Why won't someone in this admin take some time to understand the only logical pathway to energy independence is the stepped approach, natural gas is it for now!! Pickens understands, Cramer understands, Geithner probably understands but takes some time to share his beliefs, where is Obama? The obstinence of our current administration to review the obvious is just arrogant and I am thoroughly disgusted by this behavior.
Someone like Jim Cramer (and I am far from his advocate since his stock 'picks' are still only ~50% correct from the ones I've tracked) should be one of your advisors on this topic; he understands both the opportunities and challenges since he has open access to more independent thinking than your administration (at least it appears this way). It is all about jobs, ability to drive our own future without dealing with the threats of other countries and trying to get our country to a point where my children do not need to go to China or India to make a decent living.
Clean coal is vaporware and doesn't address the need for new job creation . As Cramer pointed out the other day, if we succeed in creating a powerful car battery to run our cars, guess what it needs to plug into to get juiced up each night... electrical outlets which are largely run by coal and unless you solve that 'clean coal' problem immediately, we are just back in the old pollution conundrum exponentially.
The weapon design and arms control communities agree that it is not the capability to design a nuclear device that determines the pace of a country’s acquisition of a first weapon, but, rather, the availability of nuclear weapons materials that can be turned to weapons purposes. For a nation-state, the material for weapons can come from uranium enrichment plants (highly enriched uranium), or reactors and nuclear fuel reprocessing plants (plutonium), or both.
Regardless of its isotopic composition, the minimum amount of plutonium required to make a pure fission nuclear explosive, with a yield equivalent to one to 25 kilotons of chemical high explosives, is quite small, on the order of 1 to 3 kilograms (kg), with the exact amount depending on the level of design expertise and the desired nuclear explosive yield. The minimum amount of highly enriched uranium required is a few times larger—5 to 10kg.
While far from ideal for military applications, the isotopic composition of the plutonium typically produced in civil power reactors does not pose a serious obstacle to fabricating efficient and powerful weapons, as well as crude terrorist devices.
http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/power/power.pdf
The proliferation of nuclear weapons is inextricably linked to nuclear power by a shared need for enriched uranium, and through the generation of plutonium as a by-product of spent nuclear fuel. The two industries have been linked since the very beginning and a nuclear weapons free world requires a non-nuclear energy policy. http://www.cnduk.org/index.php/information/info-sheets/briefings.html#nuclearpower
HOPE AND HYPE VS. REALITY IN NUCLEAR REACTOR COST
THE ECONOMICS OF NUCLEAR REACTORS:http://www.vermontlaw.edu/Documents/Cooper%20Report%20on%20Nuclear%20Economics%20FINAL%5B1%5D.pdf
So I have come across an idea that Barack Obama REALLY needs to hear about. If you agree, please spread the word to him and to all of your friends and colleagues!
The idea is: Solar Roadways. An idea that is finding its way in the world thanks to Scott Brusaw in Idaho. It involves creating a system of interconnected solar panels that also serve as roads. At first glance it sounds a little crazy, but ultimately, if you extend the lifetimes of our roads and combine our power generation AND transportation infrastructure, this actually becomes cost competitive with current roads and a completely renewable source of energy.
Think about it. And check out the website at http://www.solarroadways.com . You can also see a video of the project on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3PeSm6_hTE
Since 2007 the italian physicist professor Fabio Cardone showed the results of the research conduct under super intendence of italian army and the CNR ( the italian council of the scientifics researchs ) on the piezoelectrics nuclears reactions. An innovative system for the production of neutrons emission stimulate by ultra-sounds. Submitting a solution of iron chloride to the action of a concentrated ultrasonic stimulation the iron emit neutrons whitout the prejudicial gamma radiations that to accompany the neutronic emission in normal nuclear fission reactions. The production of neutrons is too strong. 300 grams of iron chloride to produce more of the double of neutrons than 30 Kilograms of uranium whitout secondary prejudicial radiations. The reactions is controllable and not divergent. The results of this research have produced an earthquake in the scientific world for the open of new perspective in production of energy at lowest costs whitout prejudicial subproducts or radiations.
An other application of this methodology is the treatment of nuclears radioactives scoriae. In various experiments conduct on Thorium 228 and other radionuclides the ultrasonic beam have produced a shortening of the halving lifetime that in the case of the thorium 228 is 10000 times after an exposure at the ultrasonic beam of 90 minutes. In short words the radioactivity is reduced to the half in 90 minutes instead in 200 years! Fantastic!
