Easier Said Than Done

Pure drivel. Outright lies and misinformation. Solar and wind are free and clean. Fossil fuels, while still abundant, time has come to an end. They are dirty and their time has passed. Who are you owned by Kenneth Green? Wake up and throw off the shackles.

This video is full of nonsense. It is clearly a badly made pro fossil fuel add. What use is saying 'it will be hard'. What does it mean to say 'coal is cheaper'. Coal and Oil are extremely expensive given the damage to arable land and public health their use has caused. This guy has no clue and this video should be removed if this site wants to be taken seriously.

powered by Tesla's primary energy device in the 1960s of which I know, perhaps earlier. We also tested his hidden space propulsion method.

Those things take a LOT of electric current, and this device delivers. Yet, here's this young guy to straighten us out with "well, we'd better stick with oil because you can't have energy without starting a fire, blah blah blah..."

I wrote a short "essay" about this and submitted it to Planet Forward. The website has no interest in it. It's interested in submissions that, in many cases, have no content, but not in a clean technology that is also free of cost.

So, get ready for that big program in May, when Planet Forward tells you the verdict among our website visitors is unanimous: "drill baby drill." Brought to you by ExxonMobil (disappointing but not surprising).

The Current Coal, Oil & Gas infrastructure which provides the energy to the world represents trillions of dollars of investment poured in over the past 100 years. And this infrastructure only tapped the most accessible resources. Off shore oil platforms operating in ever deeper water now cost billions each to produce a maximum of 250,000 Barrels Per Day of Crude Oil. Known locations of oil are predominantly outside the borders of the Western Nations whose economies are powered by "Cheap" fossil fuels and the countries that have this oil are all seeking substantially higher revenues for their oil in order to remake their own economies. All indications are that the price of oil will steadily increase - it isn't all that cheap today and will get ever more expensive. Keep in mind that last summer's oil spike (like several other such spikes since 1974) had a significant role in the economic crash of 2008 - because the cost energy impacts every aspect of our economy. WHEN prices again begin to rise, it will have a substantial negative impact again.

For those consider coal "Cheap", consider this - it is only cheap because the Mining companies that extract coal from the ground, and the Utility Companies that burn it don't have to pay the cost of the environmental pollution they create. Strip mining is a dirty business, with substantial loss of prime wilderness areas, pollutions of water via run off as well as water used by the mines, and of course the over burden carried away by rainfall. Then they burn it and we get acid rain, high particulate concentrates we breath, heavy metals deposited both locally AND high into the atmosphere to rain down hundreds of miles east of the source. The ash that results from combustion is yet another toxic pollutant, along with the particulates removed via electrostatic precipitation and the various SOx, NOx and other materials that are captured in environmental remediation.

In spite of claims of "Clean Coal", we here on the Eastern Seaboard know otherwise. We have fought a 7 year battle to enforce EXISTING standards on emissions on Coal burning utilities to the West of our states that result in substantial & measurable pollution of our water sheds. These plants (like most) cannot come close to meeting a "Zero Discharge" standard for pollutants even before discussion of CO2 emissions and global warming. The plants we are suing over don't even meet the standard for "Best Available Technology". Does "Cheap" electricity give one part of the America (let alone the world) the right to pollute another because it is cheaper for them?

The cost of fossil fuels will be a legacy of global pollution followed by climate change on a scale that will one day be looked upon in horror. Our descendants will ask how could we have been so greedy (cheap today - expensive tomorrow), stupid (polluting the air we breath, the water we drink) and uncaring about them (exhausting every form of cheap energy and doing nothing for the long term).

Yes, replacing the fossil fuel infrastructure will be expensive - why should this be either a surprise or a concern. Design & construction will create jobs for people in every country that goes green. Renewable sources will mean energy generated inside America's borders, for America's consumption, instead of exporting jobs and cash to purchase energy from abroad. Cleaner Air and water are going to be far more valued commodities in the future. Consider this - EVERY American today lives within 50 miles of a Toxic Waste sight because we lacked foresight in the past to examine our decisions with a view towards the long term impact. There isn't enough money or resources to clean up more then a small fraction of these sites, and this will mean ever more Americans will experience pollution of their water supplies as the sites slowly leach more toxins into ground water.

We trusted American industries to do the right thing - after all the owners and operators of these plants lived here too - but we were wrong to trust them. Don't let those who tell us we cannot change, we cannot escape fossil fuel dependence make this decision for us. Those that say it is impossible act on short term self interest. Just watch ExxonMobile in action - record profits for the past 2 years even as the amount of oil they actually pump has dropped each of the last 5 years. They realize that the stand to earn greater profits by pumping more slowly, letting the price rise steadily, and NOT spending money to help any economy escape the dependence on oil. ExxonMobile can an will earn huge profits over the next decade without expensive searches for new oil, (they will invest in proven projects found at other people's expense or purchase known assets) and simply let a tight supply & growing demand make the next 15 years look a lot like the last 2 (very profitable).

