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Clinton to Start $1 Billion Renewable Energy Fund

antifoidulus writes "ABC news is reporting that former President Bill Clinton has announced the creation of a $1 Billion investment fund devoted to renewable energy. This will be an investment fund as opposed to charity, and Clinton has said that 'The Green Fund would focus on reducing dependence on fossil fuels, creating jobs, lessening pollution and helping to reduce global warming, all while making a profit.' Former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn will be managing the fund."

177 comments

  1. Finally... by HoosierPeschke · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Someone is doing something. But our problem is we rely so much on fossil fuels that large industries are built around it (automotive, gas stations, refineries). Even though fossil fuels may be deemed as evil the working guy/gal at these places would probably like to remain employed.

    Moving away from fossil fuels may be for the greater good but we can't forget about the side effects that will have.

    --
    Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
    1. Re:Finally... by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Someone is doing something

      There has been a lot of talk here in .au about our prime minister sucking to to GWB, particularly on environmental issues. Now there is talk of even GWB doing a U turn on energy policy. John Howard is going to look soooo stupid. I hope.

    2. Re:Finally... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 1
      John Howard is going to look soooo stupid. I hope.

      You mean he'll look stupid because he's been exposed as a liar?
      Interesting thought, but I wouldn't bank on it concerning him too much...

      "Medicare will be retained in its entirety."
      "I can guarantee we're not going to have $100,000 university degree courses."
      "No, there's no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy."
      "The Government's position remains that we were advised by Defence that children were thrown overboard".
      "The Australian Government knows that Iraq still has chemical and biological weapons and that Iraq wants to develop nuclear weapons."
      "Iraq continues to work on developing nuclear weapons-uranium has been sought from Africa that has no civil nuclear application in Iraq"
      "I think effectively we are going to meet the Kyoto target, the emissions target of 108%"
      John Howard
      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    3. Re:Finally... by kfg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Even though fossil fuels may be deemed as evil the working guy/gal at these places would probably like to remain employed.

      I'm perfectly willing to teach them to fix/build bicycles, show them what sort of fuel/comfort stations cyclists would find useful and spend money at, what sort of road system would better suit cyclists rather than cars, how human muscle can be used to transport goods, make electricity, etc.

      "Paradigm shifts" always result in increased employment, although to take advantage of them one might have to learn some new skills.

      For many of the workers in the car based economy these new "skills" would amount to nothing more than learning the new set of lies appropriate to selling the new product.

      KFG

    4. Re:Finally... by Orgazmus · · Score: 1

      Will you help me too? I want to learn riding a bicycle to work, just like anyone else who is hip and cool.
      The route to my job is 50km long each way, and in the winter the temperature drops to -25C. I have yet to see a hydro refill station with my own eyes, and because of the price of electricity here, an electric car would be way too expensive.

      Not everyone even gets the chance to be environmentally friendly, and without a car, I would be fscked.

      --
      The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
    5. Re:Finally... by kfg · · Score: 2, Interesting

      . . .without a car, I would be fscked.

      So would I. Just because I don't own 'em doesn't imply that I don't use 'em. That's why there are jobs to be found in the enterprise.

      Will you help me too?

      Yes, I will. Although. . .I may well charge you for it. It would be my job.

      The route to my job is 50km long each way, and in the winter the temperature drops to -25C.

      About the same as the local conditions I have operated under. I can show you solutions, some of which would . . .creat jobs.

      Remember that jobs are the context? Bicycles are not "free." They require support systems just like cars, and thus people to operate those support systems.

      Jobs.

      KFG

    6. Re:Finally... by djh101010 · · Score: 1

      (Finally) Someone is doing something.

      That's a bit insulting, don't you think, to those of us who _have_ been "doing something" with this topic for years or decades? Also, I don't know or care what your personal politics are, but Clinton's record for actually doing things based on factual scientific data isn't exactly a strong one.

      While I'd love for this to turn into something useful, with Clinton heading it up, I can only see it turning into a "not so hidden agenda" for one political purpose or another. I'd love to be wrong on that first impression, but based on his performace on other issues (pretending 7 arrests was "millions of criminals stopped" in the case of the Brady Bill stuff, for instance), I just don't see it going anywhere useful.

      Oh, but at least someone is "doing something". Sometimes, someone doing nothing, is preferable to them getting in, muddying up the waters, and doing the _wrong thing_. Time will tell.

