It's Time For America To Get Smart About Energy

"Conceptually the battle is over, the peakists have won," declared Dr. James Schlesinger in his opening remarks at the 2007 ASPO-Ireland Peak Oil Conference last September. While it was nice to hear America's first energy czar acknowledge that peak oil was finally getting the attention of mainstream media and the public, it was apparent to all of us warriors in the audience that declaring victory was just a bit premature -- reminiscent of the President's declaration on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Indeed, later in the same speech Schlesinger remarked "Americans have to be hit over the head with a 2-by-4." Little did we know that the 2-by-4 would arrive so quickly. We are now reeling from the punch and trying to figure out who hit us and how we can hit them back.

Now what?, is the question of the moment. More drilling? More invasions? More ethanol? More technology? More conservation? More mandates? More subsidies? More taxes? Any discussion of energy today takes on the fervor of religious debate. The less we know, the more certain we are. Energy as a subject matter is extremely complex and integral to our entire economic structure. To know energy you must also know chemistry and physics and geology and economics and agriculture and industrial processes and governance and land use and health care and transportation. This is the problem of our lifetime and to assume that politicians will solve it is insanity.

Placing blame will also not move us closer to solutions: We need more refineries! Open up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve! Drill more! Regulate the speculators! These are nothing more than the last gasp of last century thinking.

More people are now moving past the denial stage and are beginning to consider intelligent responses to the problems we will face in the coming decades: How will our most vulnerable Americans pay their utility bills? How will local government pay for essential services? How will we feed the growing ranks of unemployed? How can we transform our transportation system in a hurry? How do we create local job opportunities? How do we utilize land more efficiently? How do we educate and prepare the public for a world in transition?

Nothing short of a national mobilization will suffice. Let's call the initiative Energy Smart America and here are a few of my suggestions:

• In order to get the "buy-in" from all Americans we must enact an energy education program on a massive scale. Newspapers could devote an entire section to energy, schools must develop a curriculum that extends from K-12 and beyond, and leadership must come from all levels of government.

• Meet the serious challenge that faces us with a matching level of responses in terms of funding for research and development and serious reductions in consumer demand. Conservation in a hurry will buy us time and save us money.

• Establish a storehouse of best practices from experiments in America and the world. Local government, non-profits, and business can all be good incubators of ideas and creativity. Develop initiatives that can be used to demonstrate and implement projects with the highest energy profit ratios.

• Remove barriers to renewable energy projects.

• Create opportunities for local food production.

• Eliminate biofuels subsidies that compete with food crops.

• Coordinate land use and transportation projects to improve connectivity and provide multi-modal options. Expand public transit. Re-design highways into multi-purpose networks to allow safe use of neighborhood electric vehicles and physically separated bicycle lanes.

• Foster international cooperation and share scientific achievement.

If you think this all sounds a little too far fetched, then be forewarned, the next 2-by-4 is headed our way.

Comments

[Mildmannered]

solar thermal technology -- check it out -- http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=209100185

[Mildmannered]

Debbie:

How about building more solar plants (thermal and/or photovoltaic) out in the Mojave Desert to generate electricity for SoCal??? (Not only will they provide electricity for our AC's on the hottest (and brightest) afternoons, but eventually they can provide electricity for our "plug in" vehicles.) Let's have your thoughts on this please. Thanks

[research]

There is more then enough rooftop for power America with solar. Rooftop solar actually reduces Gird load, because air condition, the peak e;electrical load, happen at the same time and place as peak solar.

[alltwisty]

What's up, homegirl?

[Mildmannered]

Debbie

You said "Eliminate biofuels subsidies that compete with food crops." I fully agree; promoting corn ethanol is bad policy.

[ImmanuelGoldstein]

What we need first is education in basic science. From the number of people who believe in water cars, or that hydrogen is an energy source , or much other nonsense it's clear this is needed before any meaningful energy debate can happen.

[TheIndependenceParty]

Excellent thoughts, Debbie! In particular, the impact of biofuels has been the feeding of cars over people. That needs to stop.

There is no way back for the US in its consuption of oil. These bridges are burning, and we have one choice, and that is to move forward.

[research]

shift the approx 200B$ /year nuke and coal subsides to wind solar and plug in hybrid tax incentives. 10 years 1T$, see my profile.

[KenArnold]

Debbie, my future Congressperson, Welcome to HuffingtonPost !!!
Great post !!! Glad to have you blogging finally.

Linda Sanchez yesterday and you today. Arianna or netroots must be doing something right.

You go girls.

[KenArnold]

Debbie, my future Congressperson, Welcome to HuffingtonPost !!!
Great post !!!

Linda Sanchez yesterday and you today. Arianna or netroots is doing something right.
You go girls.

[FearlessFreep]

One word: rationing.

[drkazmd65]

Its not quite necessary (yet) to go that far Fearless. I would advocate the following steps first:

1) Do open up a small, but noticible amount, of oil from the strategic reserve for ONLY domestic refining and distribution at less than 100/bbl. (short term calming effect on markets)

2) Do raise taxes on gasoline/deisel to maintain the lack of current demand (no less than ~$3.00/galon regular) so we retain the personal incentive to economize (longer term calming effect on the markets) - AND use the extra tax money as a fund for grants to individuals to set up home wind or solar power generation.

3) Get rid of the existing incentives (tax write offs) for purchasing large SUVs.

4) Get the hell out of Iraq, and use the money currently budgeted for that occupation (it's not a war folks) to build up train & commuter infrastructure, establish a power distribution grid for charging electric/hybrid automobiles, and seriously rebuild the power transmition capabilities of this country.

Start down these roads - and then talk to us about rationing.

[Mildmannered]

drkazmd65 writes in part: "raise taxes on gasoline/deisel to maintain the lack of current demand (no less than ~$3.00/galon regular) so we retain the personal incentive to economize (longer term calming effect on the markets)"

I know that you and I may be in the minority, but I agree. Wish we had raised them a decade or so ago, it would have encouraged the development and use of more fuel efficient vehicles, and our problems would not be as bad now.

[Mildmannered]

drkazmd65 also writes in part: "build up train & commuter infrastructure, establish a power distribution grid for charging electric/hybrid automobiles, and seriously rebuild the power transmission capabilities of this country."

I agree again.

[TxAggie]

100 bbls would havea calming effect? brilliant.