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The Obama Watch
The Chu Plan
The administration’s pie-in-the-sky energy planning is working exactly as one might have predicted.
(Page 2 of 2)
The Chevy Volt, set in motion by coal-fired electricity (why wasn’t it called the Chevy Bituminous?), looked like a great idea on paper but not so good when it started to explode three days after a collision.
Due to lack of demand, even with the $7,500 per car federal tax rebate and another $5,000 giveaway in California, General Motors recently announced that it is suspending Volt production for over a month, idling 1,300 workers.
The Obama administration’s solution for the Volt being a dud is to hike the federal rebate to $10,000, a move that will redistribute wealth in the opposite direction from what President Obama generally advocates. Last October, General Motors reported that the average income of Volt buyers was $175,000.
There’s another expensive dud in Elkhart, Indiana, with 100 tiny and unfinished Think cars currently lined up in Think City’s plant with no completion date on the horizon, a clear example of a failed jobs program designed by politicians who didn’t think enough.
Only two Think employees remain employed at the Think City plant, after untold millions of investment dollars and government incentives, tax breaks, and loan guarantees.
The cost to taxpayers at the federal and state levels of the Think boondoggle and the associated downfall of Ener1, a maker of batteries for plug-in vehicles, is confidential, according to Indiana’s economic development office.
“What is known, however, is that both the Obama and Bush administrations poured millions of dollars into battery production in a quest to power thousands of Think City vehicles with lithium-ion batteries,” reports the Chicago Tribune. “To date, Ener1, parent of the battery company, has spent $55 million in federal funding, according to the Energy Department.”
Friedrich Hayek succinctly explained the problem in his 1988 book The Fatal Conceit: “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.”
About the Author
Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (84) | Leave a comment
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JAWilson| 3.13.12 @ 6:44AM
Chu is a Nobel Laureate, without a lick of common sense. He's a classic DC brain.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.13.12 @ 9:22AM
Everything he (Hussein) does, he does for himself. The ILLEGAL Drilling Moratorium, and the Keystone Pipeline. The Drilling Ban was put in place DESPITE a Federal Judge' Ruling. The Drilling Ban was lobbied for, with the help of the Interior Dept.'s Secretary and his Energy Department counterpart's willful TAMPERING with, of a Committee on the Oil Spill's Recommendations. They changed the Committee's Findings to suit their NO DRILL/NO GROWTH Agenda.
He gives the Coal Industry a Bad Time. He has no desire for Nuclear Power. He wouldn't accept Canada's Oil, if they beamed it down to us, in a Teleporter.
You don't believe me?
He has his Minions FORGE DOCUMENTS. He ignores the Rulings (There were 2 of them) on the Drilling Moratorium. Then he gives Brazil a Boat Load of OUR MONEY, so that THEY can Drill in the Deep Water, Then, he promises to be their "Best Customer", because everybody knows that, if you want to be Energy Independent? You buy your oil from a Foreign Country. Democrat Party Principles 101.
He gives Colombia MILLION$ of our Tax Dollars, so that they can Update their Refinery Capacity. Meanwhile, back home, American Companies are SHUTTING DOWN their Refineries, due to Wear and Tear, and Old Age.
Then, of course, being someone who never fails to come out for an encore, he Rejects the Canadian XL Pipeline, the most Looked at, Studied, and Probed (Rectally and otherwise) Pipeline in Human History, and an Instant Job Creator, not to mention: as Sweet of a Deal as we're ever gonna get, anywhere, because 3 YEARS of looking at it wasn't enough for His Imperiousness.
Did I mention that his Main Benefactors - George Soros, and Warren all you can eat Buffet, have HUGE Interests in these deals?
I didn't?
It seems that Dracula has quite the pile of Shekels invested, down Rio way. It seems that this Brazilian Oil Deal is just what the Nazi Collaborator ordered. (I wonder how much comes back to Hussain, in the form of Super Pac Money?)
I've heard that Warren Buffet has been declared The Big Winner, in the Death of the XL Pipeline. Did you know that all of that oil is Transported in Tankers, by Trains, that "I don't pay enough Taxes" OWNS, or is Invested in?
