Route 66 Alliance endorses plug-in vehicle project

In the middle of this story from the Santa Monica (Calif.) Daily Press about the Green Roadway Project, which seeks to eventually bring green-powered infrastructure across the United States to recharge electric vehicles, is this:

The Route 66 Alliance, which promotes and preserves the historic roadway that terminates in Santa Monica, announced its endorsement of the project.

“This project will blend a historic route with new technology,” said alliance Chairman Jim Conkle. “We can start with Route 66 but end with every road and highway in the world.

“Route 66 has many names — Mother Road, Main Street America, Will Rogers Highway,” Conkle continued. “We’d like to add one more — the Electric Highway. Everyone along the road is excited about it.”

It should be noted that the newest issue of the Alliance-affliliated Route 66 Pulse newspaper is being partly underwritten by David Myers, founder of The Wildlands Conservancy, and the Pulse contains articles about green energy. Although Conkle to my knowledge has always been supportive of alternative energy, it’s also easy to see Myers having some sway in the Alliance’s endorsement.

UPDATE: This message from Conkle in an e-mail came shortly after the above was posted:

This relationship came about from my doing research for the Mother Road National Monument and offering a hand rather then asking for a handout. We now have a new partnership as well as access to these new technologies. […]

As this project moves forward we will be making contact with a number of you as potential locations for the system. We, the Route 66 Community, are going to be given the ‘first right of refusal’ to get involved with The Green Roadway project. I can see this system set up at motels, diners, museums, stores, etc all along the road. Creating jobs and income as well as offering the service of charging for the electric vehicles of tomorrow.