Mechanical Engineer and Science educator Bill Nye, whom we all know as "Bill Nye the Science Guy" has an interesting proposal for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) to make the automobile industry more environment-friendly. In an article published on Jan. 25, Nye proposed that NASCAR embrace electric vehicles and challenge car companies to come up with innovative ways to address climate change.
In his article appropriately titled "If NASCAR embraced electric cars it could change the world," Nye expresses his disappointment at how NASCAR seems to still be celebrating old technology that uses fossil fuels which hasten the effects of climate change even as he tries to find ways to combat it.
"I wish NASCAR were more about the future instead of the past. I wish NASCAR set up Grand Challenges to inspire companies and individuals to create novel automotive technologies in the way NASA does to create novel space technologies," Nye wrote.
He argues that NASCAR can be a good driving force in showing everyone the power of electric cars, at least in the short term. He believes that NASCAR is influential since auto-racing is where most technological advancements in cars were innovated and adapted.
"When I was a kid, auto-racing was where new technology was developed rather than where old technology was preserved or even celebrated... I'm not saying we should all be driving turbine engine-powered cars. I'm saying racing should be about the future rather than the past," he clarified.
NASCAR, however, has been pushing efforts to go green both in the track and out of it. It has been using recycled fuel for its transport vehicles, electric vehicles are used as shuttles in Daytona and it uses solar panels to produce energy.
"We knew that going green was not only the right thing to do, it was also good for business," NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said in 2013.
NASCAR has even officially announced its membership to the Green Sports Alliance in September 2015 as part of the NASCAR Green effort.
"The NASCAR Green Summit brings together an array of corporations, educators, policy makers, economists, scientists and athletes - all who share our commitment to help protect the environment," NASCAR Chief Operating Officer Brent Dewar said at that time.
