This is the boy's response to my email last night. Not perfect but not bad for a guy that was president of his fraternity and hung a picture of Ronald Reagen in his house throughout college. . . . God that still makes me angry. As you can see he has always been much more conservative than me and so he shows much more restraint in the type of changes I think we are all capable of. I guess that's why I'm the one who works full time on this stuff and not him.
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It helped, I'll check out that website tonight when I get back from the forest. I knew basically what your opinion is, but thanks for the details.
Here's what I think. We have had shitty leadership in Washington for over thirty years and we got hooked on cheap oil in the in term. We consume roughly 25% of the world's oil while only having 4% of the population. Everything in our economy is based on oil (fertilizers, cars, plastics . . .) It is impossible to go through the day without using or touching something that was made with the use of oil.
Our generation knows better and is starting to demand the change that our elected officials can't ignore. However it is impossible to quit oil cold turkey. It is too interwoven into the fabric of our society. We need to make alternative products cheaper. I buy all natural cleaning product for the most part. But, for most Americans they are cost prohibitive. If you can afford the green alternative in cleaning products they are usually packaged in PET bottles which almost defeats the purpose (I know they are really close to developing a bio-plastic, but new technology is too expensive without government support).
I am all about the hydrogen fuel cell car now. I think that is the way of the future. It would be too expensive to bring it to market now. That's the reason I like the natural gas idea. Most current cars can be converted to natural gas for a nominal fee, and most automobile companies have an affordable vehicle powered by natural gas. The most important consideration is if Americans can afford the technology it can force the infrastructure to change. Natural gas burns 2/3 cleaner than oil so its a step in the right direction, and the delivery system is very similar to what will be required for hydrogen making an easier transition in the future. The bonus is that it is American which would create jobs here and help the economy to put money into the things we need to. Our biggest goal should be to consume as much oil as relative to our population of the world. 21 million barrels a day down to 3.5 million a day.
My problems with Mr. Pickens Plan is that he does not simultaneously attack coal. If we built ten solar power plants in the desert that ten square miles each that can drastically reduce the use of coal. Nuclear (I'm going to take a leap and say you are not a fan) is a a clean burning stronger alternative albeit while creating waste. I'd gladly trade our 50% dependence on coal to 70% on nuclear. I'm not a fan of the waste, but nuclear cold fusion will be developed in our lifetime which produces no waste. And, I am assuming that it would be possible to convert a traditional nuke plant into cold fussion.
Change is hard. Corporations and government hate change as much as people do. The "oil" companies and car companies need to lead because without them change will be extremely hard. The oil companies need to have a broader look and be more focused on becoming energy providers rather than oil providers. There is stark contrast is the commercials of BP and Exxon Mobil. BP is trying to show that they are diversifinyg to win over the public where Exxon Mobil is saying there is plenty of oil and with technology we will be able to get to it.
The most exciting thing about all of this that it seems that the majority of Americans are taking note of this issue and care enough to change the current situation. I agree with you on the chemicals and all of the processed food we eat, but I think most people are more concerned about the energy issue and do not know enough about the other.
Know after my rant - do you know where the wedding is, by that I mean what hotel?
off like a prom dress!
C
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