The man with a plan
Category: Red vs. Blue
June 16, 2010 | BY Tamara Bell
After President Obama’s address to the nation last night, I am cautiously optimistic that we can plug the gaping hole in the Gulf while simultaneously starting the conversation on ways to wean us from oil.
I know that my esteemed frenemy had problems with the focus of Obama’s speech. The president should first steer us through the worst environmental crisis in the history of the United States, and then start talking about our energy policy. But, for my part, I’m glad Obama laid out his vision for how he wants to move forward once this crisis is behind us.
Yes, I know he didn’t go into the specifics of what a reformed energy policy would look like, so some might dismiss this as just a bone to his more progressive supporters who have not been pleased that he hasn’t yet pushed for tough reform measures in light of the disaster.
We can't continue to be ostriches about our energy policy
But for right now, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt. I think he is serious about wanting to tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. And make no mistake. We will have to address that issue sooner rather than later. And it will be PAINFUL. Weaning ourselves from our oil addiction will not be pretty. For a while, we’ll be a nation of crack whores, strung out and begging for our next fix. But eventually, we’ll clean ourselves up and start on the path to a more productive and safe life.
And here’s where, if I were a member of Gen Y, I would be screaming from the rooftops that all you older generations have got to pull it together and solve this problem before we take over as leaders. Actually, if I were Gen Y, I would be royally pissed that once again, the over 40 crowd thinks they can do whatever they want and pass all the consequences onto us. But that’s just me.
Some people would rather bury their heads in the sand, oblivious to the dangers of our continued dependence on oil. My hope, though, is that Gen Y will embrace the idea that a green energy policy is achievable now, and use their massive numbers to force the president as well as Congress to make real changes before our next environmental disaster.
Tags: energy policy, Gen Y, Gulf Coast, Obama, oil crisis, Red vs. Blue
About the Author
Tamara Bell: Tamara Bell is the editor of Y Gen Out Loud. She began her journalism career as a reporter in Dallas, Texas. A few years later, she moved into politics and government, working for both Democratic and Republican members of the Texas Legislature. When not working on Y Gen, Tamara is a lecturer in the Advertising Department at The University of Texas at Austin. Tamara has a B.A. in Journalism from Texas A&M University and a Ph.D. in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.
Isn’t focusing on the vauge and general environmental policies just turning your back to the present issue? It seems like it’s just a distracting conversation from what’s on the table and needs attention at this point.
Alternative energy, while needed, is simply a dream goal right now. When you look at the efficiency output of alternative energy as opposed to oil, it is just not comparable.
It would take a windmill field the size of Connecticut to power the city of Phoenix, AZ. It would take a solar panel field, if I remember correctly, about 100 square miles, to power NYC.
The only viable alternative energy right now is nuclear, which has been criticized due to it’s hazards, 3 mile island is used as a poor example that never really panned out as a hazard anyway.
Besides, we can’t run cars on wind and solar power (well maybe solar but not efficiently).
One of the biggest misconceptions right now in the media and from the left is that this is a product of the “Drill baby, drill” crowd. That crowd’s “chant”, refers to “Offshore drilling”, this spill is a result of the regulations imposed that pushed the drilling to “Deep Sea Drilling” and has lead to circumstances that are uncontrollable at such depths. If is were “offshore” drilling, we could have capped it off and under control almost immediately.
Why not look at drilling on land!? Look at the size of the oil pocket under North and South Dakota! We drill there, we reduce the amount of dependability on foreign entities, create american jobs, don’t risk environmental disaster…I mean the “pros” are outstanding.
I think the two parties agree that alternative energy needs to take over, we need to get off of oil, but depending on an inefficient line of energy sources and going cold turkey on oil would kill the economy and destroy American lives. Let’s get these alts up to standards and introduce them to the public with tax incentives that makes them affordable and then maybe we can all agree.
Heck, I would love to see a car run on water…then again, what is the number one contributor to warming in the atmosphere? CO2? Nope, water vapor….but they don’t want to mention that in the global warming reports….