Originally
posted by
Requiem:
I'm all for clean energy where we can... But in some places the technology just isn't there. Like Detmer said there is very little alternative at the present moment however eventually I suspect we will have some other choices that are more feasible.
They've made great advances in the clean coal technology and our new coal plants are much cleaner than before. We have a great abundance of coal in the US and we'd be putting ourselves at a disadvantage.
If the environmentalists don't put a stop to natural gas fracking we could possibly use that more as it is a clean burning fuel.
But lest for one second imagine we did stop pollution in the US completely... Lets imagine we all use solar power and ride bikes to work... Unless every other country does the same it won't matter much because pollution is a global problem not just a US problem.
Yup, like we're going back to the third world if we drop all oil immediately... and part of the problem with that is people will starve since we more or less water our crops with oil. Oil is not something that we as a society can just give up over night. I have a job with an oil company because the world needs oil and not working there isn't going to change anything. I ride my bike to work and I opt-in to pay extra on my electricity bill to subsidize green energy so we can move that direction in the future. I vote for greener measures and greener politicians (although that isn't my only basis for selecting a politician) but just because I know we need to move off of oil as a primary source of power does not mean that it is reasonable to stop using things that require electricity. Putting pressure on congress and companies to switch to alternative energies is a much better method than having some "hunger strike" against fossil fuels.
As for coal... coal will never be "clean". Coal will never stop decimating the landscape with acid rain, even if we stop destroying the countryside to mine it. Natural gas is so much cleaner than coal and oil by almost all metrics it is really a no-brainer as far as fossil-fuels are concerned. The downside to natural gas is the energy density is much lower than coal and oil so you need more volume for equal energy (and we do like smaller things). I think we should strive to move off of all fossil fuels, but in the meantime I think natural gas is a step in the right direction. Old cars can be retrofitted to run on natural gas, but here is just one example of a new NG car
http://automobiles.honda.com/civic-natural-gas/
I don't think fracking is the be-all-and-end-all of natural gas extraction. There are serious potential environmental damages and I do not think the true dangers (if any) are known (to the public). Most of fracking is highly proprietary and there is surprisingly little scientific literature on the topic. I am not sold that fracking is inherently bad but I am also by no means convinced that it is not a huge problem.
Finally, as far as if the US made all these changes, I think that would actually solve a lot. Smaller countries have made changes and pledges (like Kyoto as an example) but understandably they are thinking "what's the point if the biggest problem (the US) is not making changes?" I think that a lot of the world would make changes if the biggest polluters would take steps to reduce their pollution. For developed countries this isn't a big deal - for developing nations it is a much thornier issue. I am impressed at how China is trying to develop green, even though they are still a gigantic environmental disaster. At least they are putting some green infrastructure in place for the future.