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Special Report
Green Welfare, Green Taxes, Green Poverty
The road to hell is paved with Obama’s Green intentions.
What would you do if gangs of robbers roamed your neighborhood at night, breaking into your neighbors’ houses and stealing their family jewels and life savings? You would arm yourself, and your family members of sufficient age, to defend your property. Or you would move to a safer neighborhood.
But if the robbers formed gangs called Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, or the Natural Resources Defense Fund, and assaulted your standard of living, the Che Guevara Democrats expect you to greet them with open arms, and gleefully turn over bushels of your cash, until your life savings is gone, and your standard of living has been reduced to the level of Argentina.
That third world destination is where Obama’s “green energy” economic strategy is taking America, all while he tells us sweet fairy tales about how this path is the road to 21st century prosperity.
Flower Power
Fancy political propaganda
has us thinking that renewable, alternative fuels are the modern
energy sources of the future. But just the opposite is true. Robert
Bryce explains in his book
Power Hungry: The Myths of “Green” Energy and the Real Fuels of
the Future:
For millennia, humans relied almost completely on renewable energy. Solar energy provided the forage needed for animals, which could then be used to provide food, transportation, and mechanical power. Traveling…was made possible by the wind, human muscle, or animal muscle. And though today’s wind turbines are viewed as the latest in technological achievement, land-based systems that captured the power of the wind have been recorded through much of human history.
Indeed, the classic vision of the settlements of the Old West in America involves a decaying, wooden, windmill. Byrce continues, “The use of hydropower likewise goes way back. The ancient Greeks used waterwheels; so did the Romans, who recorded the use of waterwheels in the first century B.C. The use of mechanical power from water continued to the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.”
Moreover, “For 265 years after the Pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony, and for 109 years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, wood was the dominant source of energy in America.” Coal surpassed wood in 1885. Oil surpassed coal in 1950. Natural gas is undergoing a resurgence today.
The world changed from wind, solar, and biomass to oil, coal, natural gas and nuclear for good reasons of physics and math. First and foremost are the concepts of energy density and power density. The hydrocarbons and nuclear pack a massively more concentrated punch. The power of solar and wind are very broadly diffused throughout the atmosphere, so more than herculean efforts are needed to collect and concentrate it in usable forms. Hence we see solar panels and several hundred foot wind turbines spread out over square miles, and it still doesn’t add up to much.
The South Texas Project nuclear plant produces 300 horsepower per acre of land used, about the same as natural gas, with oil close behind. Wind power produces 6.4 horsepower per acre, solar photovoltaic 36 hp per acre, biomass 2.1. Corn ethanol requires about 1,150 times as much land as nuclear to produce the same horsepower.
The Milford Wind Corridor is a 300-megawatt Utah wind project with 139 wind turbines covering 40 square miles. Manufacturing the concrete to build them used 14.3 million gallons of water in producing 44,344 cubic meters of concrete. That means “each megawatt of wind power capacity requires about 870 cubic meters of concrete and 460 tons of steel.” That’s 32 times as much concrete and 139 times as much steel as for a megawatt produced by natural gas.
The diffusion problem is greatly compounded by the high variability of wind and solar conditions for power production. Bryce writes, “We want the ability to switch things on and off whenever we choose. That desire largely excludes wind and solar from being major players in our energy mix, because we can’t control the wind and the sun. Weather changes quickly. A passing thunderstorm or high pressure system can take wind and solar power systems from full output to zero output in a matter of minutes. The result: we cannot reliably get or deliver the power from those sources at the times when it is needed.”
Then there is the problem of storing wind and solar power: “Renewable energy has little value unless it becomes renewable power, meaning power that can be dispatched at specific times of our choosing….And despite decades of effort, we still have not found an economical way to store large quantities of the energy we get from the wind and the sun so that we can convert that energy into power when we want it.”
As a result, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas concluded that just “8.7% of the installed wind capability can be counted on as dependable capacity during the peak demand period” and “conventional generation must be available to provide the remaining capacity needed to meet forecast load and reserve requirements.” With conventional energy sources needed to back them up completely on short notice, wind and solar are really just vanity supply to make the wasteful rich feel good.
These are the reasons why the world changed, and its not going back. As Bryce explains, before the Industrial Revolution, “while solar, wind, and water power all provided critical quantities of useful energy, they were no match for coal, oil and natural gas. Hydrocarbons provided huge increases in power availability, allowing humans to go from diffused and geographically dispersed power sources to ones that were concentrated and free of specific geographic requirements. Hydrocarbons were cheap, could be transported, and most important, had greater energy density and power density. That increasing availability of power has allowed us to do ever-greater amounts of work in less time.” Hence the industrial revolution and modern prosperity, now spreading worldwide.