    7. Re:Finally... by HoosierPeschke · · Score: 1

      My apologies if it did seem condiscending, after I hit submit I read it and it was not what I meant. I am frustrated by the fact that nothing (usually) seems to happen unless some celebrity gets involved. He has raised significant funds for this project and that's what it seems to take to get the ball rolling. Once that gets rolling you'll get a more focused involvement for those of us that do want alternatives, then the bandwagon celebrities, then the politians, and then we'll get somewhere.

      It is very unfortunate that's generally how the process works but when someone who can get the media's attention and bring light to something such as this, I can direct those people whom I've been trying for some time to understand the needs.

      --
      Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
    8. Re:Finally... by DerekLyons · · Score: 1, Troll
      Finally... Someone is doing something.

      Yes, and just in time for the 2008 elections too...
    9. Re:Finally... by rapidweather · · Score: 1

      I say "good for Bill Clinton".

      He has the vision to know just what is needed to get away from the current energy sources, and also has the proven ability to raise money for good causes like this, and to pick suitable managers for the money funds.

      I'm sure something will come of this, Mr. Clinton himself is not doing the research, but those who will be will have grants, jobs and places to work.

      Just as Ford Motor Company managed to move from the Model T to the Model A, and is was hard, every part in the Model A was new, many workers were replaced and new ones hired.

      The lessons learned helped Ford change over to wartime production when WWII came along.

      I'm sure the current auto industry will be up to the task of providing cars and trucks that can run on any new replacement fuel.

      As for the people at the "Gas Station" being unemployed when gasoline falls out of favor:
      One of the strangest things I have witnessed over the past 50 years or so is the change from a
      gas station where an attendant pumped your gas, to stations that have you do that yourself.
      Totally ignoring the fact that gasoline is dangerous, and that every person is instantly qualified to pump his/her own gasoline.
      Now that gasoline prices have gone to $3.00 a gallon and beyond, no gas station allows customers to pump gas without paying in advance. So the clerks in the store do see the customers, anyway, even though it is a brief visit, from someone who says "$30.00 on pump number 8". The credit card customers are not seen at all, if the card reader at the pump is working correctly.
      Often, the roll of paper used to print a receipt at the pump is out, with no automatic way of notifying the clerks inside the store. Ditto for the windshield washer setup, out of water for weeks, perhaps.
      Trash bins near the pumps full to overflowing, and dirty to boot.
      So, the clerks sell cigarettes, candy bars, and beer. Two of which are dangerous around fueling motor vehicles.
      Let is not forget the pumps that "won't shut off". I have had that happen a few times, and when mentioned to the store clerks, they get a faraway look in their eyes and they mumble something.

      So Gas Stations no longer fix flats, or do oil changes.

      I for one will not shed a tear for those lost jobs.

    10. Re:Finally... by loshwomp · · Score: 1
      because of the price of electricity here, an electric car would be way too expensive

      Please post the price of electricity and liquid fuel in your area. What is your area, anyway?

    11. Re:Finally... by redcane · · Score: 1

      In my eyes John Howard already looks about as stupid as he can. I welcome any event which will make that more obvious to more of the voting public.

    12. Re:Finally... by tubapro12 · · Score: 1

      But of course the people working at gas stations could work at _NAMEOFRENEWABLEENERGY_ stations and _NAMEOFRENEWABLEENERGY_ "refineries". Hydrogen, e85, etc have to be made and distributed all the same, just in different scales.

    13. Re:Finally... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The idiots are the people who think another billion of research into alternatives is going to end our 100 year dependence on oil any more so than super-politicized nuclear energy or the amount money that has already been spent on alternative energy research over the past 30 years or more. As for Clinton, he wouldn't have had a career in politics if it wasn't for gullible idiots like yourself.

    14. Re:Finally... by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      Yes, and just in time for the 2008 elections too...


      Just in time for the 2006 elections actually... but that ignores the larger points: (a) Clinton couldn't run for President again even if he wanted to, he's already served two terms, and (b) why is it that nobody can do anything good anymore without some cynic suggesting that it's nothing more than an empty political ploy? Have we become so cynical that we literally cannot imagine anyone genuinely trying to improve the state of the world?


      I suppose Mother Theresa was only trying to score brownie points with God in Calcutta, too.... :^P

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    15. Re:Finally... by Orgazmus · · Score: 1

      Norway

      Gas is like $6/gallon, and electricity is about $0.15/kWh i think.The el prices is expected to double this winter..

      --
      The system had the verbosity of HTML combined with all the readability of compiled assembly viewed as bitmap images
    16. Re:Finally... by msobkow · · Score: 1

      With BioDiesel or Hydrogen approaches, there would still be retail distribution jobs.

