11/9/2007 (OAKLAND). Author and investigative journalist Edwin Black speaks with David Room of the Hubbert Tribute in September 2007 about the corporate forces that have for more than a century sabotaged the creation of alternative fuel vehicles in order to get and keep us dependent on oil. He speaks of the beginnings of the electric car before the turn of the 20th century and the ultimate ascendancy of the electric car. He also discusses how GM and several other corporations conspired to dismantle the electric streetcar systems throughout the United States.

On the "solution" side, Black previews his Green Fleet initiative to combat climate change and reduce oil consumption. When asked if our present transportation problems are fixable, Black says "we don't need to reinvent the wheel we need to excavate from where it was buried a century ago."

Streaming audio of the interview and mp3 for download are available at Hubbert Tribute website: http://www.mkinghubbert.com/resources/interviews/edblack20070924

David Room of the Hubbert Tribute explains why the Tribute interviewed Black: "If we are to change the future, we absolutely need to understand past. Its not just about who stole the electric car, its about who stole the electric streetcar as well. Its about how companies have exerted monopolistic practices on customers and competitors in the energy and transportation businesses for centuries. Perhaps, most importantly, its about how the entire country embraced the internal combustion engine on almost every social, political, and economic level. These are the roots of our oil economy." Room further stated, "Electric vehicles are just one of a number of technologies and practices that we need to reintegrate into our understanding of how to do things in the post-petroleum future."

About the Hubbert Tribute

The Hubbert Tribute is an online tribute to one of America's greatest thinkers and scientists, M. King Hubbert (1903-1989). The tribute commemorates the 50 year anniversary of Hubbert's seminal speech in 1956 when he predicted that U.S. oil production would peak within 10-15 years. When oil did in fact peak in 1970, Hubbert enjoyed several years of acclaim and public attention for the mid to late 1970s. Hubbert's calculations indicated that world oil peak would occur around 2000.
The goal of this tribute is to raise awareness of and celebrate Hubbert's accomplishments, so that industrial society can better understand the contemporary significance of his work. The site also seeks to illuminate a chapter of history that remains murky, that is, United States energy policy from 1900 to 2000.