Loren Steffy is a Houston Chronicle Writer on the Business Page. He has a regular column with a wide range of topics. I found this one interesting. Thought I'd share it. Steffy's 5 part energy plan.
Steffy makes sense. However the heavy capital investment will eventually be amortized and it is to be hoped that maintenance will not impinge too severely, making the wind farm profitable.
I think the plan makes sense. I am 100% in agreement that we need to drill to "buy time." As Steffy points out, the nation still has many vehicles that run on gas. The process of weaning the public off of gas-powered vehicles is going to take many, many years. I do not totally discount the use of ethanol as being viable. I think as the price of corn and soybeans go up, then the numbers of farmers growing the crops will go up as well resulting in an eventual surplus rather than a shortage. It's basic economics we're talking about. I know farmers in the part of the country I live in would welcome a new cash crop. I also like the ideas about using coal. Old Dominion is in the process of building a coal-powered plant in the area I live that is to be on-line in 2012. As Steffy alludes to, the resource is too plentiful to ignore as a verifiable option for power. I still believe the greatest factor to combat foreign oil dependency though lies in the American mind. We are so stubborn as a people to change yet sometimes the environment forces that change to happen. I would love to see more public transportation offered nationwide. We have the capabilities to supply transportation via coal-powered trains to virtually every major destination in America. More Americans need to conserve energy through car pooling and taking the bus as well. With the summer demand for gasoline in America dipping, crude oil prices have fallen over 20 dollars a barrel over the last few weeks. That should be all the indication we need that we do have the power to force change in the global market.
I'm in agreement with that plan. I don't see how anyone can have a credible plan without more drilling. That's where the Democrat leadership lose me completely.