      BioDiesel interests me because I see it as solar energy in storable and transportable form. The issues of a stable energy supply has always been an issue for wind and solar collection, relegating them to being supplemental instead of primary energy sources.

      Unlike ethanol, biodiesel energy farming is net-positive, even with current technology.

      Where there will be fights is in government, as fossil energy companies fight with lobbyists to retain an undeserved profit margin. Expect sudden and dramatic shutdowns of fossil production sites to highlight the loss of jobs (think of the children!), while neglecting to mention that the multi-million dollar management salaries and shareholder payouts continue unaffected.

      Biodiesel also puts a new spin on farming, as farmers become energy producers instead of just food producers. Energy is, oddly enough, a more stable market than food production. I wouldn't be surprised to see production starting out with collectives or unions of farmers investing in a biodiesel production facility, and using their own fuel to reduce operating costs rather than selling it as product.

      If such collectives are sufficiently profitable, their success will trigger the big-dollar investments in full commercialization.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    17. Re:Finally... by M.+Baranczak · · Score: 1
      farmers investing in a biodiesel production facility, and using their own fuel to reduce operating costs rather than selling it as product.
      According to an article I read on a Polish news site, a lot of European farmers are doing that already. They buy a special apparatus for a few thousand euros, and vegetable oil from Ukraine or China (cheaper than locally produced). One farmer claimed that this arrangement paid for itself after a year. The problem in Poland is that these operations are in a legal grey area right now, since nobody (including the government) is sure who's supposed to regulate these mini-refineries, or how, which makes a lot of people nervous about investing in something like that.
    18. Re:Finally... by DerekLyons · · Score: 1
      Yes, and just in time for the 2008 elections too...

      Just in time for the 2006 elections actually... but that ignores the larger points: (a) Clinton couldn't run for President again even if he wanted to, he's already served two terms,

      1 - Clinton is still a Democratic Party stalwart, and said Party is in deep trouble. 2 - *Hillary* Clinton is in the midst of ramping up a campaign for 2008. (And is widely seen wherever her husband is dispensing Good.)
       
       
      and (b) why is it that nobody can do anything good anymore without some cynic suggesting that it's nothing more than an empty political ploy? Have we become so cynical that we literally cannot imagine anyone genuinely trying to improve the state of the world?

      With virtually any other politician or celebrity couple, I'd say you have a valid question there.
    19. Re:Finally... by hamburger+lady · · Score: 2, Insightful

      first off, 2 years is not 'just in time'. in politics, 2 years is for fuckin ever.

      second, the democratic party isn't 'in deep trouble'. they seem to be holding their own against the GOP in spite of a cohesive plan for most everything. i'd say the GOP is starting to slip down the slope into 'deep trouble' territory.

      --

      ---
      Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
    20. Re:Finally... by DerekLyons · · Score: 0, Troll
      first off, 2 years is not 'just in time'. in politics, 2 years is for fuckin ever.

      For a Presidential campaign? Nope. The first primary is only 16 months away - and a key battle in the primaries is the off-year election being held in just a few weeks. Sen. Clinton has been in thick of that battle, as has her husband.
    21. Re:Finally... by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      When you said "GWB doing a U turn on energy policy", did you mean to imply that GWB is going to cancel his existing $1.2 billion hydrogen fuel cell initiative that he announced in February 2003?

      http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20 030206-12.html

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
    22. Re:Finally... by Yfrwlf · · Score: 1

      Moving away from fossil fuels may be for the greater good but we can't forget about the side effects that will have.

      It will have great side effects. Everyone working in the oil industry will move over to the alternatives industries. "Creating jobs" isn't the holy grail, but making so there is less work to be done is also good. It means less people working, which makes all goods everywhere cheaper, which means you won't have to earn as much money to buy the things you need. Money is simply a placeholder so that we don't have to exchange the actual goods and services that we create. If the only product that was needed or existed was material replicators, effectively wiping out the majority of all the other markets currently in our system, that wouldn't mean death and starvation for all, it would mean everyone would do a whole lot less work and food and other material goods would be dirt cheap so that even the slightest amount of work would yield a comfortable lifestyle.

      --
      Promote true freedom - support standards and interoperability.
    23. Re:Finally... by msobkow · · Score: 1

      The term "mini refinery" is misleading. I think it's the kind of term the oil companies would bandy about in an attempt to ensure that biodiesel production is regulated by government bodies the fossil fuel companies already know and have leverage with.

