A rant about energy

Quick tidbit about oil prices from, of all people, Eddie Vedder. Vedder mentioned at Bonnaroo during Pearl Jam's set that the average price of gas in the US when President Bush first took office was $1.46 a gallon. The other day, I was paying $4.22 a gallon.

Another little note: a year ago, a friend of mine was doing similar work I'm doing this summer and was canvassing for wind farms off of Long Island. The wind farms were ultimately defeated because they would be 'eyesores' and the cost of the wind farms didn't seem justifiable at the time because energy was affordable. The cost of oil was $70 a barrel. A year later, the cost of oil is about $140 per barrel and still climbing. The cost of an offshore wind farm doesn't seem to be too bad now doesn't it?

What I'm saying is that even if you don't agree with environmentalists, they're right about one thing: As far as energy sources go, the United States (and the rest of the world for that matter) needs to find alternative sources quick. This summer seems to be proving that the peak oil hypothesis is true. Drilling in Alaska and the Dakotas might be a quick fix, but ultimately, the truth is that oil is a limited resource. Some alternatives that seem feasible? Bio matter fuel from quickly-reproducing algae (screw corn- it exacerbates the world food crisis [by the way, subsidies for farmers in this country is a joke, but that's for another rant at another time]), solar energy, nuclear energy (stop it, it's much safer than oil- anyone who took and paid attention in high school chemistry would know that), salt water (read this- I really hope this is not a hoax like cold fusion was), and wind energy all seem reasonable enough.

Unfortunately (like I've said many times before in this blog) people generally hate change and thus do not have the abilities of foresight and prognosis. It's only when things are too late do people decide action is needed. Even then, it's not even unanimous. The ultimate downfall of humanity will be due to hubris, lack of foresight and laziness- mark my word.

Cynically,
Greg