FishingBanter - View Single Post - five-point political agenda

April 24th, 2006, 11:32 PM posted to rec.outdoors.fishing.fly

In article ,
says...
On Mon, 24 Apr 2006 14:29:38 -0700, wrote:

You are correct, but Dave is correct also. It might work for Brazil,
but at the current efficiency there isn't enough corn/sugar cane/etc
to supply a country like the US.

Many years ago we (the US) gave up on nuclear power. It can be safe
(France gets much of their power from nuclear), yet politicians say
no. These same pols say no to wind power when it's in their state
near their summer palaces. There are numerous ways we can use nature
to suplement our use of fossil fuels, but we will get nowhere with the
Dems/Repubs in both houses. Use of the tides, wind, corn for fuel,
and other alternatives will never happen until it is too late. We
should be building hydro power dams, nuclear reactors, and drilling
for oil where we have yet to drill. Then, and only then, can we be
energy independent. The US is too large a country to expect
conservation to work to any degree. Food has to move from Cal and Fla
to the east and mid-west, people do not live near their employment and
must drive their cars to work. Mass transit is a joke in most places.
Plus, consider all the pick-up trucks/vans, delivery trucks, etc.
doing business in your town. They can't do it on corn.

Conservation would actually work incredibly well in a country like the
US. If Brazil saves 5% of it's energy use, it's peanuts. If the US
saves 5%, it's huge. Agree on nuclear and wind power, but NIMBY is a
tough thing for politicians to fight against.

If we got the people who never drive off paved roads to not drive huge
SUVs, vans and pickup trucks we could save 5% easily. We are lazy.
We bitch about $3/gallon gas while filling up 20+ gallon gas tanks on
oversized cars that get 15 mpg while carrying a lone person to/from
work.

I may not like $3/gallon gas, but it does look like it's making a dent
in people's purchasing choices. Fewer mini-vans that do 0-60 in
racecar speeds. GM and Ford in shock because all their cars suck in
MPG....and people are actually paying attention.

- Ken