Energy, Economic Growth and Modern
Prosperity
Across the globe, modern prosperity is
perfectly correlated with the use of energy and electricity. Byrce
writes, “[T]he simple, unavoidable truth is that using oil makes us
rich. In fact, if oil didn’t exist, we’d have to invent it…. [A]s
oil consumption increases, so does prosperity. And the correlation
is so clear as to be undeniable.”
About the Author
Peter Ferrara is Director of Entitlement and Budget Policy at the Heartland Institute, General Counsel of the American Civil Rights Union, Senior Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis, and Senior Policy Advisor on Entitlements and Budget Policy at the National Tax Limitation Foundation. He served in the White House Office of Policy Development under President Reagan, and as Associate Deputy Attorney General of the United States under President George H.W. Bush.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (46) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 6.13.12 @ 6:35AM
I keep wondering how the Greenie Commies think their "devices" to which they are harnessed with the same desperation as they are wedded to their illegal pharmaceuticals, could possibly be manufactured using solar energy -- or union labour, for that matter. Let's see an Alternative Community somewhere that uses nothing but the personal finances of the hippie scum and their personal muscles, and let's see them manufacture a Binkie and maintain it Down On The Farm.
In fact, let's have a reality show in which instead of Sex On Demand, the couples live like it's the 16th century for 30 days. A group of kiddies tried this on the prairies of Kanukistan and most of them lasted a matter of days. I'd love to see them, especially the women, putting in fifteen hour days using only muscles and "alternative" energy sources, and living with only what they could grow, build, fashion and keep clean without the use of "devices."
fmm| 6.13.12 @ 8:25AM
Although I don't remember any details, I saw a news report of such a community project in England a few years back. The people opted out within 2 weeks.
Harry the Horrible| 6.13.12 @ 8:32AM
I saw one of these - "Colonial House" or something.
The folks were horribly unprepared AND they were crippled right from the beginning because they couldn't hunt. They were incredibly miserable the entire time.
Pecos Pete| 6.13.12 @ 6:52AM
My grand children won't visit me because I don't have TV or broadband Internet. They claim there is nothing to do except fish, hike, ride horses and sit on the porch swatting flies. And when the electricity is knocked out by wind, lightening or someone cutting a tree which falls on the electric line, they have to make do with oil lamps and wood burning stoves. They don't much like playing spoons, chess, checkers, backgammon, etc.
Yep, wind and solar investments will take us back to living in caves.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 8:12AM
That's the whole idea, Pete. They want to take us back to a simpler time. A time BEFORE men were Free. A Time BEFORE the World had even heard of The Middle Class.
Everybody knows that, when the Wall came down, the Communists migrated to the Environmental Movement. GREEN became The New RED. And then they got busy.
One Agency has caused more Damage to our Economy, than all of the others put together. The EPA. They Control the Air we Breathe IN, as well as the Air we Breathe OUT. They control the Water we drink. How we Grow our Crops. Where we can put up a Structure (wetlands) if we don't have the money to pay off our local Democrat Official. How we get our Energy and IF we can get our Energy.
For over 30 Years, they have been Blocking us from taking our God Given Energy Resources out of the Ground. For 30 Years, they have been DESIGNING OUR CARS. For 30 Years, they have been indoctrinating our Kids, filling their heads with their Communist Propaganda, couched in their Save the Planet Bullsh*t.
They use it to Punish their Enemies (Anyone NOT buying them off) and Reward their Friends. (Get rid of the word "NOT" and replace it with "WHO IS")
They can bottle up projects forever, as long as they're recieving Tribute from their Environmental Benefactors.
It's all about Controlling us, and moving us backwards to a simpler time. Back in to our Caves, where Control wouldn't take forever, or need a Forced Collapsation of the Entire Economic Apparatus.
Just the roof of your Cave.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 8:41AM
Orwell wrote "Animal Farm" in 1945 following the defeat of the Nazi regime with its green energy and propaganda. It is not a coincidence that he wrote of the windmill that was alleged to be built for the other animals to make their lives easier and better. But there never was nor was there ever going to be a windmill. It was a lie to enslave the other animals. http://www.americanthinker.com....._care.html
And so it is with Solyndra, Ener1, Solar Trust.......These were not real companies and they never produced a viable product. They were a diversion so that Obama, Pelosi, Soros, George Kaiser and others could steal your money and distribute it among them.
