THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XIII, Issue # 77, March 27, 2011
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
GREENS: AGAINST ALL ENERGY ANYWHERE
By Alan Caruba
THE ENVIRONMENTALIST MOVEMENT & ITS OPPOSITION TO ENERGY PRODUCTION & USE: THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS'
PROFOUND LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE THAT ENERGY PLAYS IN DETERMINING WHETHER A NATION
PROSPERS OR JUST LIMPS ALONG, BARELY KEEPING THE LIGHTS ON -- THE CONSEQUENCES OF ENVIRONMENTALIST
PROPAGANDA DISSEMINATED IN THE U.S.A. -- U.S. GOVERNMENT ECONOMIC, ENERGY, & ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY --
WHY ARE BILLIONS OF AMERICAN TAXPAYER DOLLARS BEING WASTED ON WIND & SOLAR FARMS THAT ARE UTTERLY
DEPENDENT ON GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES & MANDATES? WHY THE REGULATORY MANDATES FOR ETHANOL THAT DRIVE
UP THE COST OF EVERY GALLON OF MOTOR FUEL PUMPED, REDUCE THE MILEAGE, & DAMAGE ONE'S AUTOMOBILE ENGINE?
FULL STORY:
One of the great afflictions of the environmentalists — the Greens — everywhere is a profound lack of understanding
of the role that energy plays in determining whether a nation prospers or just limps along, barely keeping the lights on.
A classic case is the Communist paradise of North Korea that is almost completely dark at night, while just across the
38th. parallel, South Korea is ablaze with light, energy, and a thriving economy.
Dedicated Greens don’t really like any kind of energy, whether it is nuclear power, whether it is provided by burning
coal, or is derived from use of natural gas, oil, or hydropower. They think that wind power is trouble-free and cost
effective, when it is neither. They feel the same way about solar power. Both wind and solar power are deemed
acceptable because they don’t “emit” anything. This viewpoint is not merely naïve; it is profoundly stupid.
Before we go further, let’s examine the basic facts of U.S. power, give or take a percentage point or two, coal provides
over 50% of electrical power. Nuclear provides around 20%, natural gas is just over 20%, hydroelectric is close to 7%,
and socalled “renewables” like wind and solar are credited with about 3%. Petroleum generated electricity is 1% and
“other sources”, whatever they may be, come in at around 0.3%.
These are figures from 2009 and, suffice to say, are subject to change, but not much.
Friends of the Earth (FOE), an international Green organization, is no friend to humanity. Hardcore Greens think Earth’s
problems would be solved if human beings were not part of its ecology.
Following the Japan earthquake, FOE sent an email to its members and fellow travelers saying:
“We must learn from this disaster. Tell your members of
Congress that nuclear power should not be part of our
energy future.”
Ironically, FOE is very unhappy with President Obama and his administration which has been very inclined toward
nuclear energy.
The Sierra Club, another ultra-Green organization, put out a newsletter reminding its members that it is “unequivocally
opposed to nuclear energy” and has been “for more than three decades.” The same newsletter warned that
“politicians who owe their primary allegiance to the fossil-fuel industry (coal, natural gas, and oil) are quick to promote
domestic drilling and deregulation, as if that would make the gauge on the gas pump start to run backward.” In point
of fact, it would. U.S. domestic oil is always cheaper than imported oil.
The Sierra Club just conjured up a petition “to tell the Obama administration to protect the Arctic Refuge” because
“We cannot allow these oil companies to destroy the pristine wilderness of the Arctic Refuge.” Every time you hear
the words “pristine wilderness,” think of a place no human would ever want to live, let alone visit. And no one is
really addressing the economic devastation the Obama administration has visited on the Gulf States because of its
refusal to allow oil drilling to resume.
FOE recently was fulminating against the use of coal to light up the homes, businesses, and streets of South Africa
and was equally unhappy about the effort to install a pipeline from Canada to the U.S.A. to transmit oil derived from
its tar sands. A lot of our “imported” oil comes from Canada. That’s because it has been government policy for
decades to make it difficult, if not impossible, to drill, extract, and refine oil here in America.
The March 21-27 edition of Bloomberg Business Week has an article by Brendan Greeley that is a good
analysis titled “Facing Up to Nuclear Risk.” When nuclear plants have been built, as many safety factors as possible
have been built into them, but it is impossible to calculate the impact of an earthquake. The U.S.A. has its own
tectonic fault lines, all well known, but the fact remains nuclear plants have been built near or on them.
“David Okrent, who advised the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) on reactor safety
for 20 years, points out that reactors are designed
for only a set of defined events. ‘The early
nuclear reactors weren’t designed for tornadoes,’
he says, ‘until one came along in Arkansas, and
then we thought, ‘we gotta design for tornadoes.’
It’s not easy to be all-knowing.”
Were it not for Green propaganda, the U.S.A. would not be wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on idiotic wind and
solar farms that are utterly dependent on government subsidies and mandates that require utilities to use the pitifully
small amounts of electricity they produce.
The same can be said of the equally idiotic regulatory mandates for ethanol that drive up the cost of every gallon of
gas pumped while, at the same time, reducing the mileage and damaging to your car’s engine. Even Al Gore thinks
ethanol is a bad idea.
Ironically, more people have died from wind turbines than nuclear plants. In 2008, there were 41 recorded deaths. The
carnage on birds and bats is rarely mentioned by the media. Despite all the blather about Three Mile Island, not one
person has died from radiation since nuclear plants were first introduced.
It is surely worth noting that coal-burning plants in a nation that is the Saudi Arabia of coal do not have meltdowns
causing radiation that can make large areas uninhabitable. That “smoke” you see coming from the smokestacks of
such plants is steam. Water vapor. Clouds are made of water vapor.
If we were really serious about safety and the provision of more electrical power, the U.S.A. would be building a hell
of a lot more coal-burning plants right now and into the future.
-----------------------------------------------
© Alan Caruba, 2011
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Political Economy -- Philosophies, Systems, & Public Policies:
Government, the Economy, & Economic Prosperity
Alan Caruba writes a daily post at http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com. An author, commentator and business and science writer,
he is the Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven "scare campaigns" designed
to influence public opinion and public policy.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity