Problems, Pitfalls, Pariahs
Out
of sight, out of mind. That seems to be the public philosophy - and the
political response - to something so omnipresent in our lives that it
should get more than periodic lip service. We don’t pay much attention
to our energy needs until we see gas hit $4 a gallon, experience
rolling brown-outs, have a serious power outage, or get utility bills
that could be mistaken for mortgage payments.
We
have an oil crisis in the Gulf of Mexico that threatens both current as
well as future use in this major oil production and refining area. This
is taking over where the Exxon Valdez left off and making oil an energy
pariah (as if it needed more help). Chernobyl and Three Mile Island did
much same disservice to the nuclear energy field. And the color of coal
is the same as its environmental reputation. Recent coal mining
disasters have reminded us in human lives of the danger inherent in
such activities... and given opponents fuel to add to the fire.
The problems in dealing with energy are not really that complex though. Here are six steps to sanity in dealing with them.
#1 We need energy – not slogans
Our homes, factories, businesses, and lifestyles revolve around
readily available, relatively inexpensive, and environmentally clean
sources of energy. Can you imagine a world without it?
• You wake up to an electric alarm clock.
• You brush your teeth with a battery operated toothbrush.
• Into the kitchen you go to prepare toast, eggs, or oatmeal – all with electric or gas appliances.
• Off to the shower – water heated and pumped by electricity.
• You get dressed – in shoes and clothing manufactured in electrically operated plants.
• Into the car, or bus, or train, or plane, or transit system – all running on some sort of man-made fuel.
You
get the point. Unless we are to return to a 4th century way of life,
the use of energy is with us. It is not a question of whether, but how,
what, and when. For the early part of the past century, we didn’t worry
much about the issue. Smaller population, less demand, reasonable cost
and availability, and a lack of environmental concern meant little
attention. We simply plugged in, turned a key, or flipped a switch and
energy appeared – we didn’t much care from where it came.
Since
then, a number of things changed. The atomic era was ushered in with a
literal bang in World War II. The nuclear era followed, with potential
for both good and evil. The air we breathe got less “breathe-able” and
the water we drink, less drinkable. OPEC became a tool for controlling
prices based on whim and manipulation, not natural supply and demand.
Terrorist states used petrodollars from the U.S. to buy weapons to wage
war against us. Cries of “global warming” became the latest in
environmental fashion statements.
The
effort to separate fact from fiction and hype continues, but the
awareness that energy use has an environmental connection is pretty
well accepted. Despite that, we still need it! Wishing things won’t
make them happen.
#2 Controlling our destiny
Our
economy is in the “tank,” so demand for electricity is getting an
unscheduled and undesired vacation. What happens when the economy
recovers? Offices get filled, plants reopen, cars and trucks populate
the roads again. Demand for electricity and other energy sources soars!
Will that energy be there to meet the demand?
Not
only do we need more sources of energy, we need DOMESTIC sources,
specifically. We currently import 60% of our oil from foreign nations.
Of the imported oil, 19% comes from Canada and 12% comes from Mexico.
Does reliance on those countries affect our trade policy? How about our
handling of illegal immigration and border security? Even worse, we get
another 13% of our imported oil from Saudi Arabia, 11% from Nigeria and
9% from Venezuela. Is the world of terrorists affected by this? Yes –
it funds them! Are decisions regarding our military involvement in the
Middle East and Africa affected by this dependence? Don’t be naïve.
Wake up America!
Interestingly, the
Department of Energy was formed in 1977 to end our dependence on
foreign oil following the gas crisis orchestrated by OPEC. Way to go
Washington D.C.
#3 What are our choices?
Oil,
gas and coal – fossil fuels – supply about 84% of our total energy.
Wind, solar and geothermal sources supply about 1%. Nuclear power
provides about 8% or our total energy, and 20% of our electricity.
To
reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we have to use less of it or use
more of our own. We have to drill in our own resource rich areas like
Alaska and lower depth coastal waters (to avoid the deep water drilling
disaster of BP which was pushed by government regulations!) We also
have to explore alternative sources of energy.
Among
the considerations for other sources are cost, availability, and
environmental impact. Solar and wind are both costly, though some
improvement is being made as volumes increase. Both, however, are
unavailable when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine.