That woulda been some kinda B*TCH, if he lost all that Cash, because of a Pipeline.
"We REWRD our Friends, and PUNISH our Enemies."
Solyndra. Global Crossing. GM, Chrysler, and the UAW. The Volt. Fister, and Abound Solar. All of these people: The Environmental Groups/The UAW/The Hollywood Morons/George Kaiser/Betsy Stryker/Warren Buffet, and the Nazi Traitor to his own kind - George Soros - are the only Benefactors of the Muslim's "Energy Policy".
And, for that, they will be very Generous when the time comes.
But, it's okay, because we have a Black President, so we're not Racist anymore.
SUBVET| 3.13.12 @ 10:18AM
Good morning TLP .....keep up the good fight, in the closing hours of battle the soldgers get tired. We need that PATTON to rally the troops for the last push to VICTORY.
Bless you brother......
Kultursmog| 3.13.12 @ 5:45PM
Personally, TLP, I think a pretty good case could be made for espionage and treason against the #1 Muslim if anyone had the balls to do it.
TrueBlue | 3.13.12 @ 6:58PM
Problem is the Senate would acquit him and then they couldn't see him in jail because they wouldn't be able to prosecute him again. The House would have impeached him shortly after the switch in 2011 if there had been a snowball's chance of it actually doing something about him.
Nobelity| 3.13.12 @ 1:16PM
Barry "I'd like higher gas prices" Obama is also a Nobel Laureate, without a lick of common sense.
Don't forget Stevie "Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe" Chu, a Nobel Laureate, was appointed by Barry "I'd like higher gas prices" Obama, a Nobel Laureate.
As November approaches, do not forget for a moment the common sense of the Nobel Laureate, Barry "I'd like higher gas prices" Obama.
One if by land...| 3.13.12 @ 4:01PM
Good Stuff!
thgirb| 3.13.12 @ 6:57PM
If you want some real entertainment, look in more detail at what Chu got his Nobel for: Optical Cooling. IE Light Energy input at specific wavelengths into gas molecules, the opposite of heating results. The gasses do not heat up their surrounding environment. How was Global Warming supposed to be happening again?
I give him a 9.8 for mental gymnastics.
Jay| 3.13.12 @ 10:53PM
Optical Cooling is associated with quantum physics and is not related to global warming. The sun's light frequencies are not tuned at a specific wavelength to cause cooling. Get your scientific facts straight next time.
thgirb| 3.14.12 @ 1:15AM
My facts are in good working order. The absorption spectrum of gasses varies with their velocities and trajectories relative to their light source. It is a form of Doppler shift. Those moving toward the light source will absorb longer wavelengths than those moving away from it. This, the spectra suitable for absorption is widened by the motion of the gasses.
Look up optical cooling. If the short-wavelength absorbed light energy were released as heat (a key assumption of AGW theory), the gas molecules in Chu's experiment should have released enough to destroy the apparatus used to test them. Instead, they cooled, and condensed into a unique, very fragile material. If the AGW theory were correct, this should never have happened. Please review your dogma.
Roger Pol | 3.15.12 @ 11:04AM
Oil futures prediction and how they affect gas prices is something I am very knowledgeable about. Consider the following which seems to have credence. From what I am seeing, I believe the administrations Super PAC advisors are buying gas/oil futures on the open market and blaming speculators for driving up the price. This in spite of the fact that World and US inventories are up and US consumption is down. Note that there remains a pretty constant $20.00 difference between WTI and BRENT oil futures in spite of the poor quality of BRENT oil.
So my prediction is that in the month or two prior to the election, they will unload their long positions and drive the prices down. The result is our Peter Principle President will look like a genius in his getting the price down. this in spite of his claims that no politician has control over the price of oil. Wonder how he will spin his involvement as the prices drop. There will be a ton of BS leading up to the downturn in the price at the pump and most of it will come from the administration.
Remember this, come late September.
Stan REdmond| 3.13.12 @ 2:44PM
Yassar Arafat got a peace prize too. He invented the suicide vest.
Bartender| 3.13.12 @ 3:43PM
To bad he did not persoanlly use one decades ago.