The way to the clean energy and clean the world is begin!
For more informations see:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/r051u03812587523/
or
http://it.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=EF12F6C2843CD16B
Sorry but the films on youtube are in italian language .
Now the way is tracked. Have the new american administration the iron will to confront the economic power of petrol and explore other way to energy for the well of mankind?
Contact: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
It has been my perception that what has driven some Americans increasingly in the past two decades has been personal greed; greed not for just money but for power, control, influence, domination, security, knowledge, ideology, ..., all for individual or limited closed association/club benefit. That is not only the mentality of individuals, but of people operating in government and business as well.
We now witness the results of greed by a select few:
Corrupt and special interest government officials who set themselves above as aristocrats regulating government for their own investments or hidden ownerships in companies and organizations. Many who also take bribes and illicit favors from corrupt lobbyists.Laws are actually written/drafted by who? Do you really think your legislator, congressman, or senator sits down in front of a computer or uses his own pen and paper? Or, did you think it's his staff? It is lobbyists who actually do 99% of the work; work they have vested interests in, to see it is written the way their 'client' wants it worded. Do you as an individual have lobbyists employed by you? Financial institutions that cheat and steal from the unsuspecting, far beyond the weak laws of usury. Trustworthy? Bank & 'Trust?' Wanna givem another bailout for cheating? It looks like lobbying paid off for the financial 'institutions' (we have all been taught to 'respect?' the term 'institution?', but maybe we are learning). Insurance Companies that 'legally?' bribe law enforcement, judges, and congress/legislators with grants, equipment gifts, perks, and free trips in order to gain unprecedented influence/control -- everything from mandatory laws, to not or barely paying claims, to price fixing, to all sorts of corrupt and unfavorable methods imposed on individuals. Do most people realize that premiums (a name of 'respect?' for monthly payments you are charged) are used by Insurance Companies to pay for -- grants, equipment gifts, perks and trips as payoffs for public laws, regulations, and controls that the public does not want. It is a form of taxation represented/controlled by insurance companies, not taxation with public representation. It's a twisted form of taxation charged by insurance companies. Manufacturing barons who import economic slave labor and outsource to slavery. Pharmaceutical corporations that cover-up sickness and death with misinformation in order to push up profits. Weapons manufacturers that promote violence, war, and enduring sickness. Energy companies that monopolize production/prices and cause destructive environmental damage.American Companies, or those using names, that import/offshore products who turn a deaf ear and blind eye to safety, quality, and poisons.Service providers that care not about consumers but are strictly money driven, with less regard for employees; employees who suffer with unreasonable demands for performance and who are not paid a living wage. Private educational institutions that cater to the wealthy who have abandoned the public. The concept for the masses of "let them eat cake"; they will eventually go away from malnutrition of education because it will make them perish; and, those who survive can be the servants. Suburban Public School administrators in growing housing markets whose actual and hidden agendas are to serve land developers and government aristocrats. They play statistical number games made of fudge, intentionally choking out struggling students by actually encouraging students to drop out or be 'home schooled' by mom or dad. That's how suburban schools 'look' more attractive to potential home buyers, with faked academic 'success' -- faking the 'No Child Left Behind' statistics, a real game, using kids as pawns. But aristocrats brag, statistically they look like they have done a good enough job to re-elect them. And, most importantly to them, they can continue to reap the profits from either the land they own or are financially connected with.Inner City School administrators in decaying areas that hopelessly cope with being under funded, attracting the poorest quality teachers. Children do not choose to be born into poor families, or choose uncaring parents, nor do they choose parents that are ignorant and uneducated. Do these kids have the hope of opportunity? They are pushed aside as the burdens of a greedy society, in hopes they are not seen nor heard from now or later in life -- good to be used as the pawns in wars, or workers for catering to the wealthy though. Employees of city/county/state/fed. institutions (schools, universities, jails, prisons, leases/sales of buildings to Gov., contracted services, hospitals, VA facilities,...) who take kickbacks and gifts, in return for higher costs and sweetheart deals with companies often owned by or financially benefiting government aristocrats.Major colleges and universities chasing the buck by catering to overseas students. They somehow brag of a 40% to 60% foreign enrollment, while American students grasp for help and aid. Community colleges that are given the leftovers in funds, coping with unrealistic expectations of graduating students or preparing them for major colleges. Even with 100% tuition/books paid, it is unrealistic to expect students to juggle working full time jobs (for food and living) while going to school and studying full time. It is not surprising to see such an astronomically high dropout rate in America. Capitalist have made it clear to students, not to have hopes that are too costly; or, they will import already educated talent. Do wealthy capitalist require students in their families to work full time at low paying jobs while pursuing higher education's? Maybe they simply know it's a story made up for the 'less fortunate', like a fairytale dream, achieved by one to two percent and used as shining examples, stories told to pacify the masses. Those with capital also know, they can hire a well enough educated dropout at a reduced rate to do the job of a graduate, a real bargain. …
We could each recite instances far beyond this short list, and it is all for greed. People’s greed has been rooting through our nation and causing so much destruction. Certainly money has been a primary instrument of their greed, but their other instruments of power, control, influence, domination, security, knowledge, ideology, … have all been used to chip away and damage each of us who together form our great nation. With renewed vision and focused determination we will heal and rebuild to become more active and much stronger.
