Coal Power, our competitor.

28 Jul 08 | Environment

Get ready. As the energy crisis deeps, we will start to see more and more advertising by large scale energy producers about how drilling for more oil off the coast or in ANWR or perhaps removing more mountain tops in West Virgina will help us out of our problem.

The truth is, we are in it too deep for any of that to make much difference. WE have to transition to a new energy economy, one that depends more on distributed energy generation than huge centralized generating facilities. There will be many nay sayers that will say physics do not support the concept, or it will be too expensive, or take too long. The nay sayers are wrong.

Physics do support the switch to renewable energy to power almost all of our needs. Heavy transportation may still need to rely on fossil fuels for now, everything else can be powered by electric, which can be generated by solar, wind, hydro, wave, tidal, ocean currents etc. Distributed generation is better than centralized generation because the electrical grid is less likely to suffer a catastrophic failure, like it did in the summer of 2003 during the Northeast blackout.

Remove the oil and coal subsides. That will lower our federal taxes, something that is near and dear to the heart of every conservative, and allow the energy market to float on the economy, the way it is supposed to. Then you will see solar, wind, etc, etc, become viable competitors. The renewable energy sector would not have to rely on handouts from congress every few years to stay in business.

As far as a time frame, drilling in the north slope of Alaska or the continental shelf will take too long. It will be at least 10 years from drilling the first well until the time the first barrel of oil hits the market. While we wait, the economy will crash, we will all be broke or owned by Saudi Arabia. On the other hand, the production of solar and wind products are on the rise. New manufacturing capacity for raw materials and finished products is being added every year. R and D continues and new more efficient methods are coming on line.

The sooner we focus on that solution, the better off we will be.

This is a pretty good example of how large companies try to spin there environmentally disastrous products with some nice music and neighborly looking people.

Coal power. Cheap. Abundant. Cheap.

At the end of the ad, they should run a fast speaking disclaimer like all the used car adds you hear on the radio. Something like this:

This ad does not represent the truth. Using coal power releases sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, mercury, radio active elements and other harmful substances into the atmosphere. Sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides cause acid rain, carbon monoxide is a deadly gas, carbon dioxide may increase global warming, mercury causes birth defects and brain damage, radio active elements cause birth defects and are a known carcinogen. The mining of coal seriously disrupts the environment and leads to permanent damage in most cases. Jobs created by coal industry are dangerous, low paying and often lead to black lung disease or other deadly health conditions. Use with caution.

WE need to make sure that the government does what WE want, lets stay focused. Don’t be fooled by all the hype in slick marketing.

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