The League

Applause

by Mark of New Jersey · November 20, 2009

Mark of New Jersey

Mark is a Founding Editor of The League of Ordinary Gentlemen, the predecessor of Ordinary Times.

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Aaron says:

November 20, 2009 at 3:58 pm

The author of that post hits the proverbial nail on the head on that one. I fear that wind and solar, while worthwhile to pursue, are no panacea to our energy needs. As such, a full exploration of our options from technology available now such as nuclear, to more exotic options such as geothermal or genetically engineered algae or switch grass is necessary. Many supporters of cap and trade or the like seem unwilling to point out how difficult and costly it will be to switch from fossil fuels to alternative fuels. Not that that makes it pointless, but it’s going to be a rough ride. Pretending that it’ll be easy underscores the challenge this poses to human civilization.

On a side note, why does anyone still let Thomas Friedman still write at the New York Times or publish books? He’s further proof that this country is far from a meritocracy.Report
- greginak in reply to Aaron says:
  
  November 20, 2009 at 4:08 pm
  
  When is the best time to plant a tree that you want to use for resources?
  
  Answer # 1 50 years ago
  
  Answer #2 Today
  
  This country has been dicking sorry, penising around with moving ahead in the obvious direction of using as many alternate forms of energy as possible. And by obvious I mean for the last 30 or so years it has been clear that we will need them and badly at some point. So while it will be hard, it should be a national priority.
  
  Standard ( and true) liberal statement- Many countries in Europe are way of ahead of us on this. We used to be a leader in vital technologies, now we are an also-ran.
  
  But at least we can all agree Tom “the mustache of wisdom” Friedman is a maroon.Report
  - cfpete in reply to greginak says:
    
    November 20, 2009 at 6:03 pm
    
    France is way ahead of the U.S. on this, and you did not read a single
    god-damn word of Mr. Schuler’s post.
    
    If you did read Mr. Schuler’s post, and you wrote the words above:
    Hello Comrade!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Report
    - greginak in reply to cfpete says:
      
      November 20, 2009 at 6:08 pm
      
      huh????
      
      comrade is so old fashioned……its islamo-socialist-facist nowReport
Nob Akimoto says:

November 21, 2009 at 1:38 am

I don’t think there’s even a NIMBY factor for nukes.

The problem is: A. geographic scale of the US + B. capital costs for starting up new nuclear reactors of sufficient capacity. Sure France is ahead of the game, but it’s easier for them. Their country is about the size of Texas. Seems big, right? But then you figure that it’s not really as big comparatively because their population is rather urbanized and they can therefore make it easier to manufacture their generating capacity to better suit that distribution.

Now contrast that to supplying sufficient power to every state in the union…that gets much more expensive especially when you start factoring in transmission line upgrades and the like. Further the capital start-up requirements for a nuclear plant are such that there’s really only one entity that can do it: the government….and oh boy that’s going to cause a tizzy or two…Report