To learn more details, you can read my other three blogs about 1) Educational Devastation, The Need for an Entirely New System, 2) The Auto Industry, A Few of My Personal Experiences, and 3) Invention, Innovation, and Education.
Blog members can reply here, or anyone is welcome to contact me at: Alex.Karoub@gmail.com
One Colorado Commuter's Experience
Most people have never heard of an electric motorcycle, but you’ll find one in the parking lot of the Gaiam Real Goods offices in Broomfield, Colorado. Following a dream, Real Goods Renewable Energy Technician Jeff Blamey joined Gaiam in December 2006 and began to convert a gasoline-powered motorcycle to run on electric wall current for his commute to work.
He found the perfect motorcycle on eBay (a 1984 Honda VF 500), devoured a book on electric motorcycles, and spent four months designing the conversion on his computer.
Once the parts were assembled, it took Blamey a month to convert the bike. He removed the engine, transmission, radiator and fan; cut and welded metal trays for the first, second and third batteries; made saddlebag mounts for the fourth and fifth batteries; and mounted the PMG 132 motor and Alltrax controller he bought from Electric Motor Sports in Oakland, California.
According to Blamey’s calculations, his motorcycle commute costs him less than $.10 per day for eight miles, as opposed to $.75 by car or $.53 by gas-powered motorcycle. He estimates the cost of conversion, including the motorcycle, at around $3,000 and figures the batteries could last as long as five years, with replacement packs of six batteries costing around $450.
Yesterday evening I moderated a community discussion group in Denver about Health Care Reform, the Environment and Education. The goal was to identify the biggest areas of concern within these topics and to plan service projects that would address the issues.
Needless to say those who attended became overwhelmed and quickly caught up in a haze of thoughts about where to start. Should we look for the person who started these problems? How intertwined is each issue with the next? How do ordinary citizens analyze where the corruption is and take ethical actions to help heal our country and then create new systems? It took a discussion that was sometimes very frustrating, but in the end rewarding, to realize that unless we address the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter in our communities that, among other things, medical care, the environment and education will take care of themselves – people might not survive long enough to need them.
Some of the concrete numbers of those ‘going without” are entirely frightening. An estimated 5 million seniors regularly sacrifice food to pay bills. At least 29% (almost 1/3) of Americans skip medical care to pay for basic food, clothing or shelter.
According to the US Department of Agriculture over 12 percent of Americans (36.2 million adults and children) did not have enough food to maintain active and healthy lives in 2007 and nearly two million US jobs have been lost.
The U.S. Energy Information Agency estimates that this year, heating a home with oil, will increase 33% from last year and is a 117% increase since 2004. The cost of heating a home with natural gas has gone up 30% since 2004. The cost of heating with propane, which heats homes in many rural areas across the nation, has increased 23% in the last year and 73% since 2004.
Foreclosures are up: 1.2 million. This number is a 42 percent increase from 2005. The percentage change in foreclosures is up a 700 percent from 2005 to 2006.
These numbers are not all about those you see living on the streets – they are also your neighbors. Some of them live in my nice, comfortable neighborhood in Denver – for now anyway, until they miss another mortgage payment and receive a foreclosure statement or lose their jobs and begin worrying about food and clothing and then can’t pay their mortgage or rent.
And does it really matter how it happened or who is responsible for fraudulent mortgages or overspending. Not really; not today anyway. The problem is way too big for blame.
What the community group decided last night was to begin a campaign of fund raising to help a family in danger of losing their home. One group, collecting money for one family – simple. Our goal – change. Another group we work with is doing a food drive in January - another action that doesn’t take weeks, months and years of planning, proposals, vetoes and votes. It’s just people helping people. Perhaps that’s where we went wrong way back – maybe we thought people were someone else’s responsibility.