      Biodiesel processing is much cleaner than fossil fuel cracking, and it doesn't leave behind a host of fuel variants (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, high-test fuels, paraffin, etc.)

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    24. Re:Finally... by loshwomp · · Score: 1

      An extremely efficient gasoline-powered car gets 40 miles/gallon. At $6/gallon fuel cost, that's 6.67 miles traveled per dollar, or $0.15/mile.

      Some of the worst electric cars will use 400Wh per mile. (Smaller cars will use closer to 250Wh/mile, but I'll use the conservative number.) At $0.15/KWh, that's 16.67 miles traveled per dollar, or $0.06/mile. Even if the price of electricity doubles, the EV is a hands-down winner in an energy/fuel cost comparison.

  2. Where do I sign up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Besides being a great investment with a likely massive return, something like this would make me feel a lot better about investing in managed accounts. Some of these funds you have no idea what kinds of companies you're gonna end up owning peices of-- and quite honestly, there's a lot of 'em that might have some chance of return (oil company, anyone?) but it just isn't worth the guilt...

    1. Re:Where do I sign up? by LaughingCoder · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Besides being a great investment with a likely massive return

      The concept is not new. "Green" mutual funds have been around forever. They all have the same thing in common ... poor returns. Now, this doesn't make it a bad idea, and perhaps with Clinton's name attached to it that may boost awareness somewhat, but I think anyone who invests in this fund needs to think of it as "doing the right thing" for a small return, rather than treating it like a "real" investment. Of course knowing how ambitious the Clintons are, once can't help but suspect this is more about Hilary's run in 2008 than it is about saving the planet.

      --
      The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
    2. Re:Where do I sign up? by DarkOx · · Score: 0, Troll

      Your a fool alternative energy investments have been major failure and will continue to be major faliures as long as oil is cheap. Oil is getting cheaper as I write this. You are not doing anyone any harm by investing in oil either. Stock is just paper or now days just ledger lines that has little if anything to do with the company its supposed to represent. Buying 300 shares of a large cap firm like Exon-Mobile won't have any meaningful impact on that companies vaule at all. Your little transaction is not going to bid up the market. The only person who maybe extracts some gain off your activity is your broker. Sitting out a good energy investment for emotional reasons is just missing a good oppertunity. Its not the same thing as buing a $10k chunck of some small cap firm, say LetsKillBabies Inc. Where your volume could move the price and the company might gain from your actions. Even in that instace emotions and morals have NO PLACE in the stock market. If you can't check them at the door you probably should stay in cash, otherwise you are going to loose.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    3. Re:Where do I sign up? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 4, Informative

      The concept is not new. "Green" mutual funds have been around forever. They all have the same thing in common ... poor returns.

      I call bullshit. The very first green fund I found via searching google for performance green "mutual fund" was the Winslow Green Growth fund (WGGFX) which has outperformed the S&P and DOW indices by over 30%. Since most managed funds (at least 80% of them) fail to even match market indices, clearly not ALL green funds have poor returns.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    4. Re:Where do I sign up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      as long as oil is cheap.

      It's funny how "cheap" gets redefined as the price of crude rises. $40 a barrel was considered expensive a couple of years ago, and it hit nearly $80 a barrel earlier this year, but because it is now "only" $65 a barrel, it's still "cheap"!

      Ask Richard Branson why he's putting up $10billion into this fund and he'll tell you it's because of the rise in fuel prices. Transport companies (ALL transport companies; road hualage, rail, shipping and airlines) are having major issues paying for fuel. These guys buy fuel by the hundreds of thousands and millions of barrels; a single dollar rise in fuel can cost them millions and reduce their already razor-thin margins. Paying an extra couple of cents at the pump might be an inconvenience for you, but it's a huge problem for these companies.

      P.S: I didn't even mention petrochemical companies. The economics are the same for them, too. Let's also not forget the bilions of dollars spent on "protecting" oil supplies from the Middle East and South America, and the oil money that flows into unstable countries that is used, directly or indirectly, to fund terrorism and keep unsuitable governments in power.

    5. Re:Where do I sign up? by LaughingCoder · · Score: 2, Informative

      Source: http://www.greencentury.com/funds/performance.aspx

      Green Century Balanced Fund 10 year return: 7.71%
      Green Century Equity Fund 10 year return: 6.93%
      S&P 500 Index Fund 10 year return: 8.31%

      The numbers look alot worse if you consider 1, 3 or 5 year returns.

      Here's another one: http://www.domini.com/domini-funds/Domini-Social-E quity-Fund/index.htm

      I couldn't find their 10 year return, but their 5 year is 3.12%. The S&P 500 Index 5 year return is 4.65%.


