The oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico may be as big as 5,000 gallons per day. Note that systems including one called a blowout preventer were in place to prevent leaks in the case of massive explosions like the one that killed 11 people on the drilling rig. Apparently something is not working because the slick may reach the Louisiana shoreline as early as Friday evening.
In a story that I see as related, the American Lung Association reported Wednesday that 60% of We the People live in places where air pollution often reaches dangerous levels. My regular readers will recall that I often write about the orange air we have here in Atlanta during the late spring and summer months. Smog season starts here on May 1 according to our local newspaper. Fortunately for us, the story explains that air quality is improving. I am convinced that air is not supposed to be orange.
I often write of my support for alternative energy. In addition, I run another site, the NeaReport, dedicated to gathering the important news about alternative energy. Note that I support free markets driving alternative energy, not regulation. Green energy needs to be marketed the way Vera Bradley markets handbags and Nike ran their Air Jordan campaign in the 1980s – The stuff has to be cool and once it is cool it will sell. Like handbags and Air Jordans, with plenty of profit to drive the green industries. I have no doubt that this oil rig explosion and possibly the news on air pollution will cause environmentalists to continue their approach on their most inefficient and ineffective approach to advancing their cause – regulations.
This is why I get so frustrated with global warmists, cap and trade nonsense. The global warming crowd has people busily hiding temperature data while others float plans to launch massive solar shields to block the sun’s rays, or create laws requiring homeowners to paint their roofs white to reflect the sun’s rays back into space. Then there is this beauty from The New York Times Thomas Friedman who writes that, “I’ve been trying to understand the Tea Party Movement.” Friedman goes on to offer the movement the opportunity to have real meaning by becoming the, “Green Tea Party.” Friedman offers this brilliant idea in addition to his usual braying about the need for a carbon tax (supporters can’t even agree on how carbon tax revenues should be used. My guess; pork barrel spending to buy votes. Why should this be different?)
Folks, the oil leak and the air pollution are great examples (in addition to national and international security) of the need to end our intense use of oil. The focus on “solving” global warming and on carbon taxes are examples of good intentions gone vary awry and, Friedman’s Green Tea Party in a major newspaper is the peak of silliness.
The tools to break our dependence on oil are in place, from electric cars (Wheego, Nissan Leaf) to wind farms and smart grid technology. Supporters can continue to focus on the inane and insane, and waste their time fighting to force regulations down doubters and opponents throats, or they themselves can embrace these technologies, spend their money on these technologies, and thus drive technology up and drive the prices down. There are more than enough supporters to make a difference, if those supporters act on their convictions.
The green revolution should focus on marketing, not regulation. Most of all, it needs real conviction from those that claim to be supporters. Real conviction means acting on your convictions, not forcing others to act on your convictions. Freidman should have challenged all global warmists to be the first to buy green cars and to better insulate their homes. People spending time, effort, and money devising ways to find tree ring data that is statistically significant in the life of our 6 billion plus year-old planet, or thinking up science fiction approaches to reversing warming, should focus on improving and marketing the solutions we already have.
The green revolution is here. The only thing missing is for the people that claim to be green to actually act green. Warmists, act on your convictions
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Do you realy think environmentallists aren’t already using greener technologies? Your article supposes that the energy industry is currently a level playing field with no government interference. Not true. The US government holds leases to much of the oil resources and regulates these industries.