Monday, November 10, 2008
Politics / Silverman This Just In: Al Gore, Nashville's Favorite Son, Is Concerned About Global Warming
Posted by Jack Silverman on Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 8:35 AM
Thirty-five years ago this past week, President Richard Nixon created Project Independence, which set a national goal that, within seven years, the United States would develop “the potential to meet our own energy needs without depending on any foreign energy sources.” His statement came three weeks after the Arab oil embargo had sent prices skyrocketing and woke America to the dangers of dependence on foreign oil. And—not coincidentally—it came only three years after United States domestic oil production had peaked. At the time, the United States imported less than a third of its oil from foreign countries. Yet today, after all six of the presidents succeeding Nixon repeated some version of his goal, our dependence has doubled from one-third to nearly two-thirds—and many feel that global oil production is at or near its peak.He goes on to offer a five-part plan that, in brief, includes government incentives for solar, wind and geothermal development; a unified national "smart grid" to replace our antiquated electricity lines; assistance for the auto industry to convert to plug-in hybrids; a nationwide effort to retrofit buildings with better insulation, windows and lighting; and putting a price on carbon emissions. Al has certainly raised these suggestions before (and that's not to diminish them), but sometimes the problem seems intractable to the point of hopelessness, given the resistance from Big Oil and all the related entrenched interests, not to mention the global warming deniers, a dwindling yet obdurate breed. (In related news, Michael Crichton died the same day Obama was elected. Hmmm...I smell a tree-hugger conspiracy.) But ol' Al pulled off an uplifting, genuinely moving finale, proving once and for all that he's not just another stark raving Belle Meade liberal. He notes that, at the time of Apollo 11's lunar landing in 1969, the average age of the systems engineers in the Houston control room was 26, meaning their average age was 18 when John F. Kennedy issued his challenge to put a man on the moon. He then draws the obvious comparison to Obama, the only president since to generate comparable enthusiasm among young Americans, suggesting that, now sufficiently inspired, these kids may be to the alternative energy movement what those scientists were to NASA. That's an exciting supposition. Here's hoping.
Comments (4)
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Al Gore is a fool. Maybe if he was to curb his own oil-using ways like dozens if not 100's of transnational plane trips per year, his familys mercury polluting mines, and his large house wasting 3 times the average americans family electriciy, maybe people would take him seriously.
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I wouldn't count on any grand global warming inititatives getting passed anytime soon.
The country gets about 50% of it's electricity generation from buring coal. It is the cheapest form of fuel we have to to generate electricity.
Restrictions on that and/or mandates for some government-selected alternative energy will drive up costs and quite probably increase the change of blackouts in some areas of the country.
The resulting "global warming" tax will hit everbody who uses energy (which is, of course, everybody in the country), unlike Obama's income tax redistribution scheme to hit only upper income people.
Not the best strategy to push in the midst of a worldwide global economic downturn.
I think you're right, Gilbert. It's too expensive right now, and green alternatives don't produce enough energy to take their place. Then again, natural gas costs have gotten so high over the past few years that it won't take a lot to become competitive. Up north, it's not uncommon to get winter heat bills of $400 a month. But I bet we'll see a lot more tax incentives green initiatives. They just won't make a measurable difference until years down the road.