One if by land...| 3.13.12 @ 4:01PM
the flaming eternity is worse
Von Mises Jr.| 3.13.12 @ 4:29PM
Watch this video on Agenda21 and you will realize that Chu and Obama are not brainless or lacking in common sense. They wish to control every aspect of your "Noble Savage" little life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM
But don't think that this is partisan. G.H.W. Bush was a big proponent of Agenda21. Governor Chris Christie is about to pass an Executive Order subjugating New Jersey property rights to an unelected, unaccountable and unconstitutional board. The "Development and Redevelopment" plan is just like ObamaCare and Dodd Frank. On page 38 of the 41 page Draft, it clearly states that decisions will be made above the state levels. Hence the Federal Government and the U.N. through Treaties will decide if you can build a shed in New Jersey. The intent is to destroy property rights, and redistribute your wealth globally. Agenda21 is coming to a neighborhood like yours. Ask Obama or Chu?
Appleby| 3.13.12 @ 6:45AM
What Obama and his minions continually forget when they try to force America into the failing European mold is that America is much bigger than any European country. Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One magnate, made the same error when he designated Indianapolis as the sole location for a Formula One race in America. F1 is very expensive and the Beautiful People do not go to Indianapolis to see it; and people who have to drive to races don't attend at events that take three days of driving each way. America's size is incomprehensible to Europeans and people who think European. And anyone who doesn't drive and has tried to get rides to places not served by public transit (i.e. just about everywhere in America) quickly find out that Americans consider giving other people rides for extensive distances to be tantamount to home invasion.
Ontario is trying hard to force people out of their houses and into tiny condos on the 61st floor of buildings crammed together, in a country that is very largely empty, because that is the way people in tiny little countries in Europe by necessity live. Nobody thinks about why they do what they do, and why we do not.
Moe Blotz| 3.13.12 @ 7:14AM
Before F1 at Indy, we had Watkins Glen, Long Beach, and then Phoenix. As track safety standards were elevated and ingress/egress became more important, the three former sites were ever less viable. Bernie's decision to run an F1 race when the tires were falling apart led to half the field sitting out the last race at IMS and subsequent cancellation of the event. F1 fans will turn up for a race regardless of the venue. How does Montreal attract enough spectators every year? Two blokes I know in New Jersey ride their notorcycles to Montreal for the Grand Prix . Motor racing in every form is treated by our media as minor league sport whilst countries who are represented by a driver in F1 shower him with accolades. Since F1 is not a US based operation, motor racing fans prefer NASCAR, Indycar, NHRA, AMA etc.
Lmajito| 3.13.12 @ 7:24AM
Well this year f1 is coming back to usa. In austin tx out all places.
Moe Blotz| 3.13.12 @ 9:38AM
Austin will be a purpose built facility and will conform to all Bernie's and FIA demands. The race will attract F1 fans from south of the US border as well as throughout our south west states, but is far removed from any transportation access other than air and highway. Don't look for a big spectator turn out until a hot shoe born and bred in the USA can take on the the best road racers in the world and beat them.
Appleby| 3.13.12 @ 7:25AM
I was at Le Mans, just heading home, when the F1 Tire Fiasco was announced. We laughed all the way from Le Mans to London. It was when I got home that I heard from people who said they had decided not to go because it was too far to drive, and the choice of Indianapolis was a mystery to them. Montreal is a much more European city than Indianapolis and has major transportation choices, plus the subway runs from downtown to the Circuit, a perq not available in Indianapolis. My sister and I took a sleeper train and stayed at the university. We also bought our tickets from an Austrian ticket broker.
R Martin| 3.13.12 @ 12:42PM
You sound like a true motor racing aficionado. Accordingly, you really should consider attending the Goodwood Revival this year. My son and I went last year and so enjoyed the very serious racing of priceless historic cars by renowned and highly skilled drivers that we are returning this year (Sept. 14-16). Cobra is the featured marque. Join us and we'll buy you a real ale.
Richard Baker| 3.13.12 @ 6:51AM
Yet another Ph.D. idiot without common sense. Also, being smart isn't the same as being wise. Chu exemplifies that. The smart folks got us into Vietnam as the "best and brightest", remember them? The people LBJ railed at as the "Harvards".
