I was struck by the considerably different perspectives on energy conveyed in two articles I encountered during the past weekend. One is an “Op-Ed” piece in The Washington Post entitled “Wake Up, America. We’re Driving Toward Disaster.” It was written by James Howard Kunstler, the author of several books including The Geography of Nowhere, Home from Nowhere, and The Long Emergency. The other is “A Bug to Save the Planet,” an article built around an interview with Genome pioneer Craig Venter by Newsweek magazine’s Fareed Zakaria. Links to both appear below.
Energy is vitally important to our lives and increasingly problematic. I’m curious to know your thoughts on the subject — your readout on where we are and where we should be headed in terms of energy and energy policy. I encourage you to use the links below to access the articles and to offer your input by using the “Leave a Reply” form you’ll find at the bottom of this page.
Bruce Snook
River Country Journal
4 users commented in " Contrasting views on energy "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackAt GVSU there is an amazing program headed by Dr. Imad Mahawili. I only wish people would take his advice more seriously. He believes that Michigan could power our entire state by the wind energy off our coasts alone. The ENTIRE state could be powered and we could sell back into the grid.
http://www.gvsu.edu/marec/index.cfm?id=347C220D-934C-8137-DAA00A75E01CA8A7
Thanks for the comment and the link to MAREC at GVSU. Very helpful!
You may be interested in a story about the June 16th “Wind Energy Program” at Glen Oaks Community College that I’ve added to the River Country Journal website. You’ll find it at http://www.rivercountryjournal.com/?p=388
Bruce Snook
River Country Journal
We should probably pursue both avenues mentioned in the two pieces. (Improve conservation/switch to renewables and find new ways to create liquid fuel.)
We were lulled to sleep by powerful energy companies during the 20th century allowing us to become unnecessarily dependent on fossil fuels that were (and still are) usually transported great distances to power our needs. When the rural electrification project moved across the U.S. one hundred or so years ago, families that had been using windmills to produce electricity had to unhook that source if they wanted to connect to the “grid”. They switched from local production to corporate, distant production and we all developed an attitude of “entitlement”. They switched from horse power (generated from hay grown at home)to the internal combustion engine (powered by foreign fuel). Now, we’re paying dearly.
If we are tired of our vulnerability to fluctuating world supplies and increasing demand for energy, we should fight for policies that give us incentives to produce our own energy locally via solar panels, wind turbines & other renewables and sell any extra that we produce at the going rate. If we combine efficiency with new renewable technology, we can save fossil fuel and reduce our costs (compared to continuing on the fossil-fuel-dependent road). We need to reinvest heavily in mass transit systems; especially rail. Larry and I returned from California in February on Amtrak. There are some rough rails out there and the trip is slow. We can do much better.
The article on bugs to save the planet doesn’t mention any costs associated with the process. Green plants basically do the same thing already; using CO2, sunlight & water to create energy. I would rather plug an electric car into my solar/wind generated battery than drive to town to purchase fuel from any outside source. But the potential to reduce CO2 through a new process to create a fossil-fuel-like substance is intriguing and worth more research and development.
With regard to the large oil corporations, over the years they have consistently acquired the patents for ideas that would have made vehicles more fuel efficient in order to keep oil the main source of energy supply. If they would have used that same energy and finance to diversify into alternative energies America would have led the world.
Yes, the answer is in our own hands. Organise your use of transportation; car pool; turn off anything that requires energy that you’re not actually using at the time; switch to air drying laundry a la Amish when the weather permits; use push mowers, not gas mowers; take walks in the country, instead of hopping in the four – by four; WALK the golf course, don’t cart it; there are lots of ways individuals can cut down their use of energy.
It needs an organized plan, and leadership.
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