Can we just get past all the Al Gore….”the Glaciers are falling and can’t get up!” stuff and move on the important issues? If in fact global prices of oil, gas and electricity are directly connected to “supply and demand” then it might make sense “to model” our needs and global requirements necessary in the next 10 to 20 years! Perhaps, we should estimate the growth of China, India and Africa into the process. Perhaps we should have a true and knowledgeable estimate of where we are going and what we are doing in this country.
Right now, the concept is to purely….”try anything!” Electric cars, hybrid cars, Hydrogen fuel cell cars, Ethanol, bio-fuels, Windmills, Solar Power, Nuclear Power and just about anything except the solution that could make a guaranteed impact within five years and beyond. Yet, Regulating Global Mileage Standards, Regulating disposal and recycling – and parting out of all transportation vehicles when they go out of service hasn’t even been talked about. Why might that be?
Susan Powter…was this wonderful powerful infomercial lady with the white short platinum hair that used to say: “Stop the Insanity!” An advocate of a whole-foods, organic, low-fat diet, and regular cardiovascular and strength-training exercise, Powter set herself apart from other dietitians by directly condemning the diet industry as a whole.
Well, the time has come to condemn the entire oil industry as a whole. It has come a time to demand that if we are in fact running out of oil at a reasonable price “the world needs to take action”. We do not need a 15 year program to develop a strategy. What we do need is a two week world confluence of the major Industrialized Countries and the major Emerging Industrialized Countries to demand that “immediately” all new vehicles manufactured in those countries get 50-70 miles to the gallon of gasoline.
Why might this “Emergency Action” be required? Try this..if the United States takes positive action to control mileage standards and the rest of the world…does not……then that Arab oil will just be headed to China rather than to Galvaston. We will give our cash to China to build everything we have and China will take our cash and send it to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. The issue is simply….”the oil interest…are going to get our money no matter what we do unilaterally!” By setting new Global Standards on mileage….at least the “short term demand” can be stilted. Perhaps, we are talking about 10 or 15 years…if the world reduces its current demands by half.
Just in case people forget the basics: A Harley Sportster Motorcycle Twin V-Cam has between 100 and 128 Horsepower. Plenty enough to move most 2000 lb. vehicles with great gas mileage. How about the traditional VW Bug, 1600…with up to 125 Horsepower moving a 2300 lb. vehicle. That technology we have now! That technology we have had for 40 years! That technology can create wonderful energy savings today! Not in 20 years!
Why are we opting for pollution manufacturing battery powered vehicles? Because, batteries wear out, have to be disposed of and need constant recharging by the Electrical Energy Companies! Save here, then take from the other pocket – metaphorically of course! All batteries are scheduled to be manufactured in South China. Disposed of in Korea or elsewhere! In the meantime, the price of a barrel of oil will rise astronomically. We might look back and see a day when $150 dollars a barrel was considered very cheap! This is a total rip-off and we need to change the rules of the game and we need to change them NOW!
Where is the new technology going to bring the gas mileage we need – not what the manufacturers and Oil Companies want to give us? Where are the performance cars with tiny engines that Formula Cars have utilized for 50 years? Where is the excitement to make a real breakthrough in producing power systems……that work, are dependable and operate inexpensively?
When are we going to stop yelling “Global Warming” and start yelling “Global Intelligence”!
Was? A lovely description much appreciated; I’d just like to add, is….
Susan Powter
So you’ve joined the Green Party and decided that really good government will solve all our energy market dilemmas in a way that the free market would never manage?
I seem to be missing your point.