Richard| 3.13.12 @ 11:36AM
To put it another way: Being smart is no immunity to having bad ideas.
Tim H| 3.13.12 @ 5:27PM
Book smart will inform you that a tomato is really a fruit. Wisdom will tell you not to put a tomato in a fruit salad.
Obama and his minions are ruining our fruit salad.
irish19| 3.14.12 @ 12:41AM
Nice analogy.
Negro x| 3.13.12 @ 6:52AM
Living proof an idiot can win a nobel prize.
Mac Jehoff| 3.13.12 @ 6:59AM
Two more examples: Algore and our current POTUS. Past example: Yassir Arafat. The list can go on.
c. j. acworth| 3.13.12 @ 7:15AM
At least Chu's Nobel was earned for real science. Algore, POTUS, and Arafat won the Peace prize, which has long been a joke. But that still doesn't change the fact that winning a Nobel means you can't be a dummy.
Lmajito| 3.13.12 @ 7:22AM
Wrong cj, arafat was not a brilliant man...likewise the current oval office occupier...both prices were awarded by pure political reasons..
Dick Nome| 3.13.12 @ 8:04AM
Let's not forget 'The Jimmuh' here.
Goldwaterite| 3.13.12 @ 9:55PM
The Nobel Peace Prize is a canard of an award foisted by the Norwegian socialist-leftwingers upon another socialist-leftwinger. That is all.
BO was nominated for the Prize shortly after being elected President. The reason? being elected President. That is all.
squalis| 3.13.12 @ 8:27AM
You needed more proof after Carter and Obama?
William L. Gensert| 3.13.12 @ 6:52AM
The absurdity of the administration's plan, to raise the price of all energy in order to make the cost of green energy seem cheap by comparison, should be obvious.
One if by land...| 3.13.12 @ 4:04PM
It is to those of us not walking around all day mumbling, "Obama, Obaamaa, Obama." I mean, "Brains, Brraaiiins, Brains"
R Martin| 3.13.12 @ 6:58AM
"The cost to taxpayers at the federal and state levels of the Think boondoggle and the associated downfall of Ener1, a maker of batteries for plug-in vehicles, is confidential, according to Indiana's economic development office."
That's appalling. Some government expenditure of taxpayer money is legitimately confidential (NSA surveilliance strategy, e.g.), but when public money is thrown down a rat hole by government incompetence there is a public need to know so that voters can change the government.
Jim| 3.13.12 @ 8:52AM
That's exactly why they don't tell us - they know we'll kick their a$$es out the door.
Lmajito| 3.13.12 @ 7:19AM
What this idiot doesn't realize is that the basic price of european gas is the same as the one in usa. What takes the price to nine plus bucks are the taxes.
Maybe this oriental clown from some kabuki theater is vocalizing his incompetent boss wishes
Stan REdmond| 3.13.12 @ 2:46PM
Don't give him any ideas. They will happily raise fed gas taxes that high if he could sneak it in. But wait until after the election for that.
Indy| 3.13.12 @ 7:57AM
He doesn't own a car, of course he wants EU gas prices. He thinks he and Cass Sunstein can manipulate the peasants with Obama's blessings.
SUBVET| 3.13.12 @ 10:07AM
We shall see...............
Gary B| 3.13.12 @ 7:59AM
It's not incompetence. It a continuation of Obama's overall scorched-earth policy, which, as indicated by their inaction, Republicans in Congress must support. Need proof? What's the real-world result of every single investigation Republicans have initiated? For example, what's happened to the Fast & Furious investigation?
Is there a wall nearby? I need to bang my head against it.
kwan| 3.13.12 @ 8:12AM
Chu was recently in front of a congressional committee trying to explain that he was misunderstood regarding his call for $8.00 per gallon gasoline. These commie rats always start diving for cover as soon as you confront them with their own words.
Gary B| 3.13.12 @ 9:39AM
Like cockroaches, their real intentions can't stand the light of day, but, by their actions, we know what they are.
So, how to we judge Republicans? By their own brand of BS, or by their actions?
