Surrey Electric Car Station

The Surrey Museum, in Surrey BC, has an electric car charging station that charges your electric car in about 30 minutes.

Surrey is the first city in British Columbia to have two fast charging stations, one at the Surrey museum and the other at Powertech, a subsidiary of BC Hydro. It amazes me that we can charge an electric car faster than some cell phones. Think, where would we be if “big oil” had not suppressed the electric car 20 years ago?

Surrey also requires gas stations to provide alternative fuel service at all new gas stations being built. I am not one of those who are in favor of the government controlling everything in our lives, but when it comes to these huge industries (oil), I think there must be some kind of regulation for our protection. If it were for “big oil”, we would consume even more than we consume now.

There has been a lot of talk lately about sustainability; good to see some action. I attended the Langley Economic Forum last month and keynote speaker Don Burden (Director of Innovation and Inspiration, Wable and Livable Communities Institute) gave a great speech on sustainability and community awareness. He spoke of neighborhoods that are built around walking and biking, not bigger roads for cars. A community where our children can safely and comfortably walk to school and play in the park instead of putting their faces in front of a screen.

I like this idea, it’s funny, it reminds me of my childhood. Although in my day (okay, I’m officially “old”) this was not an innovative idea, it was just “life”. We walked to school, played outside, just watched a show on TV, got dirty, and used our imaginations. When did “being a kid” get so complicated? More cars, more phones, more computers, and more televisions are not as good as the ads claim.

Sorry I got a bit of a spiel there.

It’s hard to miss the news about the crazy typhoon that devastated the Philippines last week. I watched in horror as families and homes were destroyed, and I wonder if it could have been different. Our climate is changing before our eyes; it’s about time we changed too.

Being hit by a 100-year storm every year is not the future I want for my grandchildren.

We need more involvement in alternative fuel innovation. My flex fuel car is not working. Our addiction to oil is not enough.

I believe Surrey is on the right track with all the improvements in Surrey Center City and its move towards alternative fuel services. It’s no wonder they are the number one real estate investment community.