- I don’t think it will be big utilities that will benefit as much from the decline in use of oil though it is possible. I believe it will be some new form of company - that breaks all existing models of either industry the oil or utility industry. It might look something like Shai Agassi’s Project Better Place (has it’s flaws), but certainly will be based on distributed power and resource sharing (car sharing, multi-model systems in the emerging mega cities of the future). Think in the direction of public bike programs that have been rolled out in Paris or Zip Car and exotic car clubs.

- I saw BP present there concept station at a Sustainable Brands Conference last year. All the things they implemented were awesome. However, your point is right on. They are still serving the same product, from the same industry. If they could dream a little harder to redefine themselves, to include what they do now and transcend to what they could be in the future. Then that project would have been truly transformative. I applaud their efforts non the less, they are trying a lot harder than their competition to be progressive and respond to our quickly changing world.

- You should not be impressed by the Govenators legislation. It is progressive, but an extremely watered down version of the legislation. CARB (California Air Resources Board) relented to industry pressure again about 6 months ago, to come up with this modest requirement. See “Who killed the Electric Car” movie to understand the history of Hydrogen lobby and automakers resistance to change. Hell, even with recent passage of new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy)standards we will in 12 years be below the current average gas mileage standard in China today. Yes, a whopping 35 mpg. Europe and Japan are already near 40MPG.

- I recently saw Jay Inslee speak at the Commonwealth Club of California. His book is worth a read and probably the most progressive and realistic energy policy I have seen. We need more people like Jay in government.

- I don’t think GM is going to be a leader in the future. To much baggage, not enough vision, and the Volt is a concept car that they are basing new huge advertising campaigns about their greenness, based on a car that will not be out until 2010. Customers see this, stock price at near all time low. Toyota will stay in the game as will Honda (hopefully moving away from their Hydrogen push). I think what you will find is new competitors taking huge share quickly, their are many small auto makers popping up in California with all electric vehicles. You have Smart cars making a big impact in San Francisco, after their recent introduction. G-Wiz out of India that is making big sales in Europe. As with the Oil and Utility industries above, I think the traditional auto industry will not adapt quickly enough as gas supply and prices climb at an accelerating rate.

- Finally, there are many groups in California, such as Felix Kramer from California Car Initiative, who have converted Prius’s to plug-in hybrids. Other groups are converting cars over to bio-diesel. This is mostly a grassroots industry currently. A national chain of automobile converters and service providers is a good idea.

Really smart commentary Brooks. Keep it coming!!!