Question 5, Ch. 7.

Jamie Lincoln Kitman's essay on hybrid vehicles is very interesting. He claims that despite all of the incentives and reasons for buying a hybrid car, only a small number of situations actually benefit from the supposed higher gas mileage and environmentally friendly promises. The electric-gas powered motors only work at a high efficiency if they are driven in the cities. While some hybrids work beautifully in towns, and being the United States a mainly suburban society, driving at high speeds like on highways causes the hybrid vehicle to work just as inefficiently as any gasoline-powered vehicle. He also brings up the point that the government wants to reward drivers of hybrid by giving them various incentives. He argues this is not fair because some hybrids still work with less efficiency than conventional vehicles.
Since Kitman is a professional test-driver and writer for driving magazine, his arguments sound more believable and authentic. He has obviously driven many vehicles and knows all about how cars work. This allows him to very persuasive, since he knows so much on the issue.
Patrick Moore, who was the co-founder of the Greenpeace organization, wrote a piece on why nuclear power is important for the future of environmental and power conservation in America. His argument is that there is no better choice of a source for electrical energy than nuclear power, and gives bulleted reasons as to why some misconceptions are untrue and to why there is not much to worry about when it comes to safety.
In the 1970's, Greenpeace strongly opposed nuclear power whether it be for war or for energy. Since then, however, Moore has changed his stance. If the co-founder of a successful, pacifistic, and non-nuclear organization born during the Cold War decided to change his mind on a fundamental issue, then he must have had a legitimate reason for doing so. This makes his arguments, overall, more believable, since he is a convert.