 |
|
|
|
| Posting Archives |
|
October 30, 2008 Bakken oil, North Dakota, Montana and T. Boone Pickens. Well folks, I thought this might be something that would buy some time to aid us with bridging the gap between the old and the new when it comes to fueling our vehicles without the "perceived" need for drilling in the ocean or ANWR. Apparently I read two wrong articles. It just goes to show you that the truth is not always apparent and readily available whether intentional or accidental. So here is the truth about the so called "oil boom" in North Dakota and Montana, the Bakken formation.What I had read and heard is that there is hundreds of billions of barrels of oil in these areas, that it is a "American Saudi Arabia". Well the truth is that according to the USGS there is at best 4.3 billion barrels of "technologically recoverable oil". To put this into perspective the Saudi reserves are estimated at 250 billion barrels and 4.3 billion barrels of oil is roughly nine months of oil consumption here in the US. Not very exciting. Then you have to consider the meaning behind "technologically recoverable oil". This is not a pool of oil under the ground, it is oil shale, to put it simply oil mixed in with rocks. Some can be pumped out of the ground but the bulk has to be either strip mined or force extracted which requires huge amounts of water and can potentially contaminate ground water sources. Shell Oil is working on a process where they can reduce the possibility of ground water contamination but it is very expensive. So again we are faced with the reality of the true cost of oil as a fuel. We stand behind our position supporting alternatives now as opposed to later. We agree with T. Boone Pickens when he calls for a greater use of Natural Gas now as a bridge to alternatives and the aggressive use now of wind and solar,. However we do not support any additional drilling for oil in the ocean, ANWR or any other protected environments. Natural Gas is abundant, cheaper and far less polluting then oil. According to the USGS we have 164 Trillion cubic feet of Natural Gas reserves. If forced to choose between oil or Natural Gas I would pick Natural Gas every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Our ultimate goal of course is to move totally to alternative green sustainable energy resources in the very near future. We have the technology, we just need the will, there are no more excuses.
October 08, 2008 Beware of Scammers Please, if you are considering installing a alternative energy system, pay very close attention to the company you hire to install the system. As with everything else, there are a small percentage of alternative energy companies that are not doing business in a above board way and are either not giving you correct information, inflating output estimates and some are simply taking the money and running off. This is the exception to the rule however be diligent and protect yourself. Check references and see the work they do in advance and never make full payment up front. There are many good honest businesses out there but it only take one time to really hurt so please be careful.
September 25, 2008 President Bush, John McCain and Barack Obama all support "Clean Coal". We Disagree "Clean Coal" is a technology that dramatically reduces the carbon output along with reductions in the other toxic emissions from the burning of coal. This technology is still in the development stage. This is a very exciting technology and can have a tremendous positive impact on our energy needs, that is until you read the fine print.There are three stages to "clean coal". First is mining, then the cleaning, then the burning. Back in the old days, coal was mined underground, there are still a very few underground mines in this country. Remember the coal mine collapse in Utah? The one that killed six men? In the latter half of the 20th century, coal companies found another type of mining that was faster and cheaper then underground mining. It is open pit mining, AKA strip mining. This is the widely accepted process in the coal industry today. It is also the most environmentally destructive form of mining known to man. "Strip Mining" includes open pit mining and mountain top removal mining. Mountain top removal mining is exactly what it describes. Starting at the top of the mountain, it is pulled down until the coal is reached. This process is currently being used on a large scale in the Appalachia Mountains in West Virginia and surrounding states.
There is continuing negative impact on the environment after the coal has been mined. For more information please go to the "Coal" page on this website. The bottom line here is that "Clean Coal" simply does not exist, not now, not later, it is an oxymoron. Yes, it is hugely abundant and with the use of mountain top removal mining and open pit mining it is very inexpensive to harvest. However when taking into consideration the damage done to the environment and the cost of creating clean burning coal it is not nearly as viable as wind, solar, tidal, hydro, thermal and bio fuel technologies. If the coal industry can prove that it can function in as environmentally friendly way as the alternatives mentioned we would welcome it with open arms.
August 31, 2008 President Bush again pushes for Off Shore Drilling The President again has stated his position on off shore drilling for the purpose of relieving this countries dependence on foreign oil and the high cost of fuel. The President is blaming the Democrats in Congress for blocking relief for Americans. This may be true, if you really stretch the truth and that's not to say the the Bush administration knows anything about stretching the truth.The president claims that by drilling off shore, and that includes east coast, west coast and areas in the gulf not yet being drilled will bring down the cost of oil and bring relief to all Americans. Every study I have seen states that any new drilling, off shore or in ANWR will not bring any relief for at the very least five years and the latest Energy Information Administration study states no noticeable relief until 2030.
