Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Fidel
It won´t be cheaper than it is now. And the price will climb faster and faster. Domestic drilling won´t stop that so why even bother? The only thing it will really do is giving oil companies some extra profit, that´s all. So why not steer away from oil right now? Actually electric cars will be readdy pretty soon as recent projects like the tesla roadster and the electro smart show. Batteries are still the Problem but the progress is astonishing given the rather small investments so far. There are pretty easy concepts for city cars that run on solar generated electricity.
Solar by the way is the only realistic alternative to fossil energy right now. Nuclear isn´t because there´s not enough Uranium. Bio mass isn´t because you can´t produce nearly enough to substitute oil. Same goes for Wind and Water (to unstable and not enough). But Solar actually would work.The sun is sending 10000 times the energy to earth each day than what we consume right now. You just have to convert it and find a good carrier, likely hydrogene.
|
My understanding of "alternative energy" is that it's a hodgepodge of possibilities. We don't know which one(s) are viable replacements on a nation-wide scale. So, the idea isn't to drill domestically exclusively. Or to do nuclear power exclusively. Or to do wind exclusively. Or to do biofuels exclusively. Or to do solar exclusively. Or to do natural gas exclusively. It's to do all of it. Maybe if we knew which solution would be the fix-it-all solution, then we could dump 100% of everything we've got into it... but what if it's another corn ethanol? Leaps of faith sound good, but before we totally sever/steer away from oil, let's have a place to land.
And while we're looking, let's do what we can to make things better until that day. Even if global demand increases will outpace domestic drilling benefits, it's better than nothing. If you knew that the oil price would double right now if you did nothing, but if you drilled, it would only go up by 50%, which would you do? And even if we've only got enough nuclear fuel to power the entire world for 15 years, that means we've got more than enough to power just the United States for the 10 years (or however long) it would take to develop something else.
I'm not categorically against oil companies. This is probably going to open a can of worms, but Exxon invested over $100 million into alternative energy research last year. Lots of people poopooed that amount saying "oh, it's only 1% of all their profits." But, in the end, that was $100 million that wasn't there before. Chevron invested $300 million. I sure as heck don't have money to spare for alternative energy research.
If Big Oil invents something that is totally clean and totally renewable, do you say "Hallelujah!" or do you knee them in the crotch and walk away?