A question I've never heard adequately addressed is how we will (if we do) transition to an electric transportation system. The total energy usage by the transportation sector is on the order of the total energy used to generate electricity (less but not by a wide margin). When you consider the energy transfer losses (electric cars have a conversion loss waaaay higher than having the power plant on demand), we'll likely have to more than double our electrical grid capacity. This isn't impossible by any stretch from a technical POV, but from a political POV it might be a different story.

I'm not a huge Sanders supporter, but the thing that he is making an issue that shouldn't even be a left wing issue is a giant infrastructure investment. He's talking about $3 trillion I think. There aren't many things I would vote to raise my own taxes to fund, but that would be one. Our electrical grid is shitty even for our current needs, let alone future. Our highways have been crumbling for years. We refuse to even provide clean drinking water in a lot of places. It's pathetic. A huge infrastructure push could help to address some of these issue while hopefully also providing an economic stimulus. We should see some ROI on infrastructure upgrades, especially now while money is still cheap. Won't be that way forever.

People are fucked though; they see taxes and the run for the hills without considering how the money is to be spent. Here in MI we just went through a multi year clusterfuck to try to fund our disintegrating roads. Even our right wing governor lost patience with the Tea party jackoffs in the legislature (who wanted to fund it by a combination of raising the sales tax and cutting education). It's easy in that climate to understand how the Flint thing happened.