"Animal Farm" was about the slavery of socialism. It could have been about serfdom. This is what the so-called progressives have in mind for you: "slavery and serfdom." But they cannot enslave you if you are living in luxury. And they don't get the money, resources and power if you have access to coal and natural gas for ample electricity, oil and gas for your cars, jet fuel for our planes. So if they can nationalize these wonder fuels, they can hold you in slavery. Amazing from the first black president?
DRed| 6.13.12 @ 11:30AM
They actually do build the windmill in Animal Farm, which is about the Soviet Union, not Germany. You should read it some time.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 12:06PM
Maybe you should read the article on AT that cites: "But the rest of us looking on know that there is no windmill, and there never will be for the same reason Orwell's animals never see its completion."
But apparently you cannot read. I did not say it was about Nazi Germany. I said it was written after WWII after the defeat of the Nazis. The continent had just been through three decades of communism and fascism. He was writing about socialism and I don't know if you are smart enough to realize fascism is socialism that is on the left, comrade.
DRed| 6.13.12 @ 1:02PM
You said that it was no coincidence that Orwell wrote about a windmill right after the defeat of Nazi Germany and its green energy. That implies that Orwell was writing in part, at least, about Nazi Germany. But apparently you don't understand what you write. This is not surprising, because you are either talking about a book that you haven't read or totally misunderstood. Orwell wasn't writing the slavery of socialism in Animal Farm. Orwell was an actual socialist. He was writing about Stalinist Russia. Animal Farm had nothing whatsoever to do with Nazi Germany looking for domestic alternative energy sources to reduce the threat of a wartime blockade.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 1:26PM
Dred, do you have any restraining orders from women you are stalking?
I really have no time for a troll. If this was a barter economy, what would you trade for your food and clothing? Nothing. That is why you are a socialist, comrade.
DRed| 6.13.12 @ 1:35PM
What you have no time for, my friend, is actually making an argument. If you don't want me to make you look stupid, perhaps you should try knowing what you're talking about next time.
ps
I'm not a socialist. Don't confuse me with George Orwell.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 3:08PM
You start out making a false claim, at least if the article I cited is correct. You said that there was a windmill and the article I cite states "But the rest of us looking on know that there is no windmill, and there never will be for the same reason Orwell's animals never see its completion."
I have read "Animal Farm" and "1984" a couple times, and if Orwell believed in socialism, he sure didn't make it sound very good in his depiction of it. But then so was Vonnegut a liberal who lambasted socialism in a couple of his books. Frankly, I don't give a crap what they thought. I care about the work.
I don't have time for you and I prefer if you take a hike. Someone who starts out with stupid, inaccurate statement and doesn't understand economics (or is a prevaricator) is not worth debating. So I hope this is goodbye, stalker boy.
DRed| 6.13.12 @ 4:32PM
Except my stupid, inaccurate statement is actually accurate. They build the windmill in Animal Farm. The point isn't that there is no windmill, it's that they build it incompetently, then get it destroyed in a war, then finally manage to rebuild it but use it to benefit only the pigs, not all the other animals. You both misunderstood Animal Farm and the American Thinker article. Good job, chump. But nice work patting yourself on the back about you only care about the work (which you utterly fail to understand), you pompous ass. You couldn't debate Orwell with a 4th grader.
Von Mises Jr| 6.13.12 @ 11:03PM
The windmill is never intended to be finished. It is a symbol of the manipulation of the pigs over the other animals. Napoleon uses the windmill to demonize Snowball. Whether they built it so poorly that it fell down or Napoleon destroyed it, it is moot. It is Solyndra. It is Ener1. It is Sun Trust. It is a freaking mirage, fool. It is a scam to fool stupid animals like you. It is "hope" and "change."
Do you not understand that I think you are a cancer on society and I want nothing to do with you. You really need help, stalker.
DRed| 6.14.12 @ 12:04AM
Christ, the windmill is an allegorical representation of the soviet union's forced industrialization. It's not a mirage-they actually build it. You don't actually care what Animal Farm is about. You're an ideologue, and are only interested in looking at it to the extent you believe it supports your ideology. I'm talking to a person, after all, who believes (despite the existence of absolutely no evidence whatsoever) that shadowy forces at the UN, George HW Bush and Chris Christie are involved in a sinister plot to turn most of America into an animal preserve. And you say I need help. You don't even know how to differentiate between fact and fantasy. Feel free to ignore me, Von. I don't mind.