The stock in trade of everyone in DC is deceipt. They wake up every day concerned about how they will continue tricking American, taxpayers.
During social hour, Repubicans and Democrats conspire to this end. They're on thinner ice, but they keep playing the only game they know.
SUBVET| 3.13.12 @ 10:09AM
And.............what are we going to do about it.
Gary B| 3.13.12 @ 2:48PM
It's tough to take any action without breaking the law, which is something the government doesn't concern itself with.
McCandles| 3.13.12 @ 8:40AM
Every time I read about this crap, I get more angry at the American people. the fact that Obama even has a chance to get a second term is why I feel that way. His justice department is AGAINST having voters prove who they are. They SUED Arizona for trying to do what the federal government will not do, and is obligated to do.
Yes, the Volt is a COAL powered vehicle. The Lithium mining that makes it possible is more damaging to the environment than drilling for fossil fuels will ever be.
Global warming and cooling is real. NOBODY with any common sense believes this is man made. The "evidence" for this is nonsense. I'm no scientist but I'll debate a real "scientist" on this issue and make him look silly.
Gary B| 3.13.12 @ 9:46AM
McCandles,
I share your exact frustration. I just keep telling myself the only reason I'm worried about a second term for Obama is because the enemedia keeps telling us his chances look good. It's in their interest to lie like a rug. Think of them as the most powerful branch of government - the propaganda ministry.
Do your best to ignore them and keep reading and listening to actual conservatives. We outnumber them two to one, as we just discovered with Rush's latest adventure.
SUBVET| 3.13.12 @ 10:11AM
You have to thank Mr. Lord for that.........
john dubose| 3.13.12 @ 5:39PM
There are plenty of scientifically trained people who think AGW is bunk. But one has to dig in a fair amount to really uncover the error. ( and it likely started out more error than conspiracy ).
There is probably little to worry about because anti CO2 efforts will go nowhere without the participation of India, China etc. They will not
commit suicide and we will not have to either unless the likes of Chu get total power.
thgirb| 3.14.12 @ 2:10AM
Look at the Ibuki satellite data. The US is a net IMPORTER of CO2!! Under a Cap and Trade regime, Brazil would be paying US!!! Isn't it odd that these results are not front-page news?? And why isn't Dr. Chu asking us to plant more trees- if he actually believes in AGW??
David W| 3.13.12 @ 8:41AM
How many "smart" kids joined the OWS? How many "smart" people are unable to control their own lives? How many members if Mensa are not able to live comfortably in society? Smart needs to be balanced with prudence - the ability to properly balance the various "values" that we humans hold dear. Sure we want a pristine environment, but if it forces everyone to live in caves do we strive for a pristine environment?
numbatdog| 3.13.12 @ 8:56AM
"Chu is not qualified to pick winners and losers"
Actually he and his fellow travelers have consistently picked losers on which to shower taxpayer money. The lesson is to run like crazy from any company they pick. It's going down.
cicero| 3.13.12 @ 11:04AM
If I remember correctly, the two stated reasons for the move from carbon based fuels to alternatives was, 1.) we were running out of oil, and2.), global warming,cooling, climate change. Now we know that the earth is floating on a bed of oil that it replenishes over time, and that the whole global climate thing was a fraud from the beginning. So, what is the excuse for all of this nonsense? If the Progressives want to bankrupt the middle class so they can rescue them withs their intelligence, wisdom, and obvious superiority, just tell us, and we will put them in charge. After all, we did that in 2008, didn't we?
If the Republican don't provide the folks with a conservative candidate, and turn back the nonsense that we have been burdened with this cycle, I, for one, am in favor of starting a new party to do just that. In the mid 1800', the conservative movement tired of waiting for the Whigs to decide where they stood on the question of slavery. It is time we asked the Republican Party where they stand on the same issue - the enslavement of the middle class to the political class. If they don't have a good answer, and show a willingness to actually fight for the ground we stand on, they must go the way of the Whigs, and we must find another vehicle to fight for the life and soul of this country.
Al Adab| 3.13.12 @ 3:26PM
Oh please Cicero, don't confuse The Left with facts, their Faith doesn't allow for it.