Biomass has potential as long as we can burn sugar cane stalks and
other useless materials, and not take away food production. Geothermal
has potential but doesn’t exist everywhere.
The
best answer to date is nuclear energy: it’s environmentally sound,
competitive in cost with oil, gas and coal, technologically advanced,
and safe. There have been fewer deaths from nuclear plants in the U.S.
than in Ted Kennedy’s car. Our men and women in uniform serve on
nuclear powered ships, and France derives 80% of its electricity from
nuclear sources. The issue of waste transportation and storage has been
politicized into a problem that doesn’t exist. There is a bigger threat
from terrorist attacks using bio-chemical weapons than the disposal of
spent nuclear fuel rods. In addition, breeder technology and
reprocessing of spent rods should be encouraged to improve efficiencies
even more. The near term solution to our energy needs is staring us in
the face! Ask our politicians why we aren’t using it!
#4 Political Correctness – “Black and white” matters, not Green
The
conservation and global warming extremists have to be contained by the
media and the politicians. There is never a fear of angering the
“kooks” on the right, and there shouldn’t be for dealing with kooks on
the left in the same manner. In recent years, a great deal of bias and
misinformation has been promulgated as science, much of it under the
banner of the always-dubious United Nations. Even the NASA scientists
should be looked at a bit suspiciously with their newfound mission to
help Muslims feel better about their contributions to science and space
exploration. (Is there a “camel to the moon project” I’ve not heard
of?)
We should encourage conservation
through information and education, not by government punishment,
penalty and tyranny in the form of taxation. We can explore
alternatives to fossil fuels without having to artificially turn the
world “green.” We can move increasingly into renewable sources without
ignoring the presence of natural resources that exist today in great
quantities. We can stop demonizing oil and nuclear power, and pretend
that the technology, the science, the comfort, and standard of living
we enjoy would somehow exist without those resources.
#5 Head in the sand mentality
For
35 years, our government has buried its head in the sand on energy. It
has ignored ensuring adequate supplies for the needs of its people, it
has made us vulnerable to foreign enemies, it has enriched those
enemies and allowed them to wage war against us, and it has regulated
and taxed us to death without any real benefit. In catering to the
special interests of certain large corporations and environmentalists
alike, it has ignored its duty to the people. It’s time to lead, follow
or get out of the way.
The last nuclear
power plant in this country was built 33 years ago, with new proposals
strangled by regulatory compliance and restrictions ever since. China,
on the other hand, plans to build 100 plants (and likely a lot more,)
using American technology and American contractors. The last refinery
in this country was built 35 years ago; if we had the oil, we couldn’t
process it. We have spent billions in taxpayer subsidies for wind and
solar and other “feel good” sources based on a Pollyanna notion of a
“green” society. The only green we’ve seen is a lot of money lining the
pockets of special interests. We’ve been sloganeering instead of
engineering.
#6 The solution
There
are three stages to the development of energy sufficiency and
independence: near-term, mid-term and long-term. In the near-term, we
have to unshackle limiting regulations and facilitate: (1) the
exploration and production of oil, gas, and coal, and the construction
of environmentally sound energy plants using all of those resources,
(2) the construction of new refineries to handle expected oil
production growth, and (3) the fast track construction of nuclear power
plants and the completion of the Yucca Mountain storage facility. The
State of Nevada should be engaged in the process for research,
education, and construction and receive a revenue stream from the
operation of the project.
In the
mid-term (3-10 years), we need to provide incentives and financial
support (loans and guarantees, not subsidies or grants) to improve on
costs and efficiencies of renewable energy sources and nuclear
technology and reduce our dependence on foreign energy to zero.
In
the long-term (10-25 years), we need to focus on nuclear fusion,
hydrogen fuel cells and other emerging technologies to reduce our use
of fossil fuels to virtually zero. A $10 billion prize for the energy
solution for the millennium would be an incentive, though the greatest
incentive is still the will of able Americans.
On
September 12, 1962, President John Kennedy issued this challenge: “We
choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not
because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal
will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills,
because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are
unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others,
too.”
On July 20, 1969 – in that
decade - Neil Armstrong made this immortal statement: “That’s one small
step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Lead, follow or get out of the way.
