Two years in, hydrogen fuel cell bet causing some strangeness

Filed under: Etc., Hydrogen, Green Daily

It’s difficult to pick the strangest part of Greg Blencoe’s post today about his ongoing bet with Joe Romm over the viability of hydrogen cars. It could be the hubris, the feeling of unquestioned “win” ahead for Blencoe (who, of course) came down on the pro-hydrogen-soon of the bet. But what’s really bizarre is that he is using a picture of soldiers placing an American flag on a coffin as his lead image for his post. Is this a comment on how devastating America’s continued quest for oil is? Is it about putting something to rest? Is it not supposed to be there?

In any case, tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of the bet that Romm and Blencoe made about when hydrogen fuel cell vehicles hit one percent of new sales of the typically-defined car and light truck market in the U.S. Blencoe picked 2015 or earlier, Romm said no way. The stakes are $1,000 and the punishment of wearing a shirt admitting error (full details after the jump). As we mentioned in our original post about this bet, even the DOE numbers say it’s more than likely that Romm will walk away the winner here.

The money is really secondary here. Both men want to raise awareness about alternatives to gasoline and possible solutions to global warming. They agree that, “When people are discussing and debating the solutions, the best technologies will emerge and positive change will come sooner than later.”

Still, a flag-draped coffin? Sometimes I get the feeling that Blencoe just likes to draw attention to himself. As long as he keeps the debate going, that’s not a terrible thing.

UPDATE: Joe Romm responds to Blencoe: “If your post means you’ll triple the size of our bet to $3000, then let’s do it. If not, your post is just more BS.“

[Source: Greg Blencoe]

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Two years in, hydrogen fuel cell bet causing some strangeness originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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