Mike Hawk| 3.13.12 @ 3:38PM
Is there such a thing as fuel that isn't carbon based?? We are a carbon based life form. What does that tell you.
irish19| 3.14.12 @ 12:50AM
Soylent Green?
Richard| 3.13.12 @ 11:39AM
The problem is Leftism which holds that the right group of people, i.e. them, can know what is best for the rest of us. Sorry, it has never worked and can never work. Jews and Christians know that when man tries to become God he, instead, becomes the Devil.
WL Roughton| 3.13.12 @ 11:44AM
Americans and Europeans already pay the same price for oil; the market for oil is global and, with few exceptions, everyone buys oil from it. The difference between the price of a liter of gasoline in Europe and the United States is taxes. If Secretary Chu wants the price of gasoline in this country to be at European levels, he has to find a way to increase the taxes on it. Otherwise, the Europeans, because of their much stiffer gasoline tax rates, will always pay more than we American do.
Ron| 3.13.12 @ 12:11PM
"Dud" pretty much describes everything about this administration...NerObama, praised as the "smartest man in a room", is taking this country down a path of destruction that we will not be able to recover from.
oldfart| 3.13.12 @ 12:26PM
What do you expect from a bunch of educated idiots?
Mark MacInnis| 3.13.12 @ 1:28PM
We better wise up....Obama is likely to win the popular vote by 7,000,000, due to the coasts and urban areas. Romney is a good bet to win the electoral college. Will Obama concede an election where he wins the popular vote, but in his mind loses on a technicality?
Doubtful.
January 21st next year should be a very INTERESTING day....
ABNCP| 3.13.12 @ 1:38PM
Come on folks, all of this insanity follows Soros's plan for Western Democracys. Obama had his agenda from Soros in place before he was elected. Pretty much every action Obama and his Administration have taken since he was elected has done harm to traditional American values and mores. Everything he as accomplished in office was set up in a agenda that the Soros Cabal who searched for him, recruited him, trained him, financed him and control him had set up. There is no way all of the horrible things this man has done to this county is by accident or chance. Never could happen. Obama's past and how he became President is going to laid open some day and all of the idiots who voted for him and still support him will still probably drink the koolade.
Stan REdmond| 3.13.12 @ 2:53PM
Every day I see the pain and suffering of people who have to put their fuel costs over the costs of their food and birth control. I implore congress to mandate equality and fairness for all and have the insurance companies pay for our automobile fuel.
Ken| 3.13.12 @ 3:19PM
Jimmy Carter, the "nuclear expert," was also very intelligent like Chu. And he was the worst president in our history until Obama. What he lacked was common sense.
JohnLeeHooker| 3.13.12 @ 3:47PM
citing Chu's accomplishment as a nobel prize winner in laughably similar to odumbo's peace prize - he's one of the deadliest presidents in my life time
thgirb| 3.14.12 @ 2:16AM
If Chu were a man of integrity, he'd be demanding the importation of the small diesel sedans one finds in nearly every other country, but not here. Does anyone seriously not see the national security advantages inherent in a 50+ mpg civilian fleet? Curious how quiet he has been...
old progrmr| 3.13.12 @ 4:11PM
"I don't doubt that Dr. Chu is a smart guy. He's the co-winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics, for the "development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light."
NO! He is not a smart guy. He is only an educated guy, but not very smart nor experienced with the real world. Here is a guy who admits he doen't own, and has never owned, an automobile. He has either used a limo and driver or spent his entire life on campus or living next to his Public Sector, government funded job. If you look at energy utilization from his very limited viewpoint, it is logical. If everbody only drove their small four seater auto 10-15 miles per day or took Public Transportation, oil consumption would fall drastically and solve all of our porblems. And if we replace all those carbon based power plants with windmills and solar farms, Shazzam, we magically fix everything... so what's the problem.. Get on with it. For Mr. Chu personally there is no hardship, nothing would change, so what is the big deal. He has absolutely no idea or experience with the majority of society; the same as the majority of the inexperienced, academically shielded, over-educated incompetents in this Regime.
thgirb| 3.14.12 @ 3:27PM
Agreed. If anyone on this planet is in a position to know that the AGW theory is rubbish, it is Chu. He used lasers to cool gasses. The energy they absorbed did not heat them. This shows that when gasses absorb UV light energy, they do not necessarily release it as lower-energy IR. They may, in fact, cool their surroundings, in part by absorbing the kinetic energy of other gasses!