It's clear that the global reception that Barack Obama has enjoyed puts him in the position of a moral leader of the world -- not just the free world. Even before he takes office he will be doing a great deal of leading in a world eager to align itself with his ideas. His solutions during the campaign have already begun to prove prophetic.
He has recognized the relationship among the financial crisis, infrastructure renewal, jobs, energy, and climate change and sees solutions to each as complementing solutions to the others.
It is a history an immigrant has made to white house. American is multicultural country black, white, African, Asian , Hindus, Muslims and Christians live together happily and it is a land of opportunity. Martin Luther king the civil rights activist who has fight for the rights of black may be happiest person if he would have lived. From nothing, a black leader Barack Husain Obama has become the president of United States of America, born to Kenyan Father and American mother. People of America want change, did not bother about the cultural issues and want to live happily with dignity. With recession gripping up, many banks are declared bankruptcy, energy crisis, climate change, three trillion dollar Iraq war, people fear to lose house in subprime crisis, with these problems every American wants a change. American wants happy living and show the world that American are not against any race and religion. They want peace and happiness and good living. A virtual unknown until his stirring keynote address at the 2004 Democratic Convention, the President-elect’s meteoric rise to the White House has personal style, a gift for stirring oratory and a commanding ability to deploy new technology to raise funds and organize supporters "Americans have sent a message to the world," Barack Obama, the man who would be the United States' first African American president, "If there is anyone out there that still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible... who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer." He said it was the answer told "by lines that stretched around schools and churches..." as they waited for hours to vote. It was the answer, he said, spoken by the young and old, rich and poor, Hispanics and Asians, Democrats and Republicans” With the United States having its first African-American President in Barack Hussain Obama and the Democrats got full control the Senate and the Congress. Ever one in the world seeing towards USA for change and in India the group of techies from Bangalore have collected money for funding the election in USA they formed an association Barack Obama association. In Coimbatore people have conducted “homa and puja” and have shown the birth chart of Barack Obama to astrologers, and they were sure of his victory and this happened. Obama has taken donations even two dollar and five dollars from the individuals and has funded election expenditure, there is a transparency in election funding. What are the challenges to new president? •His first task is to revive economy of USA, economy is in a grip of recession •Subprime crisis, every American wants a shelter and the prices housing sector should not fall any t more. •The greatest three trillion war with Iraq, which is the tax payer money America has spent on Iraq war. Withdrawing of troops from Iraq. •Energy crisis, USA is biggest consumer of energy and it has not signed Kyoto Protocol,(Climate Change) many American wants that USA should go to green technology and save the energy and sign the Kyoto protocol. •Control of terrorism is one more problem the new president may face. •Tackling of unemployment problem and out sourcing is some more big issues.
India has to learn lot of lessons from US election •We have to see Americans who have elected an immigrant and half Muslim to the white house, Indian are not tolerating the fellow Indians the recent Maharashtra riots is example. •The funding of elections is transparent in USA, the election expenditure is audited, where as in India the election expenditure is all unaccounted money there is no proper records maintained. •American election campaign is transparent, Obama has used internet, text messages, Utube, and media. Indian election campaign is not transparent. •Obama is nothing four years back, today he is a President of USA, which shows even a new person, can become USA president which is not possible inIndia.
Welcome to everyone who reads this. The election is finally done. Whew. I had multiple "omg, we are going to lose again" moments during the last 3 months. I doubt it, but some of you might remember me as an avid Dean supporter in 2004. Before that, I was a McCain supporter in 2000. Politics in that sense, has come full circle for me in 2008.
I am interested in good governance, energy policy and war on terrorism issues. You may of course post anything you like, but I would like everyone to be civil. We can disagree without being disagreeable. That latter part is for rant-at-the-moon-froth-at-the-mouth extremists of DailyKos or Atlas Shrugs. Not here, if you please.
I can't express how enthused I am about Barack's getting elected. This is the best I've felt about America in a long time. Our country is suffering in so many ways. The one that I think carries the greatest burden is the state of our environment. Our economy is a major issue, but once we get that resolved, we may be wondering if we'll have a stable enough of a planet to live on for much longer. Thankfully, President-Elect Barack Obama has a long term plan to help make us less dependant on foreign oil and more reliant on cleaner varieties of fuel.
Unfortunately, government is often unable to enact changes fast enough!
