Energy
Most of this is rhetorical, but its to get things started…
While I am all for reducing the effects on the environment by fossil fuel use, I am not for people going hungry when a person has to decide whether to put fuel in the car to get to work, pay for food or medicine. While it is true that Europe has paid roughly four times the amount Americans have paid per gallon their society is geared more for public transportation.
Lets put a more realistic spin on the oil/gas issue. If you own a big SUV / Hummer and drive in the city, you really don’t have a legitimate complaint for oil / gas prices. The tax loop should be closed on these luxury items so that the buyers actually pay for the vehicles and the gas used. Any one of several mini-vans can carry more people than a large SUV with better fuel mileage. If the SUV is an actual work vehicle, have it documented as such with special plates, like dual axle pickups used for farming, and give them the tax breaks.
BIO-diesel is one of the biggest public farces I have seen in recently history, and on so many levels. I was a truck driver for three years, driving in the top 10% of the companies 200 drivers for fuel mileage. All drivers that tried the bio-diesel had / have at least one of the following issues; Documented worse fuel mileage, documented engine damage, documented less power going up hills and mountains, documented increased gelling of the fuel in winter time. If a driver uses 10% more BIO-fuel doesn’t that mean 10% more has to be brought in? In addition to that how much more energy and pollution is produced to make BIO-fuel, and does it actually offset the “environmental impact of hydrocarbons” of the current supply of fuel?
Next on the list would be the ‘shortage’ of crops reported from last years harvest. (Bio-diesel / fuel is made from corn or soy beans.) For many decades now the government has been paying farmers not to plant crops but trees. Now one of the reasons for this, was to artificially inflate the price so farmers wouldn’t produce so much flooding the market and driving the price down. Imagine reclaiming that land and planting corn on it, in fact 2007 we had so much corn it was sitting in the open in WI, IL, IA, IN, MN, NE, and KS.
What about offsite drilling? Sure we want to protect our environment and coastline, but what difference does it make when right at the boundary of the coastal waters you have Mexico or Russia or Korea tapping into that oil deposit that is literally feet away from the American water border.
Wind generators, I would have one at my house if I had the money to finance it, tax breaks and grants from the government months after the install does not fill the stomach or gas tank now. Additonally many state, county, and local laws are set against putting up a tower.
Solar panels, right now there is a solar panel developed in South Africa that literally could supply all the electrical demands of a house by covering that houses’ roof with 100 square feet of this product. Its not available in United States, yet its cheaper and more efficient than the closest competitor. (http://www.communicationagents.com/chris/2006/02/21/solar_power_using_an_alloy_film_better_than_silicon.htm) I recently contacted a solar panel installation company for installation on my house. The quote for $32,000 would only apply to me if I were a business, which obviously could afford it. The company stated that they do not yet provide their services for the general residential needs. Bare in mind this is for the less efficient available product. Further complicating matters are the Federal, state to state incentives for installing these systems. Each state is different some have programs, some push off incentives to the power company. Either way a $2000 incentive with a $2000 tax break does not significantly reduce the installation cost.
The bottom line is that Americans want everything without paying the price. The energy crisis cannot and will not be resolved without a major change in the American attitude.
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