Think the Big 3 Car companies have been working on behalf of consumers or for the long term benefit of consumers? Toyota & Honda created hybrid vehicles and high mileage cars WITHOUT USA Government subsidy. The Big 3 converted around 1/3 of their plants from cars to SUVs, Pickup Trucks and Mini Vans with poor fuel economy. The Big 3 have vigorously fought raising MPG standards, pollution / emission standards and converting their production to "Green" factories. Now for the 3rd time in 40 years a sudden spike in fuel prices leaves the Big 3 struggling for survival as consumers seek relief. The big 3 and Japanese still avoid providing production "Plug In" hybrids when they are clearly within technological reach. Even $25 billion in Federal funding to create more efficient vehicles has done rather little to rework the product lines. Perhaps Americans would have been better served to offer Toyota $1 billion to convert the now mothballed truck plant in Texas to a production plant for the next generation Prius so we might get a family of American built Plug Ins.

It is time for a change - let those who choose the path of "Fossil Free America" step forward and lead America through the transition. There are plenty of us who know it is technologically possible and can be done - so those that say it cannot be done please just step aside and watch how it gets done.

Dear Mr Green

1. Cost
Why would you think the cost of fossil fuels will no longer rise ?
If you study the latest IEA report, they state that conventional crude oil is now declining at a rate of around 6% annually globally.
New discoveries, and that would include anything potentially found offshore in the USA, cannot keep up with the depletion rates. Essentially, conventional crude oil production has been on a plateau since 2005.
That means that, in order to meet "demand" heavy use has to be made of unconventional sources e.g. tar sands. Current best estimates indicate that tar sands are uneconomical to produce at less than $70 - $90 per barrel, while the costs of shale oil, if a technically feasible method could be found to extract this on a large scale could be found (Shell has to date been unsuccessful) might be even higher.
I the US, the highest production of conventional crude oil ever was in 1970. As production started falling, they drilled everywhere they could think of, but could find no way to increase the supply. It has been pretty much falling year after year ever since.
When the price went up over $100, many wells that had previously been left as dry could be reopened to take advantage of better (more expensive) technology to try and get more oil out.
Sine the credit crunch, many of these smaller projects have been put on hold or terminated.

A simple economic truth holds - if demand goes up and supply falls, price goes up.

In the case of natural gas, thousands of wells are drilled everywhere, which deplete at a very fast rate. The price is therefore very volatile - moving over to burning natura gas in cars, for example, will deplete natural gas reserves, as will using them to mine tar sands.

In the case of coal, the sheer destructiveness of the mining methods will result in restrictions on mountaintop mining (I personally can't wait - also ever since that collapsed coal slag heap poisoned rivers in Tennessee), driving coal costs up.

There is no need ot think coal will last forever either - early studies in the 20th Century indicted there might be many years of coal *at then current demand*. Of course, we know coal demand has rapidly increased - we should not expect coal to be inexhaustible - in fact, all the high quality sources have already been exhausted (why else would they be blowing up mountains to get it ?)

2. Diffuseness of the power source
It is true that oil and coal are very energy dense. So much so that a cup of oil is the equivalent of many person-hours of work.
In order to make the most out of solar and wind, we will have to apply conservation and efficiency principles, not continue to waste energy because, up until now, it has been very cheap - essentially free.
Homes and buildings will need to be insulated to use less energy. We will have to use public transit more often than private cars. Farming methods will need to be adapted to using fewer fossil fuel inputs - farmers around the world are already struggling with the fact that input prices have sky-rocketed, while at the same time they are unable to get credit to buy seed and fertiliser.
This does not bode well for the global future of food production as we know it today.
My personal experience after installing solar panels for heat and hot water was that I still required to insulae my house and turn down my thermostat in order to conserve energy.
I drive a hybrid vehicle which only gives the highest number of niles to the gallon when I practice eco-conscious driving - light-footed on the gas pedal.

3. "Green Hypocrisy"
While it is true that one or two communities have come out against the idea of windmills in their back yards, there are a multitude of ways that wind and solar can be implemented. Whichever way is chosen, conservation and efficiency must come first.
I believe there is far more resistance to new nuclear plants, new refineries and new coal plants in people's back yards - the idea that we will end up building a lot more of them against the current permitting restrictions is foolish - without taking in to account how expensive they are to construct, especially nuclear.
Note that in Texas, recently, building of new coal plants has effectively been stopped.
Thin film solar panels are, right now, being made into roof tiles via flexible film. Work is being done in the Netherlands on windmills for urban applications. There are many ways we can solve energy problems with local solutions of which the everyday homeowner or business owner can take advantage, via tax credits at both State and Federal level.

You need to go back and do a bit more homework.

At first, I thought this video was about peak oil by the picture of a setting sun behind an oil pump. We are going to have to get off fossil fuels this century, whether we like it or not. And consider this fact: a "cup full" of uranium could provide all of the electricity for a family of four for their entire lifetime. One ton of uranium contains as much energy as three million tons of coal. In contrast, the average American uses 20 pounds of coal a day for the 49% of our electricity that comes from coal.