There is, however, something that we can all do to take immediate action and spread the word in an efficient manner. Please visit the site below for more information. We can all contribute to make a change, one person at a time!
Energy Policy is important to me. It's been my intent to be a single issue voter this election for the first time in my life, with energy as my focus. (To be honest I'm failing at being single issue, but that is a separate topic.)
Honestly I'd like to see more in-depth discussion from both Barack and McCain, but the second (townhall style) debate convinced me that Barack is more committed to the topic. Instead of skirting the pointed question posed regarding policy priorities, Barack said flat out that energy policy was number 1. He seems to get that it isn't just the right thing to do (which is terribly important), but also that it is also the best thing FOR US to do.
For those who are curious, I've included the text from an e-mail I sent Barack earlier this year on the topic, in the extended text area of this post.
AbstractThe plan outlined here has two main goals: on the environmental side to quickly (as possible) reduce the green house emissions due to the high number of fuel inefficient vehicles in US; on the economics side- to reduce the dependency on foreign oil, help the auto industry and ultimately, help struggling Americans. The program can pay for itself by reducing the amount of imported oil in as little as seven years even with no further tax increases.
Summary• Expected Effecto Significant decrease in oil importso Boost to the auto industry and associated areaso Reduction in green house emissions• Economics parameterso Tax increases and import duties for fuel inefficient vehicleso Deficit reduction due to lower oil imports• Timelineo The plan can be implemented in a very short period of time (less than 6 months)o First effect would be felt within the firs 6 months of its implementationo The full effect would be realized within 2 to 3 yearso The program would pay for itself within a 7 to 10 years periodBackgroundAmericans now use old and largely fuel inefficient vehicles. For example NADA reports the median age of a passenger car in US being over 9 years (http://www.nada.org/NR/rdonlyres/93F45723-C66F-4437-BEAB-8F523221C8BA/0/NADA_DATA_2007_Vehicles_Operation_Scrappage.pdf).According to Department of Energy (DOE) the average fuel economy in 2006 was 22.4 MPG for passenger cars (http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/consump.html). For SUVs, minivans and light trucks the estimate is 18 MPG.It is easy to see that the average fuel efficiency is too low. For example, Ford Escape 4WD, 3.0L engine has combined fuel efficiency of 20 MPG, more than 10% better than the average SUV or minivan. Likewise Ford Focus has combined fuel efficiency of 27 MPG, almost 20% better than the average. This shows the huge potential for oil consumption reduction. Since the transportation sector used more than 40% of the total demand for oil for US (http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/oil_market_basics/dem_image_us_cons_sector.htm), a 10% increase of the average auto fuel efficiency will decrease the US demand for oil by as much as 4% (58 billion dollars per year, assuming oil price of 100).Another significant source of conservation would be the 450,000 school busses with 4 billion miles traveled each year (http://epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/basicinfo.htm). The average consumption is between 7 and 13 MPG (www.nrel.gov/docs/fy04osti/35764.pdf). As an approximation, school busses use close to 400 million gallons of gas per year and bringing the fuel efficiency to 20 MPG would create a staggering savings of 200 million gallons of gas per year. Since the ratio between gas and oil is 1:2, then this increase would save the US the need to import 20 million barrels of oil, which would amount to saving of 2 billion dollars.Example:According to VIUS (http://www.census.gov/svsd/www/vius/2002.html), almost 5% or nearly 300 SUVs had average mileage bellow 12 with an average of 9.83 MPG. Assuming that half of those SUVs are updated to Ford Escape 4WD, 3.0L, and the average mileage per year is 12000 miles, which would result in lowered consumption of 180 thousand gallons of gas per year (4,300 barrels of oil). The basic trim of Ford Escape can be purchase at around 20000 dollars. The price of the program (not counting both negative and positives of the trade-ins) would be therefore around 3,000,000 dollars. At the same time, with an average price of oil around 100 dollars for the next 3 years, the cumulative savings will be 1.3 million dollars. If the oil price holds steady for the next 7 years the program would have paid for itself in this same time period.Financial planThe program can be executed in 2 stages- pilot and full. The pilot stage could target only high value vehicles, with fuel efficiency more than 10 MPG away from the new model. If we use the above example, we could expect up to 10000 SUVs to be traded (based on the growth of the SUV number in USA). The number of passenger cars can be established at twice the number of SUVs- 20000. The number of vans would be probably not as high as the number of SUVs (according to VIUS is almost 10 fold lower) so at this first stage vans can be excluded. On the other hand the number of low efficiency pickup trucks is much higher, but due to the insufficient data and the fact that some of those can be used in a business activities, where trade in with a more efficient model might not be a viable option we should exclude this category here as well.Given the average price of lower trims for cars and SUVs, the pilot program budget should be set at around 500,000,000 dollars.The second stage can be set with wider net, where the owner would pay part of the new vehicle cost as specified in the table:Subsidized part (percentage) Last taxable income (thousands of dollars) Efficiency difference (MPG) Used for business?