President Bush has done more for the Environment than anyone else

President Bush has done more for the Environment than anyone else

18 Nov 07 | Commentary

It is very heartening to see how much the younger generation has become interested in the environment and renewable energy. It is like they believe their future is at stake, and they are right. There is a movement afoot called Power Shift 2007 which is aimed at creating a NextGeneration political/environmental movement. Then there are blogs like WattHead, Solar Power Rocks, Cleanergy, and so on which have a renewable energy theme.

It is not just the younger generation either. Many people have become concerned with our government’s blatant disregard for the environment, our current energy situation and the lack of action or just plain wrong actions by our president, George W. Bush. His answers have been to invade a country, open up the ANWR to drilling and give billions of dollars in subsides to the already filthy rich oil companies. This has lead to a backlash of sorts on the administration as more and more state and local governments are enacting their own energy standards. Some states (Vermont is one) have sued the US EPA in order to force them to do their job. I think it took this sort of idiocy for the majority of Americans to wake up and finally start speaking up.

Because to this anti-Bush environment effect we are seeing and hearing a lot more about the environment and energy issues in the national media. I only hope this trend continues and that Congress and the 2008 presidential hopefuls are paying attention.

Speaking of Congress, as they take the Thanksgiving holiday break, their leadership has something to think about. Many people have chosen to call their Senator or Representative and voice their disapproval over the direction of the 2007 energy bill. This has caused Senator Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to reconsider stripping the bill of most of it’s substance. This contact needs to continue, if you have not called your senator or representative, take a few minutes to do it today. The pressure must be maintained if we are going to keep some of the provisions in the bill that give the ordinary home owner tax incentives to install solar and small wind power.

Here is a little graph from Solar Power Rocks to give some perspective:

Graph Iraq war spending vs renewable energy spending

This represents the cost of the Iraq war, versus the amount of money the government has invested in renewable energy. As you can see, the priority has been to invade Iraq which, as of yet, has not produced any more oil than what was available pre-invasion. Seems like a bad plan

As the blog writer points out, the total cost will be much higher, by the time you figure in the cost of VA health care for the now disabled veterans:

Accrued liabilities for U.S. federal employees’ and veterans’ benefits now total $4.5 trillion. Indeed, our debt for veterans’ health and disability payments has risen by $228 billion in the past year alone…The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the interest payments on the money borrowed to finance the Iraq war will total $264 billion to $308 billion.

So, how many solar thermal plants, photovoltiac arrays, geothermal plants, wind generators, wave generators and so on could that money purchase? Likely enough to provide 2/3 (conservative estimate) or more of our national electrical demand. Sick indeed.

To add insult to injury, China is beating us in renewable energy investment. China for God sakes.

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