This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I find Dr. Laura Nelson's op-ed ("Newspapers decline but oil will be valuable for decades," April 22) incredibly naïve and shortsighted for someone in her position.
Recent industry reports state that electric-vehicle growth in the United States increased nearly 70 percent in 2014. If the "vast majority of vehicles sold in coming decades will be gasoline-fueled," as she states, then why are all major manufacturers investing so much in EV design?
Today there are more than 20 models offered from more than a dozen different brands. Tesla Motors announced recently that it received 325,000 reservations for its new Model 3 EV just one week after pre-orders opened. This is the single biggest one-week launch of any product ever in terms of dollars. My guess is that decades from now, you'll be hard pressed to spot one of those old gasoline-powered automobiles on the road.
Kelly Francis
Salt Lake City