The Democrats claim that the high price of oil is due to speculation in the oil futures market. The Republicans claim that it is supply and demand. Our question is what does it matter? High oil prices are here to stay no matter what we do. It could be much worse, look at UK, Italy and Denmark. We are ranked 6th worldwide.
Here is a very good article on offshore drilling and oil shale mining. If this country took the money and resources required to undertake this plan to drill for oil and used it to move alternative energy and bio fuels forward then there would be no need to pursue this proposed additional drilling. I challenge anyone on that statement. It is my personal opinion that our President's short sightedness is supported by his interest in making sure the Oil Industry is secure for a very long time. Remember just a few months ago his response to the question posed by a reporter about the possibility of $4 a gallon gasoline was that he had not heard anything about that. This is the same President calling for a solution to a problem that could take up to 22 years to propagate. This is a President that simply ignored the experts who predicted our current situation many years ago with a blatant disregard for for the well being of all Americans. Congress is just as guilty if not more so. It is our position that the solution does not lie in more drilling. The solution comes from a well orchestrated combination of alternative fuel technology, dramatically increased fuel economy standards and a aggressive implementation of electric and plug in hybrid technology for cars and trucks. We must develop and build large scale efficient mass transit systems such as high speed rail lines such as the one going before voters in California's November ballot. Alternative energy systems today have the potential to replace a huge portion of our energy needs in the form of wind, solar, tidal, hydro and bio fuels right now. Can you image where they will be in 22 years, about the time this drilling pays off? The bottom line is that we have the technology, we just need the will to make it happen. People need to understand that there may be some minor sacrifices, but very little. The alternatives are real and very exciting. We must make the right choices and decisions for both long term and short term. There is no longer any reasonable arguments against the alternatives but there are certainly reasonable, responsible and logical arguments against the past and present oil based system that some are trying to push into the future.
August 15, 2008 California Residence Vote for High Speed Rail California Residence have the opportunity in November to vote in the first real high speed rail system in the US. A 220 MPH line from San Diego to San Francisco and Sacramento.We support this. It should be the beginning to a nationwide high speed rail system. For more information go to "Transportation" on this site or click here for the state website.
July 10, 2008 There is a battle ramping up in this country. It will be a fight between "Big Energy" or as I like to call it the Real Axis of Evil being the Coal Industry, the Oil Industry and the Nuclear Energy Industry against the Alternative Energy Industry, Bio-fuels, Wind, Solar, Tidal ect. Its obvious which side I will be fighting for. This is not a battle being fought using conventional weapons, it is a battle being fought with information, popular opinion and with our elected public officials as weapons. The Axis is a formable foe in the fact that they have relatively unlimited resources and some very carefully thought out and delivered propaganda. If you watch television you know what I mean. Coal under the guise of the American Coalition for Clean Electricity is touting "Clean Coal Energy" which is nothing short of a lie. There is no such thing as clean coal, it is by far the dirtiest form of energy we use and is the worst threat to our environment. See the Coal page on this website for more information. The Nuclear Industry is is playing the same game under the guise of "Areva". This is their alliance group and they are talking about how clean and safe their energy source is, well again, have a look at the Nuclear page on this site and decide for your self. Then their is Big Oil. I don't need to say much about this, most everyone knows about these guys. There are several companies playing the alternative energy research card as well as pushing their old fashioned agendas, drill drill drill. I can not at this time say whether or not their talk about alternative energy is real or just a public relations ploy, we are looking into it. It is also important to understand what oil shale is all about. This is another source the oil companies want to tap. Have you ever heard of strip mining? For more information on this go to the oil and coal pages. The other side of this struggle is Alternative Energy. One can no longer make the argument that it is too expensive and that the technology has not reach the point of reliability and availability. The best weapon Alternative Energy has in its arsenal is the truth. There is nothing to hide and there is no need to lie when talking about these sources. Sure, its not perfect but I can assure you it is by far the very best most logical solution to our energy problems and the threat to our national security that the oil, coal and nuclear industries pose. In order for the truth to get out, it is imperative that we educate the people of this country. If you walk down the street and ask 10 people what they know about coal most will tell you that "clean coal energy" is a good solution to our energy needs. Why do that say this? Well, because the coal industry is talking and in a big way. Unfortunately they are not speaking the truth. Its all about marketing and the Axis knows this. They use marketing and media to their full advantage while shoveling lies upon the American people. I believe that we need to fight fire with water. We need to start a very aggressive marketing campaign in the name of Alternative Energy that speaks only of the truth. In association with our ally Clean Green Productions we are planning this marketing strategy starting out with documentary film and moving into all other forms of media. This is a overwhelming undertaking and it will require major cooperation and a great deal of money. If you are interested in helping please contact us. In conclusion: Please do not believe anything you read on this site. You can believe it but do your own research. Find out for yourself but PLEASE whatever you do make sure you are making a well informed and educated assessment of our energy present and future. Spread the word and make sure your representative in Washington knows your position. Thanks for your time