Doctor Right| 6.13.12 @ 9:25AM
To a time BEFORE when TLP went by his name Timothy L Pennel...
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 10:55AM
Exhibit C.
MK48| 6.13.12 @ 11:16AM
That's 2 LL's please...................
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 11:58AM
Is that you, SUB VET?
It would seem that I have a psychotic Gay Stalker, with a Mancrush, on me.
Perhaps, Brooksified (Alan Brooks) can take him off my hands?
Whadda ya say, Alan?
A little help?
Doctor Right| 6.13.12 @ 1:44PM
Exhibit M...for "monkey."
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:20PM
Exhibit D.
MK48| 6.13.12 @ 5:36PM
10-4 TLP...........I must of said something "they" didn't like......so Iam undercover.
Dr. Right & Reggie Bush last seen walking into the bathhouse in Chicago.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 6:08PM
You know it.
JD| 6.13.12 @ 12:26PM
I recall reading, in recent history, CNN editorials decrying the cell phone and the automobile as horrible forms of suffering whose elimination would make our lives better.
The cell phone is an annoyance - people can "interrupt" you at any time with an annoying ring. The author suggested that you should NEVER call someone without first scheduling the call using some other media, like a text message, so that the other person need not correspond with you except when he's ready to.
I wonder how such a message would be received by people from the era when phones were invented, and suddenly relatives who lived a thousand miles apart and couldn't afford to travel could hear each other's voice for the first time. I don't think they were annoyed by the interruption!
The automobile is an aluminum prison we're forced to lock ourselves into every morning and afternoon - a horrible box of pain and traffic jam frustration.
Of course, without it, society would collapse due to our inability to get food and other necessities where they need to be, and no one could live beyond a short distance from their jobs, resulting in horrible urban crowding. Liberals would say we should all ride bikes, but that's because they live in California, not Minnesota (in January). Besides, for many people, the luxurious interior of a vehicle, with comfortable seats, climate control, music, etc, is a welcome "quiet personal space" in an otherwise crowded life.
TSD| 6.13.12 @ 8:00AM
The never ending preachers from they're green fantasy land make me want to puke green. Any time the preachers come out all you can do is look behind the curtain to find the hidden agenda they have to screw you good.
Fast and Curious| 6.13.12 @ 10:04AM
Yes, and behind the curtain are these facts: there is no correlation between global temps and atmospheric co2, let alone evidence for CAUSATION. Global temps do correlate with sun activity, however, and ocean current patterns like El Niño. I am astounded by the number of "scientists" who lack the intellectual honesty to interpret a simple set of graphs accurately.
JD| 6.13.12 @ 12:16PM
What science trumps the almighty "consensus", though?
I'm going to go form a consensus that 2+2=5.
Mimi | 6.13.12 @ 8:34AM
The 2012 Presidential Election will surely give us stark choices...Do we go BACK or FORWARD. Do we have POVERTY or PROSPERITY. Will the lights stay ON or go OFF. Do we stay WARM in winter or COLD. Do we have COMFORT or do we SUFFER ?
How will History treat Barrach Obama who has brought on this country such destructive harm? A foolish Idealist experimenting with an A+ country and crushing the wealth and SPIRIT of an A+ people.
Thanks Peter for more facts and truth!
Louis Jenkins| 6.13.12 @ 8:35AM
I once visited a wise old sage who lived in a cave. His one piece of verbage was, "Remember, there's no bathroom in a cave."
"...diffused and geographically dispersed...." That's what the greenies want. They want us all diffused to the dark resesses and corners of the world. Energy is the by-word. Control the energy and you control a nation.
Harry the Horrible| 6.13.12 @ 8:38AM
I have seen ONE circumstance in which "green" energy might work.
In New Mexico I saw a community of Earthship Houses. They're powered by solar and wind and store the excess electricity in (horribly un-Green) battery arrays. Because of they way they are built they don't need heating or cooling (even in New Mexico).
But all of them still needed a liquid gas tank for cooking, to power the fridge, and to run a generator if there was a shortfall in the "green energy."
The houses are rather expensive, too.
http://earthship.com/
Hardcard| 6.13.12 @ 8:40AM
caves to have toilets check out the late Dick Clark's home, it's on the market for 3.5 mil.
Jack of Spades| 6.13.12 @ 9:28AM
The Democrats and the Left are all about the Green Agenda; we all get that. The question is, what is the GOP doing, or what will it do, to ease if not end the environmentalist meddling in America's energy production. It seems to be the case that the alleged Party of Big Oil is doing little if anything.