Here's something that might seem like it was dreamed up by a science fiction writer: a nuclear reactor that is 100 to 300 times as fuel efficient as current reactors, passively safe, proliferations resistant, and could burn existing nuclear waste as fuel... but was cancelled in the final stage of development.

http://bravenewclimate.com/2008/11/28/hansen-to-obama-pt-iii-fast-nuclea...

We are looking at the cost of fossil fuels, and wondering if we should have asked for the bill sooner. Sorry Ken, Your not seeing the whole picture. We have to change! If you researched current climate models it might. Sad thing about even the latest climate models is, SCIENTISTS KEEP TRYING TO PUT A STRAIGHT LINE ON SOMETHING THAT IS HAPPENING EXPONETIALLY. -meaning even the most CURRENT PREDICTIONS ARE BEHIND THE CURVE. We don't have 30 years, I wonder about 10. Planet Forward is a great step in bringing us forward as fast as the future is coming at us. I think carbon squestration is a must at this point. Hope to see more on that.

..would have to be vary efficient, that means really smart use of energy, better technological use, smart cars, smart servers, smart software, really smart appliances.

And you would have to create allot of really good job's to build this smart stuff.

Clean small code, Clean small devices. SMART SMART SMART

The fact is: Windows Vista is such a bloated operating systems that it takes 10 times the PC to run Vista as it did to run Windows 95.

The fact is: Performance and Safety in a car cost 100 times the energy actually needed to move it's occupants and cargo.

The fact is: Fat, Drunk and Stupid is no way to go threw life.

Fat [Heavy] Drunk [on Oil] Stupid [Power hungry dumb devices]

Let's build smart, clean, safe and EFFICIENT transportation NOW

Hey, if we make a quick change to clean energy, guess who goes bankrupt?

Not the US, just the folks running it at this time [Global Oil Corporations]

Now guess what happens if we don't make a big change now, and the supply get's shut off?

The American Interprise Institute is heavily funded by the fossil fuel industry....nuf said. You may also want to avoid taking representatives from the following groups who are also tied Big Oil and Coal:

Competitive Enterprise Institute
Cato Institute
The Heartland Institute
more at http://www.exxonsecrets.org/html/listorganizations.php

I wish the media would do a better job of calling these greedy peons out!

In his Feb. 25, 2009 article "The American" (an American Enterprise Institute publication), titled "The Worst Option on Greenhouse Gases'" Mr. Green states that government regulation of greenhouse gases "will likely be the most costly and pervasive regulatory regime in U.S. history."
(See http://american.com/archive/2009/february-2009/the-worst-option-on-green...)

One example he gives is as follows: Even your lawnmower won't escape EPA's scrutiny. According to Glaser, the proposed rule suggests that among other household greenhouse gas regulations, Clean Air Act regulation "could require a different unit of measure tied to [a] machine's emissions or output - such as grams per kilogram of cuttings from a 'standard' lawn for lawnmowers."

Notice how Mr. Green's careful wording suggests that lawnmower emissions are mere fluff. However, EPA estimates that lawnmowers produce about 5% of the nation's air pollution. Considering how few lawnmowers exist relative to nation's car & truck fleet, and how relatively infrequently they are operated, 5% is a big number worth considering. Mr. Green's statement belittling the EPA's position suggests to me that he is quite willing to put the American Enterprise Institute's political agenda ahead of objective science. Put another way, why would a "scientist" want to work for a partisan special interest group in the first place?

I would have liked to see some futuristic view also. Wind/Solar as thought of currently are not economically sustainable choices...they may work for small ares, for part of the day.

Rather that spending vast billions on trying to improve these marginal players, I'd like to spend gobs of money on safe nuclear or fusion. Another is solar from space projects.

We need abundant energy to have a creatvie, dynamic country. Our goal should be to generate as much energy as possible, people will use it.

We can share those technoligies with other countries. Imagine Africa with no limit on energy. Imagine all the people of the world producing countless interesting things using cheap energy rather that producing energy using a trundel.

This country can do this. Yes, it may take 30/40 years. According to one article even the climate may be cooler for that long. Take the time and do it right, rather than use patchword technologies which can not work for a long time.

To my climate alarmist friends, I say do this so that we have a powerful economy so that we can fix carbon better in plants, or capture carbon and bury it.

The visions I've seen are too narrow, too constrained by what people think about tomorrow....not the next 100 years and on.

While i agree that its going to be quite a challenge, wasn't the point of this exercise to discuss solutions? i think if we take the premise that fossil fuels are cheap and easy to use seriously, then its worth considering what can be done in terms of large scale investment to innovate and buy down the cost of alternatives. maybe ken green is so hopeless because he lives in DC and the only people he meets talking solutions are discussing cap and trade. he should watch Michael Shellenberger's piece!