He claimed this could be done at little or no cost to the U.S. economy with the advent of new technology. The president's rosy scenario is based on a flawed understanding of the speed and manner in which technology is developed. Research and development takes time - a lot of time. That's why federal civilian agencies such as the Energy Department back projects that are too long term and too high risk to be considered profitable by the private sector. Despite all that, we've yet to develop a technology that can compete economically with fossil fuels.
New technology needs a lot of lead time before it sees widespread use.
Microwave ovens needed 30 years to get into a quarter of the nation's homes. Even the personal computer required 15 years to reach one-fourth of American consumers. A competitively priced car powered by a fuel cell that converts gasoline to hydrogen would be a crucial achievement. If such a car can be mass produced in the next couple of years, a significant amount of carbon dioxide from cars could be eliminated. Vehicles powered by fuel cells will become a reality at some point in the future.