Quote:
Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND
I am in no means advocating that super high gas prices are GOOD. I'm not even Chu said it would be goo, and he didn't reference any impact other than on transitioning to other energy sources. The context that without a rise in gas prices, we will not move away from fossil fuels. This is probably a true statement
We need some kind of transition away from them, whether you believe we should for climate, pollution or national security. The reality is it will take some serious time to do (decades). The problem is, this can keeps getting kicked down the road...
The last lines:
Never mind that some energy experts say Chu had it exactly right, and that higher fuel prices would encourage consumers to buy more efficient vehicles, discourage suburban sprawl, make renewables more competitive and reduce U.S. reliance on imported oil. Not even Chu’s department is making that argument these days.
Read more: Steven Chu's Europe gas quote haunts President Obama - Bob King - POLITICO.com |
"without a rise in gas prices, we will not move away from fossil fuels. "
Not true. We don't want gas prices to rise, that's not a healthy reason to transition to renewable energy. What we want is for renewable green energy to be cheaper than gas is today. Rockhound, if we set gas at $100 a gallon, then yes, it will be cheaper to buy crappy electric cars, and it will be cheaper to pay $50,000 to convert our houses to geo-thermal.
BUT WHO DOES THAT HELP? Anyone? Not that I see...
"The reality is it will take some serious time to do (decades)."
That's true, we are decades away from realistically-priced green energy. The question is, what do we do in the meantime? Because in the meantime, the world will use lots of oil. The countries that provide that oil, some of which are not very nice places, will make tons of money. It seems to me that here in America, we could use tons of money. Why let others get rich off of us? Why not cash in our lottery ticket, too? This is an issue for which I cannot fathom the view on the left, it's literally incomprehensible to me.
"The problem is, this can keeps getting kicked down the road..."
We are? Kicking the can down the road? Obama gave $500 million of our money (which he had to borrow from the Chinese) to Solyndra. Billions and billions of stimulus $$ went to green energy.
Rockhound, whoever invents the first electric car that actually works for American families, will instantly become the richest person who has ever lived. That's all the incentive that the private sector needs. They're working on it. It's just a hard problem to solve.