How long are we going to "stay addicted to gasoline which is a hideously toxic substance?" posed Harry Braun, a businessman and renewable energy expert who spoke with George this past Tuesday night. Braun outlines in his Phoenix Project how he believes hydrogen could replace fossil fuels within 5 years if a major effort was made.
If we could make the transition, Braun thinks the US could change its foreign policy so we no longer support "ruthless regimes" for the sake of oil and air pollution would be greatly reduced since hydrogen is a clean fuel.
Braun advocates the use of wind machines or turbines, which can be used to make hydrogen. The machines, he says are as simple to manufacture as automobiles and if enough were made they could provide clean energy for the entire country. You could "modify any engine from a Model T to the Space Shuttle and they could all run on hydrogen," Braun said. To move forward with the hydrogen alternative, Braun and the Phoenix Project see political action as the next step and are hoping to have hydrogen hearings in the senate. One positive sign was that CBS' Sixty Minutes was listening in on tonight's program, for a possible story on Braun.