Oh no, don't misunderstand. I probably didn't convey well, I'm really good at that, but I just don't see the research being funded by the taxpayer.
Now if you want to talk about subsidizing CNG/LNG fueling infrastructure, that I could get on board with. The technology already exists, we have a couple hundred years of supply (and growing daily) and it's vastly cleaner. If I were a politician I'd push it as the next "Manhattan Project". If the public was good with it, I'd even go with a $0.01 per gge fuel tax and "lockbox" it for research on solar, hydrogen, etc. See there, it's really not hard to work stuff out between differing views.
Sounds like we aren't so far apart after all :-) A fun debate all around, thanks. Always appreciate someone who will engage me and make me think, without turning it personal