AGW is junk science, and Chu is either a charlatan or an idiot. (Or is fed up with the nonsense he is propagating. I hope this is the case.)
datameister| 3.13.12 @ 4:52PM
Great comments; great article. Nails it cleanly; nothin' but net.
My faith is restored that there are people who possess common sense.
Doc Chaos| 3.13.12 @ 4:54PM
I can't devide whether he's just neurotically paranoid or a full blown schitz.
FiddlerBob| 3.13.12 @ 5:27PM
Obama, Chu, et al are exactly why our founders limited the federal government by enumerating and separating its powers and responsibilities.
It's time to get back to the basics, read the Constitution, and do it. As the wise man said, "If all else fails, read the instructions!"
Drew| 3.13.12 @ 5:28PM
I like how you compared European gas prices in the summer of 2008 when oil was trading at around $140 a barrel to US gas prices after the world economy collapsed and oil was less than $45. Do you feel your thesis is so weak that you have to resort to such obvious trickery?
richme| 3.13.12 @ 6:44PM
Please provide names of "fair" news outlets and/or list of "unbaised" journalists.
Ellen K| 3.13.12 @ 6:07PM
When you center your agenda around academic tinkering over real world scenarios, you end up with these types of failed experiements. Even during a good economy such messing with the foundation power source for our economy would have been questionable, to force it during an economic meltdown is nothing more than hubris and folly. But this is what happens when you fill the White House staff with former professors. Most of them have never had to be accountable for the outcome of their actions, they simply have to demonstrate they have tried to do something and published the results. Americans deserve better than an administration run on speculation and partisan politics.
BTW, when is someone ANYONE going to look into how Solyndra, a company with barely over 1,000 employees, managed to lose nearly half a billion dollars in less than two years. I contend that within the audits, if they were ever done, we would find that the Obama Campaign machine in Chicago skimmed money from the top before any of that stimulus money was applied to these most tangential of applications. Why is nobody looking at where that money went?
Pat| 3.13.12 @ 6:50PM
Ellen K – good points. But anyone who knows where the Soylandra money really went entered the mainstream media’s Witness Protection Program months ago. Under this version of Witness Protection you keep your real name, you don’t change jobs, you don’t move to New Mexico and you don’t have some well-groomed federal marshal checking up on you. Keep your mouth shut and let the DOE’s official spokesperson do the talking constitutes the only hard and fast rule. At least that’s the way the folks at the Washington Post believe it works. Sure, your intuition is spot on because no business can go through half a billion dollars in loans that quickly without active federal assistance. Somewhere in the Cayman Islands, the bankers’ version of “don’t ask, because we won’t tell”, there are fat account balances whose coded account numbers are known only to a select few among Washington insiders.
And this make Americans as poor as Europeans concept proceeded Mr. Obama’s term. Academics have always believed we should be taxed like Europeans, be in debt like Greeks and pay over $100 to fill our gas tanks like Londoners. The only exception to this be like Europe rule is that young Americans must dodge bullets in foreign lands to protect the commercial interests of Europeans, unlike Europe’s kids.
The Dakotas are sitting on an estimated 500 billion barrels of oil, California has even more oil both on and off shore and there’s plenty more where that came from under the Gulf of Mexico. But, just like the Europeans, our leaders believe oil properly belongs under the ground rather than in our refineries. In that respect, we’ll all be Europeans soon.
Ellen K| 3.13.12 @ 7:48PM
The Chinese are drilling off the coast of Cuba in the same new pool that Obama has put off limits to American drilling. In the western deep Gulf, the largest pool possibly ever discovered exists and American drillers can't tap into it. And this doesn't even account for the boom and bust cycle of the Permian Basin which could and should be revived with new technology. Obama simply doesn't want to entertain the idea of oil sustaining us despite the fact that it's more stable and more efficient than most other sources. Just watch and if Obama wins (God help us!) he will sign a version of the Kyoto Accord that will push us further down the road to the Dark Ages. Why he continues to get no criticism in the media over continued outsourcing of oil drilling to foreign nations that hate us will always remain a mystery to me.
richme| 3.13.12 @ 6:31PM
President Obama approved Solyndra at fundraiser based on a few estimates written on a napkin.
