Cantwell credentials inflated

Mr. Don Barbieri’s Nov. 6 Guest Opinion “adds” to the energy discussion a list of unsupported assertions. The most unsupportable is that Sen. Maria Cantwell, with a B.A. in public administration, is an energy expert.

An example would be her co-sponsorship of an amendment in 2002 that required the secretary of energy to develop a program to ensure 100,000 hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles will be available for sale by 2010, and 2.5 million by 2020. There are now dozens of prototype hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in existence, and just a handful of refueling stations, all amounting to car company sops for greenies.

The problems with hydrogen as a fuel start with its low density, unaffected by legislation. This requires that the storage volume and conditions for a useful amount of fuel be too large and too dangerous for a practical automobile. An energy expert would know the problem and not sign on to legislation based on wishful thinking.

If this is Barbieri’s opening shot in another campaign to unseat Cathy McMorris Rodgers, I can’t wish him well. We don’t need another congressman who thinks they can make legislation to fulfill a PC dream without regard to reality or the laws of physics and economics.

Tom Horne

Spokane