* Years of no sales/trade-ins**100% Any >10 Yes/no 790% Any 8-10 Yes/no 775% <100 5-8 Yes 770% <100 5-8 No 765% >100 5-8 Yes 760% >100 5-8 No 750% <100 2-5 Yes 545% <100 2-5 No 540% >100 2-5 Yes 530% >100 2-5 No 530% <100 <2 Yes 325% <100 <2 No 310% >100 <2 Yes/No 2*Vehicles used for business are likely to travel more miles per year, therefore the effect would be higher.**Vehicles bought through this program cannot be sold or traded in for a fixed period of time.The program can be paid in parts by applying import duties and tax hikes for “gas guzzlers” and expanding the current tax to include SUVs. Another important source of revenue is to tax directly the producers of gas guzzlers (for example 0.5% of the manufacturer price of qualified vehicles), which would hopefully discourage the future production of such vehicles.
The Obama energy plan calls for 25% renewable electricity by 2025. I think that is a clearly achievable goal, but we also need a "stretch" goal. I would propose a goal of 65% renewable electricity and over 70% non-fossil total energy by the 2025-2030 time frame.
The most important national security action we can take is to get off foreign oil. We use 70% of our oil for transportation and import 70% of our oil. Pluggable hybrid cars and local trucks (e.g., for local delivery, refuse collection, etc.) can cut our oil use by about 2/3. That assumes 100% penetration of pluggable hybrids for those kinds of vehicles. The remaining 1/3 can be biofuel, including cellulosic ethanol and algae biodiesel. Hybrid cars (even if not pluggable) get efficiency improvements from elimination of idling, regenerative braking (about half the improved gas mileage from present hybrids) and the ability to optimize the generator engine.
Pluggable hybrids match up very well with wind power. We should set a target of 25% wind, which is where Denmark is right now (with plans to go to 50%). We should also plan on 20 % solar, which will require an efficiency improvement and/or reduced costs. Both wind and solar are intermittent, and peak solar production does not match peak daytime electricity load. However, these issues are solvable, and in some cases the relevant technology is currently available in the marketplace. Improvements in solar have a recent announcement rate of roughly one a week on Slashdot (http://slashdot.org).
Biofuel can be used for purposes other than transportation. Some part of electric generation can be biofuel or hydrogen, and it can also be used for a portion of industrial, commercial, and residential energy.
Part of the non-fossil generation will likely be nuclear. Keeping nuclear at 21% will mean an increase of 67% in nuclear generation, because that is the increase in electricity use that will be caused by transportation electrification. The industry appears to be getting its act together in terms of quality control, and we can solve the nuclear waste problem with on-site reprocessing.
This is all feasible if we put our mind to it, make it a national priority, push aside the NIMBY's and BANANA's who are blocking the needed transmission lines to get the wind and utility-grade solar (e.g., solar thermal) to load centers, and ignore the fossil fuel companies' attempts to keep us using fossil fuel.
Not that it means much, but I was very impressed by Obama's composure, security, and body language at yesterday's (9/24) press conference. Bravo!
That said, I just want to add that confidence is a very important psychology at times of crisis. I'm not talking about blind optimism, that is a very different thing. In 1980, Ronald Reagan gave people confidence that the recession would end and things would get better. It worked in the sense that the economy boomed. Of course, as I said then and reiterate now, it was at a big price. It took 25 years for the piper to come around and get paid, but that is what is happening today, in more ways than one. Deregulation that started under Reagan is responsible for much of the economic mess we are in. Add to that his discarding of an energy policy (that Carter had wisely undertaken) has forced us into two wars in Iraq and left us terribly vulnerable to the increasing instability of the fossil fuel-based economy. We have also been irresponsible on the issue of global climate change.
All of these things are very important to consider. On the one hand, we need to have confidence in our leaders and ourselves that we will overcome this economic crisis, and on the other our leaders must take wise policy decisions with the long view to not sacrifice our children's world for the sake of ours.
