Austin is a blue dot in a sea of red. First they signed the pledge by U.S. cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, now they have launched their own campain to get cities across the country to promote plug in hybrid technology.

According to an increasing number of policy makers, industry analysts, and environmental groups, there is a growing awareness of a Perfect Storm of conditions that may change how we drive and what we drive.

This perfect storm of strategic, economic, and environmental conditions compels us to find ways, within a relatively short period of time, to dramatically reduce oil consumption.

Plug in hybrids combine a bigger battery with existing hybrid technology so that the cars can run 40 or 50 miles on the battery alone and then switch to the hybrid engine. Recharging the battery would cost an equivilent of 70-80 cents a gallon. With studies showing 78 percent of Americans living within 20 miles of their jobs, the potential for gasoline savings is enormous.

The U.S. now consumes one quarter of all the world’s oil, and more than half of the oil we used is burned up in internal combustion engines. This is a tremendous waste that must be cut to survive tighter oil markeets.

Austin Energy has pledged $1 million to help local businesses, governments and citizens purchase an initial round of plug ins. They hope to spread the campaign to the 50 largest cities in the country.

Baltimore is on their list; but it seems to me that Montgomery County is an equally good target. There are now more jobs in the Rockville-Bethedsa corridor than in Baltimore, and there is already a high tech corridor running along 270 (including a BP Solar building.)

I plan on sending this literature to the Montgomery County Council to see if there is any interest. Also, I’d like to add a petition drive to my other petitioning activities.

With oil prices rising and no end in sight, I think this could be an important issue for the MCGP to follow up on.