Word: plug
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...whiz coolness of modern-day electronic devices - flat-screen high-def TVs, 2-lb. laptop computers, the iPhone - the national power grid we plug them into is almost as old and unchanged as Edison's lightbulb. We rely on the grid to juice everything from vacuum cleaners to dialysis machines, but it is a dinosaur, a leaky, money-wasting, carbon-dioxide-spewing system that remains shockingly vulnerable to accidents and terrorist attacks...
...vehicle if they buy electric. Beijing has also announced that it will spend $1.5 billion in grants to help its auto industry innovate. Because most Chinese car owners don't travel long distances, but rather commute in smoggy, traffic-clogged cities, a switch to plug-in electric vehicles is more plausible in China than in other countries...
...Japan's biggest automakers says he believes it will be 2012 or 2013 before electric cars gain a foothold on the mainland. Much depends on gasoline prices, which are partially controlled by the government. Will China's leaders increase gas taxes to make expensive alternatives like plug-in electric cars more acceptable to consumers? "That is going to be the tough decision," the executive says. "It will make the higher cost of electric models more justifiable in the eyes of the buyers, and it will help the auto industry be more sustainable in China...
...Smith said that he had identified some reductions in discretionary spending but that these only accounted for about a third of the unprecedented $220 million deficit. Though the faculty is edging toward layoffs and has already mothballed construction projects, it is unlikely that these will be enough to plug the deficit. Instead of obfuscating and offering platitudes, university administrators ought to get serious about fiscal reform. To that end, Harvard’s leaders must lead by example and call for more shared sacrifices from faculty and students...
...toxic assets. Some banks may be so deeply in debt that even the proceeds from the sales won't be enough to fill their capital needs. In that case, the stress tests may prove useful in another way. Geithner has only about $35 billion of TARP money left to plug the remaining holes for the 19 largest banks. After that, he has to go back to Congress for more money - at which point he'll need the stress tests to convince bailout-weary Representatives to shell out even more for the banks...