Former President Jimmy Carter was before congress today. When he was President, he had some great ideas on energy, his 10 Principles on Energy were brilliant .
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to work with Congress and was ineffective as a President. And then along came the hostage crises. On the Solar Water heater, great idea, but it did not work very well. He was doing excellent work in the non-profit area as a post President, then wrote a book that touched one of those third rails in politics - Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'apartheid' policies worse than South Africa. If you see a picture of former President's together, look at how close they are standing to Mr. Carter (it's as if he has cooties).
Showing posts with label energy independence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy independence. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Obama Orders New Rules to Raise Energy EfficiencyObama Orders New Rules to Raise Energy Efficiency
Obama Orders New Rules to Raise Energy Efficiency - NY Times.
I am pleasantly surprised this is being done so quickly! Oh, this explains it. Wow!
Over the last three decades, Congress has demanded stricter efficiency standards on 30 categories of products, as varied as residential air-conditioners and industrial boilers. But successive administrations have failed to write regulations to enforce the laws, even when ordered to by the courts.
I am pleasantly surprised this is being done so quickly! Oh, this explains it. Wow!
Over the last three decades, Congress has demanded stricter efficiency standards on 30 categories of products, as varied as residential air-conditioners and industrial boilers. But successive administrations have failed to write regulations to enforce the laws, even when ordered to by the courts.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Clean energy jolts job markets
Clean energy jolts job markets from the LA Times.
A comment that bothers me is that President Carter squandered billions on alternate fuels. Strange comment, since today we are doing ethanol and a lot of funding into alternate fuels. Just think if the funding had continued from 1981 to now in alternate energy, instead of being started only when oil got expensive and alternate energy became an emergency.
Unfortunately, President Carter has become the President that democrats have forgotten (pretend did not exist). His comment on Israel in his recent book made him ever more politically radioactive (using the word apartheid with Israel), as did how his Presidency is perceived in popular thought. Before his recent book, President Carter had an A+ reputation of his activities after being President. One relative commented he made a better ex-President than he did President. At the recent Democratic Convention, he was not on stage or even mentioned that I remember.
Related Posts:
What If - Carter's Energy Policy
Links:
Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'apartheid' policies worse than South Africa
A comment that bothers me is that President Carter squandered billions on alternate fuels. Strange comment, since today we are doing ethanol and a lot of funding into alternate fuels. Just think if the funding had continued from 1981 to now in alternate energy, instead of being started only when oil got expensive and alternate energy became an emergency.
Unfortunately, President Carter has become the President that democrats have forgotten (pretend did not exist). His comment on Israel in his recent book made him ever more politically radioactive (using the word apartheid with Israel), as did how his Presidency is perceived in popular thought. Before his recent book, President Carter had an A+ reputation of his activities after being President. One relative commented he made a better ex-President than he did President. At the recent Democratic Convention, he was not on stage or even mentioned that I remember.
Related Posts:
What If - Carter's Energy Policy
Links:
Jimmy Carter: Israel's 'apartheid' policies worse than South Africa
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Energy Independence Requirements in 10 Years
At my Alumni Day the keynote speaker was Daniel Yankelovich. Great speach which I enjoyed a lot. Excellent speach titled "The new pragmatism:" Coping with America's overwhelming problems".
A question came up about Energy Independence, and his answer was it was not possible in 10 years...
I disagree, it's possible, but not very likely.
What is required for Energy Independence:
1. Get nuke plants built. Likelyhood - little or none.
2. Drill offshore - to do this, share revenue with states. Likelyhood - little or none.
3. Increase the Gas Tax, to make Gas at a minimum of $4 or $5 a gallon. This decreases gas usage and increase fuel efficiency as people buy smaller cars. Use extra tax money to fund rebates for poorer families. Likelyhood - little or none.
