While I almost definitely agree that it's a bit far fetched to imagine the batteries and bus electric engines we're truly good enough 100 years ago... I do know that crooks in the oil / transportation industries <i>have</i> set us back X years, where X is unacceptably large.<p>But don't get me started, the whole suburbanization of America and the rise of cars and cheap gas are foundational to a lot of the problems we are facing today.