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To kick start the debate we've invited a panel of well known experts to share their views on the proliferation of hybrid cars.

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  • Could hybrids help reduce our thirst for oil? by Bob Geldof
  • Politics & Energy | 9:26 a.m. | Thu 13 Dec 2007

  • UK politics would change significantly if hybrids were able to reduce our dependency on foreign oil and gas. Our foreign policy, in particular, would be completely different. After all, who's interested in Saudi Arabia or Libya without the oil? And would we still be so involved in Iraq? No.

    It's a resources-based economy we live in, and our primary reason for getting involved in the Middle East is to get hold of its resources. We may still want to go there on holiday, of course, but our political relationship with the region would change utterly. Perhaps the
    only thing that wouldn't change there, as a result of lower Western oil-dependency, is the Israel/Palestine situation.

    But the reality is that we need to do much more than change the type of car we drive to make an impact on climate change. In the UK, we'll soon have to scramble for more nuclear power. On this issue, I don't care what anyone says: we're going to go with it, big-time. We may mess around with wind and waves and other renewable energy sources, trying to make them sustainable, but they're not. They're Mickey Mouse.

    Transportation has a significant part to play in reducing UK emissions, and hybrid cars could play a significant part in that area. But to really help the planet, we have to go nuclear, fast.

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