Lullabys Legends and Lies| 6.13.12 @ 9:30AM
I think America's tired of this Green energy movement/Global Warming hoax, and I think its days are very numbered!! And the diehard Greenies will be able to thank the Democratic Party, and especially President Obama for its demise, because they're the ones that woke us up to what's really going on (thanks Mr President)!! Nobody was interested in energy years ago, we were just happy to pull into the gas station to fill up our cars and go on our way, without finding our wallet's empty because of it!! But as we watch gas prices spike, again and again, and our tax dollars being wasted on the likes of Solyndra, all of a sudden, I like to know what's happening in the energy industry now!! And an educated public is the worse thing for the Greenies, because their arguments fall apart under closer scrutiny!! We are sitting on a wealth of energy, which will create good jobs, pay tons of Corporate taxes, lower the prices of everything on the store's shelfs, but there's one Party that won't allow us to go after this energy, and that's the Democratic Party. It's time to vote as many of them out as possible come November, and then start getting back to work again. Personally, once I get out of the Army (early next year), I hope to get into this Industry, because I think it's got a great future, but first, we've got to get rid of the Democrats and the Greenies!!
Cobalt| 6.13.12 @ 10:36AM
It's still all about power.
Obama, Holder, Jarrett and Company don't give a rat's ass what we think about them, or anything else. They only care about having the power to impose their will on us.
The people, or political entities, who put this administration in power are as serious as a heart attack about bring this country down. If Obama is defeated in November, they won't be deterred. They will just adjust to the changes, and move on. Believe me, the Progressives are not going anywhere.
Given the Leftists agenda to create strife and unrest among the masses, perhaps we might consider adding "green with envy" to "Green Welfare, Green Taxes, Green Poverty."
Who Knows?| 6.13.12 @ 11:48AM
How can you write about green energy, and not at least mention
“The Bottomless Well-the twilight of fuel, the virtue of waste, and why we will never run out of energy” by Peter Huber & Mark Mills? 2005
Huber is at the Manhattan Institute, and has been published many times in the WSJ.
“Energy-seeking machines have continued to improve ever since, and are evolving more rapidly today than ever before. Satellite, acoustic imaging systems, and data processing play such a pivotal role in today’s search for oil that the modern drilling rig has been aptly described by Jonathan Rauch as a computer with a drill bit attached to one end.” Page 179
Looked in the index for “fracking”---not there.
Then there’s the still growing technological “giant”, working in the small---the nanosphere.
As usual, most people know too much that is not true.
The Earth is flat!
Besides, all is merely different forms of light, stepped down frequencies appearing as solids, liquids, and gas, and don’t forget plasma.
E= M x C (squared) tells all. A single cubic centimeter of empty space is known to “contain” wild amounts of energy. Does anyone believe mankind will stop unlocking nature’s secrets?
Who Knows?| 6.13.12 @ 11:48AM
continuing---
Maybe. As more Obama fools take more control, it’s entirely possible the vast stupid majority of humans will destroy civilization---picture Argentina as the clone.
The greens are “thinking ahead”, they believe. Why, even if we have 200 years supply of oil, natural gas and nuclear materials, we WILL eventually run out! So, we’d better start converting, before it’s too late---such small and dis-informed minds!
Obama’s slogan---“Choose to Lose”
Kwan| 6.13.12 @ 12:09PM
Da Community Organizer knows all and sees all. Let's not forget that this Green Energy ScamBoozle is suppose to save the planet from the destruction that the GlobalWarming ScamBoozle warned us about. Yes according to the Oracle of Global Warming Al Gore we must give up the use of fossil fuels and return to the life-style lived by our ancestors in pre-industrial times, or risk having our planet turned into the desert planet Arrakis ("Dune"). Our only hope of salvation the leftist con-men tell us is to turn over control of our entire economy to the leftist commissars in the EPA or else we will perish.
JD| 6.13.12 @ 12:14PM
I don't like articles like this, because they don't even touch on the AGW theory. I am skeptical of this theory myself, but nonetheless, we know that it's the primary motivating factor for most environmentalists. An AGW believer will dismiss this entire article without even reading it because he'll say "No benefits of energy are worth destroying the environment!"
Liberals are fond of making trivial economic arguments that they think trump the "big picture" facts we use against them. Let's not stoop to their level. While it is certainly true that we WILL NOT get 90% of the world to stop using energy at the levels that require fossil fuel sources until a truly comparable replacement has been implemented, we need to SAY that. Also, debunking AGW wouldn't hurt.
