USA Is Falling Further & Further Behind

While we here in the United States argue over the XL pipeline and fracking fossil fuels, the Europeans are making strides years ahead of us. Now 'Clean Technia' is reporting Barcelona’s BYD’s Electric Buses Can Go 30 Hours On Single Charge. "Based on the results of a pilot test performed in New York City last year (2013) during the months of August–October. Charging to full capacity took, roughly, 3–4 hours, and was completed at night." The battery system in the bus is supposed to last about 7.5 years

Between the European Union's strides made with green energy (solar, waste to energy, turbines, etc.), workers rights, healthcare, education and industrial manufacturing initiatives, one can't help but wonder if 10 years from now the United States will have a place in this world if we don't soon start to get our act together.

Let us never forget where steam & jet engines and rockets were first invented. Where the world's leading research in today's particle physics is located (the Hadron Particle Super Collider in Switzerland). Europe's miles ahead of us in mass transit and bicycling to work. Now that they have their own currency too, we better light a fire under or asses before it's too late!

We'd all like to think we are the cat's meow and more, but for the first time I will speak about where I worked and my personal experience and concerns. I worked at Kraft Foods.

When I left, the food plant's label machine for 'Grey Poupon' was bought from and serviced by Italian technicians who barely spoke English. The label machine for 'A1' steak sauce was from Germany. When I left Kraft was setting up the plant to produce 'Maxwell House" coffee packets by 3 teams of 4 specialized technicians brought in along with robotized equipment from Germany. The latest forklifts were Mitsubishi owned Caterpillar Forklifts. Nearly all the electronics needed to run this equipment along with the code daters and the cooking controllers were dependant on Asian manufactured equipment. So too were many of our ingredients imported from dozens of countries in South America, Australia and various other nations.

Either we can continue to disillusion ourselves and let the rest of the world pass us by or wake up to reality. Europe's not going to cut us slack while we stand around arguing among ourselves or fool ourselves into believing that we hold all the cards. Snooze.. you lose. It's as simple as that.

Uploaded 02/13/2014