4. Increase CAFE requirements.
5. Let states set Emission Requirements.
6. Set up a couple of X Prizes for alternate energy.
7. Build a nationwide High Voltage DC Grid.
8. Invest in MHD for burning Coal. So many advantages!
9. Require all cars in the US to be flex fuel.
10. Create fair incentives for plug ins. ie don't aim it at only GM's vehicle.
11. Build more coal plants in the US. Likelyhood - little or none.
12. Require Solar Thermal for hot water on all new houses and put in place subsidies so people put it in existing houses.
13. Increase efficiency standards for new houses and offices. ie Green Standards for energy usage. Huge potential savings here.
14. Make the tax code so it pays for improvements that reduce energy usage. Unfortunately companies unless their is an immediate ROI are not smart enough for the most part to put in energy efficient projects that require a payback of longer than a year.
15. For older cars that are gas guzzlers, offer a tax incentive to junk them.
16. Put a tax on incandescents to make them $3 each. LED's - Still at $17 for the cheapest one, but they have . Lighting uses 50% of the energy equivalant as used by autos. They are 2X as efficient as CFL's, and last 5 to 10X as long. CFL's cost around $3 now, Incandescent 50 cents. Haitz's Law saves every 10 years the price of LED's falls X10. Subsidize LED's by 50% to give a cost of $9 each, and with the increased production this will decrease the cost. CFL's are a short term solution until LED's become more cost efficient. So replacing all the incandescent bulbs with LED's would reduce the energy usage by a huge amount. Banning incandescents would be another approach.
17. Put the 55 MPH speed limit back in force - Likelyhood - little or none.
18. Make sure alternative energy can get needed capital.
19. Colorado Oil Shale - make it happen.
20. Tap Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil. - Likelyhood - little or none.
My opinion - I am a big fan of solar, LED's, and plug-ins must be my electronics background.
A question came up about Energy Independence, and his answer was it was not possible in 10 years...
I disagree, it's possible, but not very likely.
What is required for Energy Independence:
1. Get nuke plants built. Likelyhood - little or none.
2. Drill offshore - to do this, share revenue with states. Likelyhood - little or none.
3. Increase the Gas Tax, to make Gas at a minimum of $4 or $5 a gallon. This decreases gas usage and increase fuel efficiency as people buy smaller cars. Use extra tax money to fund rebates for poorer families. Likelyhood - little or none.
4. Increase CAFE requirements.
5. Let states set Emission Requirements.
6. Set up a couple of X Prizes for alternate energy.
7. Build a nationwide High Voltage DC Grid.
8. Invest in MHD for burning Coal. So many advantages!
9. Require all cars in the US to be flex fuel.
10. Create fair incentives for plug ins. ie don't aim it at only GM's vehicle.
11. Build more coal plants in the US. Likelyhood - little or none.
12. Require Solar Thermal for hot water on all new houses and put in place subsidies so people put it in existing houses.
13. Increase efficiency standards for new houses and offices. ie Green Standards for energy usage. Huge potential savings here.
14. Make the tax code so it pays for improvements that reduce energy usage. Unfortunately companies unless their is an immediate ROI are not smart enough for the most part to put in energy efficient projects that require a payback of longer than a year.
15. For older cars that are gas guzzlers, offer a tax incentive to junk them.
16. Put a tax on incandescents to make them $3 each. LED's - Still at $17 for the cheapest one, but they have . Lighting uses 50% of the energy equivalant as used by autos. They are 2X as efficient as CFL's, and last 5 to 10X as long. CFL's cost around $3 now, Incandescent 50 cents. Haitz's Law saves every 10 years the price of LED's falls X10. Subsidize LED's by 50% to give a cost of $9 each, and with the increased production this will decrease the cost. CFL's are a short term solution until LED's become more cost efficient. So replacing all the incandescent bulbs with LED's would reduce the energy usage by a huge amount. Banning incandescents would be another approach.
17. Put the 55 MPH speed limit back in force - Likelyhood - little or none.
18. Make sure alternative energy can get needed capital.
19. Colorado Oil Shale - make it happen.
20. Tap Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for oil. - Likelyhood - little or none.
My opinion - I am a big fan of solar, LED's, and plug-ins must be my electronics background.
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