TLP| 6.13.12 @ 2:24PM
Close.
They make up arguments to trump up The Big Lie.
RonRonDoRon| 6.16.12 @ 4:46PM
Don't agree that AGW is "the primary motivating factor for most environmentalists" -just the current excuse.
Back when I was a hippie (before I grew up), other hippies and radicals expounded on humans destroying the natural world - usually just attributed to industrialization in general (and overpopulation, a perennial favorite since, at least, Malthus).
The fantasy was that "natural living" would save us from destruction and, at the same time, provide an idyllic life without any unpleasant consequences from ending the industrial economy.
Later, more specific theories "supported" the certainty that people were destroying the natural world. The first I remember was the "new ice age" (if I remember correctly, the culprit was supposed to be high-atmosphere jet contrails). Then there was the "hole in the ozone" that would grow until it destroyed nature (or at least us) - various aerosols were banned and the problem went away (causation or just correlation - I don't think it's been proven one way or the other).
Now it's AGW - the most successful theory yet (successful in the sense that the subject is so complex that it's almost impossible to prove or disprove).
The constant thread has been a bedrock certainty that humans are destroying the natural world. The rest is just an ongoing effort to find theories tosupport that. It's always been conclusions first, then find the evidence.
cicero| 6.13.12 @ 1:57PM
As I recall, there were two main reasons for the Green Agenda. First, we were polluting the air with the exhaust from oil based fuels; and second, we were running out of oil..Since we have figured out how to burn petroleum cleanly (and coal for that matter), and since we have now discovered that the world is floating on a sea of oil, it appears that theere is no reason, or excuse for the Greem movement. Except, that is, the acquisition and use of power to control everybody.
In November, we have thee chance to destroy the Democrat Party. It will be replaced by another to the left of conservatism, that is true. However, that will leave the Republican Party to stop the nonswense and put this society back on the path of civilizational progress. If they fail, they must be replaced, too. The people have to retake the engines of power, not only for the sake of the economy, but also for the sake of the culture.
Tom Kyba| 6.13.12 @ 1:59PM
Green, the color of snot, pretty much fittingly describes and defines the entire movement.
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 8:45PM
Che Guevera Democrats is a term twice used and also the precarious "watermelon" is employed, meaning Red on the inside while Green on the outside, rather than a racial stereotype. Okay, but alt fuels like ethanol are almost perfectly bi-partisan. Solar is taking a licking what with Solyndra et al but the Republican centrists like the Bushies are doubling down on wind. Karl Rove, who dares not fill his lungs without a signed workorder from the RNC is on the job in familiar fetter. This is my first comment under the new system and I shall attempt to post a link. It is to my own take on this phenomenon, titled Piglet and The Blustery Day. http://www.megapotamus.com/wp/?p=351
megapotamus | 6.13.12 @ 8:57PM
Hey it worked! Here is a link folks will find amusing in a mordant sort of way. http://www.windpowerexpo.org/
Check out especially the tab WindMade which is sort of a brand of electricity which, apparently, was able to 100% power the convention here in Atlanta although, as far as I can tell, there isn't a commercial windmill within a thousand miles of here. Of course this is done with financial instruments much like Algore's carbon offsets. That gives away the game, doesn't it?
jdmeth| 6.15.12 @ 4:12PM
Great article, small quibble, 1000 MW nuclear power plant will cover 2 sq miles. That's over 1000 hp per acre. That's even better than you thought. By comparison a nuclear carrier's power plant produces almost 200 MW. It's total area is about three acres but most of that is flight deck. That's over 90,000 hp per acre. Nuclear power can be very compact if you do not count the cooling system.
BillSaidIt| 6.15.12 @ 10:36PM
Love your story - I often use it to read my kids to sleep at night - EPA Has done much to clean the air but also too much to regulate productivity - Had the EPA been around when Henery Ford and Thomas Edison were alive. We would still be a 3rd world country Dependant on England. Had Obama Been alive in 1776 We would have signed the Declaration of Dependance - Imagination has to be given right of way to develop before improvement to regulate it. EPA says the air is clean but a glance outside says otherwise - think of all the chemicals that could be recycled with massive air filtration systems - With over 300 tons of space dust landing on earth every day (of unknown elements) Is it really fossil fuels that are poluting earth. That by itself makes me wonder just how many animals were on earth that created all this oil (one dinosour compressed into about a drop of oil over centuries) Earth's power is from within its core - Tap that tap the future.