CHARLES LANE SLAMS “OBAMA’S ELECTRIC-CAR CULT.” Well, I put down a $99 deposit on a Nissan Leaf, and if I’m less excited than I was back when I did, I’m still not part of a cult, Obama-driven or otherwise. On the other hand, this is a good point: “For a president who claims to make policy based on ‘facts and science and argument,’ lavishing subsidies on electric cars is an intellectual scandal.”

There are plenty of good reasons to be an early adopter where new technology is concerned. But when I’m an early adopter, I’m doing it with my own money. When the government subsidizes these things, it’s distorting the market, and using money extracted from others. Meanwhile, I found Lane’s column via Autoblog Green, where they’re not persuaded.