663078

We could have made way more progress than we have in the last 30 years.