analyticsbox | Dec 08, 2022
How Stupid Can We Make It?
Climate change is a big concern, I get that. Global Warming (in 1975, the catastrophe looming was the coming Ice Age, but that is another story).
Does spending trillions of dollars to say we are doing something help (and we know little is accomplished)? Simple answer: NO.
Did you know that John Kerry said if the U S gets to zero carbon emissions, it would NOT ALTER the climate? With that thought in mind, should the U.S. Government experiment with trillions of dollars with no appreciable impact? Of course not.
Most people agree improving the environment and reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses are important, but policymakers should LOOK BEFORE THEY LEAP. Right now they are speeding down the wrong road and the current energy policies we are following make no sense, and some are very harmful.
Let me explain.
Electric Vehicles are a marvelous invention, buy one if you like and can afford them. But with today’s technology, it does little, if anything, to help our carbon footprint. See Facts No Spin #1 - Electric Vehicles.
Wind and solar consistently fail to serve our current needs. Continue with them when they make economic sense, but as they exist today, don’t expect wind and solar to be our savior. And they take enormous tracts of land, have harmful side effects to wildlife, and require a lot of raw material to build.
And if we get into serious volumes (hundreds of millions of vehicle batteries and wind turbines and solar panels), the demand for already scarce materials required will soar and drive the price up and up and up. And many of those materials are used in millions of other products, all of which will become much more expensive. And where will the electricity come from to recharge millions of batteries, not from today’s power plants, no way they will supply enough.
For the foreseeable future, fossil fuels and nuclear are the dependable energy sources. Our policy should be to expand them, make them cleaner, and make energy cheaper. Instead we make them taboo - THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING.
Nuclear energy is safe, non-explosive, economical, non-carbon producing, and it is easy to safely dispose of the spent fuel. Why we don’t push that is a political problem, not a practical one. In over 50 years of use, the U S has never had an accident which threatened public health.
Gas and oil are more expensive because of government policies which are restrictive, which make no sense. Curtailing responsible production just makes them more expensive (remember Econ 101 - Supply and Demand curves?) We have to have them so we buy instead from foreign sources and spend a lot to transport them here. And we discourage pipelines which are the efficient way to transport oil and gas. Instead we spend fuel to transport by truck or train over land..
I JUST DON’T GET IT.
BOTTOM LINE
What we are doing is so stupid, it is incomprehensible. Current policies are hurting business and consumers and accomplishing nothing of significance. We are following policies that may SOUND GOOD, BUT DON’T WORK.
To reduce the carbon footprint in a rational way, we need to invest in better technology and nuclear energy. Let’s invest wisely and stop believing in magic and fairy dust.
LEARN ECONOMICS, THEN VOTE SMART