Alternative energy
After reading the Amnesty post I realized we need a new thread. Rladew [url=http://www.rideside.net/drupal/node/1610?from=50&comments_per_page=50]argued[/url] for oil exploration in Alaska as a step towards energy independence.
"I agree we need alternative fuel sources, but I havent seen enough proof that wind and solar would yield the amount of power the US uses... My point was that if we are going to use OIL, the more we can make by ourselves w/out Middle East assistance, the better."
I hear this all the time. But we all know ANWR is a drop in the bucket, so what's the difference. If it's a limited supply, why not start an unlimited supply?
"Why dont we go 100% solar and wind power? then we can cover 100% of ANWR (and the rest of America for that matter) with low power yielding panels and windmills that wont be awkward eyesores and will surely hinder all economic prosperity for free enterprise? Im sure our friend Ralph Nader would be glad to assist..."
I understand there is some sarcasm here, but do people feel there is any rationality to this argument? How would renewable energies hurt free enterprise? If the electricity for my restaurant comes from a windmill instead of a nuclear plant, how am I hindered? I have no idea where this argument comes from, or even how it gets circulated, but obviously someone is saying it. Did Rladew come up with it himself, or is big oil causing some paranoia in right wing America?
What is wrong with alternative energies?
Asthetics? Do people actually find coal burning plants better looking than windmills? How about those nuclear reactors? Are they better looking than a black roof covered in solar panels? Eyesores, the roofs were already black! I remember talking to my friend Pete Dougherty when he was starting at Harvard Design school, that we need to build good looking windmills. Yet the more I researched it, the more I realized nature (read physics) dictates what an efficient windmill looks like. Further, I began to see the beauty in them, similar to seashells and leaf growth.
Is that if you like solar panels your a wimp? What gives? I just don't understand it.
I feel like Pamsterdam here. Am I just too naive, or do we have to "follow the money?" Is capitalism to blame? Or when I point out how economical alt energy is, does it help?