Got Energy?
So … what energy alternative are you suggesting? Solar? Wind? Or do you have a new technology that is ready to go, right now?
And what is so bad about nuclear power? The sun is a nuclear power plant of huge proportions. Yes, it does cause cancer if you don’t use Factor 30, but it also grows corn, provides light, and keeps the Earth from floating around in space.
Name a renewable energy supply? One that works … today. Don’t tell me about a theoretical power supply coming online in a week, month or year. Tell me about one that is highly efficient, works today, and has no down-side. (The downside of Wind – nobody wants a windmill in their yard. The downside to solar – we currently don’t have the technology to miniaturize the panels needed to power practically anything – practically. And the batteries needed to store solar energy are manufactured using toxic materials. And what about the landfills being filled one day with dead and useless batteries??)
In the meantime, nuclear power works. It is the choice for power in Europe. France, alone, derives 75% of its electricity from nuclear power plants. (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf40.html) The nuclear industry has fixed the bugs that scared the US into discarding nuclear power back in the 80’s.
By the way, if the US went nuclear … yes, even with 180 additional plants … we’d be energy independent. Our air would be cleaner because we wouldn’t be using coal or oil to make electricity. Nuclear power plants have a very small “footprint.” That means they don’t take up much room when you compare them to how much room power plants take up producing the same amount of energy.
I don’t work for the nuclear industry. I don’t work for McCain. I’m not anyone’s zombie … Barack’s, Ed Kennedy’s, or President Bush. I live in the real world. So … if you don’t have a viable alternative to drilling offshore or building nuclear power plants WHILE WE’RE WAITING FOR SOME GENIUS TO CREAT A NEW POWER SUPPLY, what are you going to do to power your laptop so you can continue to blog?
I’m a greenie. I’m so green, I may be more green than you. So … be “green” all you want to be … don’t drive, don’t go out, don’t eat, don’t use a cell phone, don’t drink, and don’t blog. But if you want to do any of those things, now and in the future, you have to have energy – to bring anything we consume to the marketplace, to accomplish our work, or pursue our passions, we have to have energy. Be “green,” but be smart, too.
Ever since the first man built a fire to cook his first meal and boil water for his first latte, he needed energy. He burned a dead tree branch. Later he made charcoal. Now, man has to have his Mac. As long as we’re on the Earth, mankind will want power/energy. What are you doing to create a new power supply?
Railing against “Big Oil,” and voting for Barack won’t create a new energy source. Marching, throwing rocks at a Republican, or displaying a bumper sticker won’t create a new energy source. Being a Christo-phobe won’t create a new energy source. Being Gay won’t create a new energy source. Subscribing to the Huffington Post or the Times won’t create a new energy source. Research will. Genius will.
Aloha!
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Aren’t you high and mighty?
You think nuclear power has no downsides? Think again.
And instead of investing all the TIME and money it would take to build these, yes, we can do it just as well with alternative and greener sources. We have the technology and have had it for years.
So get off your arrogant high horse.
You don’t know know the meaning of aloha.
Look … I want answers. Arrogant. Sure. High and mighty. Don’t think so. Nuclear power – nuclear waste. Alternatives? Name ‘em. Where are they used? How much do they cost? Can you afford to buy what they’ll be selling? (By the way, the BIG OIL companies will own the alternatives, when they come. Think about that one.) What technology have we had for years? What’s it called? Who invented it?
So … yeah, I’m arrogant. And I don’t have any answer either. I’m not a genius. I don’t do energy research. I write a blog or two – express my opinions, ask questions, toss around ideas, kick the tires … etc.
But I’m scared. Obama scares me. McCain, too.
I’ll add a new question to the uncertainty. What is the environmental impact of all these green energy sources. Solar panels reflect most of the sunlight striking them back into the atmosphere. Currently the spectra reflected by solar panels is absorbed. What happens to the climate when we convert huge quantities of wind energy to electric energy, thus removing that energy from the weather system? Physics tells us that there is no free lunch, energy removed from a system by conversion has an impact. What happens when we reduce the energy of the wind streams flowing on shore from the ocean or the river of air that flows down from the arctic through the plains states to the Gulf of Mexico? (the stream T. Boone wants to tap for his wind farms) Has anyone looked at this?