Keystone XL takes 4 yr review.
Ellen K| 3.13.12 @ 7:51PM
And that is despite periodic oversight by countless Federal, state and local agencies in regards to placement, land acquisition and environmental concerns. I would love for just one envirowhacko to explain to me how it's more beneficial for the environment to transport tar sands via diesel train or supertanker.
JohnK| 3.13.12 @ 6:55PM
Ok then, lets have a challenge here. Its pretty easy for those who do not support Obama to throw rocks and complain and carp. Let's change the discussion and hear some proactive ideas about energy security that don't revolve around "drill baby drill". The US got to where it is by ingenuity and invention. Volt and Think are examples that have failed - so be it. Edison failed thousands of times until he succeeded. Americans don't quit and just say that we have to keep doing it the old way. That is the way of losers. When (not if) gas goes to $10 per gallon, what will we do? That is the key point, not the head in the sand demagoguery that is in the article and in the comment section.
thgirb| 3.14.12 @ 9:23PM
We will (and should be) demanding the small diesel cars available everywhere else in the world, while our EPA keeps us from using the vast majority. We should be making synthetic diesel from coal, shale, and whatever carbohydrate waste we have available. We should build nukes now, and remove drilling restrictions imposed by Obama. We should import Canadian oil, now. We should maintain an open mind about biodiesel and algae- but make use of private venture capital, not governmental fiat to fund it! Metabolic engineering could be VERY useful here- but only if we allow the winners to collect rewards! Perhaps we could make use of diesel-electric hybrid approaches to larger passenger vehicles. We could also make it MUCH easier to legally operate one's diesel truck on natural gas AND diesel fuel through fumigation- rather than demanding the deliberate sabotage of our existing diesel engines! The Eastern Europeans have been using systems like this for decades!
We don't need to invent a new technology to address our energy issues, though it wouldn't hurt to have more choices. Instead, we have to reward the clever among us who can make best use of what we have now, but are prevented from using. And if new one is competitive, we should let the market decide its appeal.
BTW, Demagoguery often requires bearing false witness against the accused. But Obama has made a serious policy decision to sabotage the domestic energy sector, and favor his cronies who sell "Green" approaches that do not work. It is not demagoguery if it is true.
Ellen K| 3.13.12 @ 8:02PM
1. Vary the arrival and departure times at urban workplaces. This would mitigate the rush hour delays and make it where people don't waste gas sitting in traffic.
2. Eliminate HOV lanes as they create more delays and accident than they prevent. This would also make more lanes available for traffic, making delays shorter in duration.
3. Stop subsidizing private manufacturing and allow American ingenuity to produce vehicles responsive to American needs. This is not something that can be artificially finessed to impose an agenda, but must reflect a true acceptance of the wisdom of the market over the government's agenda.
4. Publicly track the addition of federal, state and local taxes on the per gallon sales of gas. I think people would be outraged to realize that part of the reason the government at every level doesn't seem interested in lower gas prices is because their cut comes from sales. Higher prices means higher local sales taxes.
5. Raise the national legal driving age to 18. This would limit random aimless driving, lower insurance rates and create a situation where maturity was a key factor behind the wheel. It would also create a generation that would learn to rely on mass transit for some situations over private cars.
Andrew Gross | 3.13.12 @ 10:06PM
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Johnimo| 3.14.12 @ 1:26AM
It's easily done, raising the price of gasoline to European levels: simply tax it about $5 per gallon, just as the European governments do. Think you can get fifty votes in the Senate for that tax increase? LOL
Marc Jeric| 3.15.12 @ 4:42PM
It is very encouraging for us the freedom lovers that Mullah Obama and his Secretary of Energy are so fond of "green" enegy": you see - it does not exist. This reminds me of those medieval princes paying their alchemists for several hundreds of years to transform lead into gold.