Spike.com came out with the top 7 ugliest cars ever built, and our number 1 rated ugly car made the list - the Pontiac Aztek. No hybrids made their list. The AMC Pacer came in as their ugliest care ever built, but we think the Prius is worse. Hmm?

And then..

Blogging is hard. Sometimes there’s just nothing worth while to write about. And some people write about nothing anyway. Or sometimes you’re just busy doing more important things than adding minuscule content to the internet.

At any rate, we’ve been on a slight break. It seems most other blogs in our realm have been too, except for those with tons of unpaid writers throwing up content for them.

So what’s new in the energy/green/oil world?  Terrorism, Tidal, bleak alternatives.

Thanks to those participating on our new Forum - The more suggestions for topics the better!

“Ah, the sound of electric power. It’s amazing” - Mark Templeton commenting on his newly acquired Tesla Roadster featured in the video below. While electric cars will surely prove to be more practical than gas powered cars we often wonder if its worth it to lose out on some of the perks that come with the typical gas hog. When I think about a Porsche, I usually thing about the growl of its engine. The sound of an engine is so important to some buyers that Porsche even promotes their different engine model sounds on their website, and even offers cell phone downloads for them. Well, Tesla could be making a new sound just as popular.

Fast forward to 2:25 in the video below and you will hear a sound similar to the modified Delorean from Back To The Future.

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While this sound isn’t like the Porsche, its not necessarily worse. It sounds great. It sounds powerful and futuristic. Could this be as strong a selling point as the engine sound from the Porsche?

Let’s think about another pro of the electric engine. Take a look, and listen to the video below.

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Can you imagine walking down the street in New York City with 100% electric automobiles trafficking the streets? This would have an incredible impact on noise pollution in dense metro areas.

Let’s do another poll:

Why can’t car manufacturers produce nice looking hybrid car models? The Toyota Prius is the second worst looking car on the road, behind the Pontiac Aztek. The Honda Insight is almost as poorly designed, as it looks almost identical to the Toyota Prius.

If hybrid cars looked better, I might consider buying one. Maybe they are designed to appear economical. Maybe the buyers of these cars are not concerned with styling, so no effort is put into it and cost is then reduced. Maybe manufacturers saw how successful Toyota was with the Prius so they decide dumpy looking cares are the way to go. Who knows. The point is, they are ugly and we would love to know the reason why.

The Insight will start being sold in the US this coming April, 2009. The biggest perk about the Insight will be its price. The Insight will start at $18,500 which will make it the least expensive hybrid available. Honda is able to sell at this price point because of cost reductions from the use of their “Motor Assist” hybrid technology, and also because they spent a total of 3 man hours on its styling.

Style, economy, and performance can come together - enter the Lightning GT. Hopefully hybrid car makers can take a turn towards more attractive looking cars sometime in the near future.

With the Democratic National Convention underway, and Barack Obama officially nominated as the democratic presidential candidate, his stance on offshore drilling needs to determined. The “Gang of 10″ Republicans and Democrats have come up with a plan that will allow offshore drilling by oil companies in areas currently considered off-limits because of environmental concerns to the coastline.

So what is this plan being pushed and what are the perceived benefits? In short, the plan is to lift the ban on offshore drilling to bring down the price of gasoline for Americans. A secondary goal is to raise $84 billion for alternative energy and conservation funds. This money would start accumulating immediately once exploration begins, as oil companies will no longer be eligible for a manufacturing tax credit. It’s as simple as that…

Now, what are the realistic expectations Americans should have about this plan?

• It will be 10 years before oil will start to be pumped into refinery pipelines, from the point the exploring begins.
• Oil will start being pumped out in 10 years, but maximum capacity isn’t expected to be reached until 2030.
• As the oil is pumped from these new leases, it will just be auctioned off into the global market, and the highest bidder will buy the oil. It will not be set aside solely for Americans, unless we are planning to change the way we participate in free global markets.
• Even though the plan projects to raise $84 billion for alternative energy projects, drilling in these off-limit areas will risk serious environmental damage to our coastlines.

With those kinds of expectations, you may wonder why there is even a debate. Well, it comes down to votes. The fear of continued high gas prices may lead voters to choose whatever candidate tells them their plan will reduce prices at the pump.

A recent WSJ/ABC News poll revealed voters’ stances on how they feel about about expanding offshore drilling:

Obama Voters

Right Direction: 41% Unsure: 14% Wrong Direction: 45%

McCain Voters

Right Direction: 88% Unsure: 4% Wrong Direction: 8%

Undecided Voters

Right Direction: 61% Unsure: 17% Wrong Direction: 23%

Those numbers look a little concerning. Our two nominees should start focusing on realistic alternatives to gas price reduction, instead of lobbying for whatever plan gains traction at the polls.

We’re interested to see what DumpItInThePump readers think about this issue. Let us know!