|
| June
18 2008
President George Bush stood up in front of the country today in an attempt to apply pressure on Congress to allow drilling in Anwr and off the west coast and to pursue strip mining for shale oil as a response to the high cost of oil. I would like to respond to that speech. The President claims that opening these areas to drilling would in fact lower the cost of oil and move us closer to energy independence. Before I continue it is very important to note that this President is an oil man. He and his family are deeply invested in oil not to mention a great deal of his buddies including Mr. Cheney. I wont say that has anything to do with the Presidents decision making, I will leave that up to you, do the math. The President also made a point that this country has not built any new refineries in the last 40 years and claims again, that building new refineries is also part of the answer. Also mentioned was the extraction of shale oil which is simply rocks with oil in them and involves "surface mining" which is a nice way to say strip mining. This was the bulk of his speech. Congress, namely the Democrats claim that the oil industry is sitting on millions of acres of untapped leased land for drilling and simply does not need more. I cant speak to that, perhaps it is true but for me that means nothing and I will explain. This country has reached a crossroads, we need to make a decision and a commitment. Do we continue to pursue the old way of drilling and strip mining for our energy? Do we continue to keep our dependence on imported oil as one of if not the biggest risk to our national security? Do we spend billions of dollars on locating new oil reserves and building new refineries to service them and deal with the environmental impact of that decision? Or, do we take that money and invest it in alternative green renewable energy resources? If this countries government wishes to continue to drill and strip mind for oil in an attempt to lower the cost like our President wants the bottom line is that any new drilling or any new mining for shale oil will not have any affect on our energy situation for at least 3 to 5 years. Perhaps even longer, 10 years. It does create some jobs, but it also creates a hazardous risk to our environment. The cost in the long run is considerably higher then anyone now claims and does very little to nothing in both the long term and the short term to relieve the high cost of energy we now face. No matter what we do at this point with fossil fuels, we are stuck with the high costs and the negative environmental impact. It wont get better, it will just just get worse. For about the same cost of what the President has proposed we can start a very aggressive alternative fuel program and build up the infrastructure. We focus on plug in hybrid technology for cars that get 100+ MPG and electric cars that simply don't use liquid fuel. We start a very aggressive Ethanol (E-85) program using switch grass instead of corn and build refineries, AKA Biorefineries instead of oil refineries. Make it mandatory that every car sold in this country be flex fuel including plug in hybrids and standard hybrids. Basically any vehicle that uses gas be capable of running on E-85 within say two years. There is a company called Flex Fuel US that manufactures kits to convert any car built since 1995 to a flex fuel capability that has just passed all EPA requirements. If a rebate program or tax incentive program could be put in place so people could afford to convert their cars to E-85 capability this would cover considerably more then 50% of all the cars on the road today. Once the supply of E-85 is sufficient for nationwide distribution then we take every gas station that offers three grades of fuel and simply replace one of them with E-85. At least 80% of the cars on the road today can run on regular gas, the others have to run on premium so you replace the mid grade. Keep in mind that E-85 is a much higher octane fuel then premium at 105 octane. No need to drill for more oil. This is of course the readers digest version but I challenge anyone to make a reasonable and logical argument against it. If we are considering building new refineries, then why not make them biorefineries. If we are going to spend the money to search and drill for more oil for fuel, why not just plant it? If there is any question in your mind about the benefits of switch grass as a bio fuel source go to the switch grass page and look at the information linked there, it will simply amaze you. The fact of the matter is with technology where it is today and where it will be tomorrow there is an intelligent, reasonable and logical argument against the continued use of fossil fuels as biggest reliance for our transportation energy. The argument also stands against any further major investment both financially and environmentally for the purpose of drilling or mining for oil. We either need to trump Big Oil in this venture or force them to move rapidly in this direction and I don't think it is unreasonable for this country to reduce our need for foreign oil by 50% within 5 years and 100% within ten without any new drilling. That's foreign oil imports, not just oil. This country still produces 8.2 million barrels of oil a day, more then enough using the above technologies in the short term. The bottom line is it is up to Congress to make this happen, write to them, call them, demand this.
|
