We Need a Plan

What we should do is plan for climate change because that is the only constant on this planet.  Instead of wasting our time thinking we can control the climate.  We need to plan for water conservation and dispersion systems. We need to plan for switching agriculture in currently hot climates to agriculture for colder climates and from cold climates to warmer climates.

We need to dismiss the legislators that ripped us off with the ethanol scam.  Ethanol can’t even provide for the annual increase in energy demand. All it does is drive the cost of food out of the reach of average Americans.

Most of all we need a plan for transportation.  Our economy is dependent on liquid fuel. We are not interested in doing without. We need a plan to develop the alternative fuel everyone knows is the most practical; Hydrogen.  We are not interested in becoming a socialist nation with a totalitarian government that wants to tell us who we are and what we want.

We need to drill OUR oil.  The oil under federal lands belongs to the American people.  We need to hire contractors to drill, transport, refine and distribute petroleum fuel products.  If the current oil companies want the job they are welcome to bid.  The world has several international contractors capable of building oil fields and drilling and producing crude oil.  Since the oil belongs to all of us there will be no royalties paid to anyone, States or individuals.  the cost of a barrel of oil will be based on time, materials, and a fair profit for the contractor.  Carefully monitored and approved by an independent panel of course.

Refineries are built by contractors and run by oil companies.  Again, if the oil companies want to submit a bid they are welcome if not the contractors that do will have a ready made work force worried about their jobs.

The gas stations are mostly independently owned and contract with oil companies.  They will be happy to contract with whom ever can supply them with products.

None of our oil will be sold on the international market and since the cost of oil will be fixed, anyone that wants to invest in oil futures will be betting on foreign oil.

Well and good.  We have our main energy needs covered for at least 50 years.  So what do we do with those 50 years?  We need a plan.

Forget Ethanol, forget biomass.  It is the worse idea in the history of the world; a pure con job.  Forget wind energy it isn’t reliable and it is too expensive. While solar energy for individual buildings, including homes, is a must. Solar “fields” of 1000 acres or more to power a million people are not a good plan.  The weather you know.  Individual Solar plants connected to the grid, as modified, will provide reliable, affordable energy for everyone.

Now the grid; In this era of nuclear armed Terrorist networks an intricate grid connecting a few mega Gigawatt generators over thousands of miles of transmission lines is a very bad Idea.  It would be possible to shut down half of the country with a single strike.  Plan on Nuclear, only.  Not a few giant Gigawatt plants but a lot of small plants; say one for every 250,000 population.  There are several reasons for multiple small reactors.  First, not so much heart burn over accidents and “melt downs”, second, with lots of small reactors a schedule of shutdowns for inspection and maintenance can be maintained without a shortage of power.  Third, natural disaster or terrorist attacks on the grid will affect a smaller number of people.  Third, the reactors will be the “Breeder” type so not only will there not be mountains of nuclear waste to dispose of; the mountains that already exist will be used in the process.  Yes, we know about Breeders making weapons grade plutonium but then weapons grade plutonium is being made without the Breeder reactor.  Live with it.

http://www.argee.net/DefenseWatch/Nuclear%20Waste%20and%20Breeder%20Reactors.htm

For those of you actually interested.  We would be there now but breeders were banned by, whom else, Jimmy Carter in 1977.  France even has breeders, no pun intended.