      For reference, a few well-known, "non-socially responsible" funds to look at:

      Fidelity Contra 5 year: 10.09%
      Fidelity Balanced 10 year: 11.30%
      Fidelity Contra 5 year: 8.94%
      Fidelity Balanced 10 year: 11.30%

      So the first 2 examples of green funds that I found underperform a simple broad-based index, and significantly underperform some well-known broad-based equity funds (one of which is a balanced fund which sacrifices capital appreciation to boost income).

      I will grant you your point, however, challenging my assertion that *all* green funds have poor returns, since you found a (rather nice) counter-example. But I believe that generally these types of socially-conscious funds inevitably wind up sacrificing returns for "principals".

      --
      The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
    6. Re:Where do I sign up? by rs232 · · Score: 1

      "alternative energy investments have been major failure and will continue to be major faliures as long as oil is cheap. Oil is getting cheaper as I write this" DarkOx

      Not exactly true as the above comment points out. And if alternative energy is doomed to failure why did big oil get a tariff on ethanol being imported into the US and at the same time pushes to reduce domestic production. According to a number of impartial and reliable resources oil production has already peaked.

      Oil is getting temperorly cheaper for the oil companies mainly because the US stole Iraqs entire oil supply and is currently selling it back to them. The value of the dollar is tied to the price of oil. Consequently the global markets are tied to oil. Anything to impact the price of oil would have disasterous consequences possibly leading to a total crash. Perhaps this is the real motive in big oils objection to alternative energy. These conditions can not be good for long term economic stability.

      "a good energy investment for emotional reasons is just missing a good oppertunity .. emotions and morals have NO PLACE in the stock market"

      According to this the disinformation comes chiefly from the other side.

      --
      davecb5620@gmail.com
    7. Re:Where do I sign up? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      But I believe that generally these types of socially-conscious funds inevitably wind up sacrificing returns for "principals".

      Considering that in general most funds, socially-conscious or not, underperform the market indices, I think your conclusions are erroneous. I don't have the data to do a comprehensive survey, but considering that it is easy enough to find other high-performing socially-conscious funds like the paxworld family, I'm more willing to believe that the group of such funds as a whole at least mirrors the general market for funds than I am to believe that it trails it.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    8. Re:Where do I sign up? by scoove · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Thanks LaughingCoder for a good response to the "I call BS" poster. Readers who don't understand finance should be well served by your post.

      One point I'd also add to your comment about returns is that this data does not include expense ratios, which are usually significantly higher than average in managed green funds. Part of this is due to the funds not getting near as much capital (due to the market's awareness that they deliver poor returns historically) as other funds, so the fund's costs are spread across less invested dollars. There may be other factors that increase the costs as well.

      I work with emerging markets analysis and am careful about fund expenses as I would hope all investors would be. While the Green Century Equity Fund (GCEQX) delivers a 7% return, it has a 1.5% expense ratio PLUS taxes that are distributed to the investor (which need to be accounted for as well). Your best return is actually 5.5% pre-tax consideration, and as mutual funds pass on their tax costs from trading, you really should consider that as well.

      An alternative (that has its own pros and cons) for someone who is determined to invest in clean energy is something like PowerShares Clean Energy WilderHill ETF PBW. Read up on exchange traded fundss on someplace like Morningstar if you're not familiar with index investing. While I'm not recommending the clean energy sector, I'd suggest that if you're totally determined to invest in it for your own reasons, you at least look at lower expense opportunities like an ETF (in this case, the expense ratio is 0.6%). Otherwise, you'll be paying some firm to have well paid managers delivering lousy returns which is a real shame. And if you're prudent, you won't expect a positive return on your green investments - the sector has too much new venture risk, is very exposed to crude market risk (e.g. if other energy forms become significantly cheaper again, nobody buys their products), and in most cases this leads to liquidity and ultimately solvency risk. In a nutshell, the normal volatility storms of the energy market is too much for these little boats to weather.

    9. Re:Where do I sign up? by KenSeymour · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Perhaps non-green corporations can financially out perform green ones because they can pass on the environmental costs on to future generations and the government.

      Iron Mountain Mine in northern California. It is an abondoned open pit pyrite mine. Whenever it rains, it produces sulphuric acid, combined with heavy metals, which would eventually feed into the Sacramento River, if it were not for two intervening dams. During heavy rains, the polution does get past the dams before being sufficiently diluted.

      For the rest of time, someone will have to operate a combination of a lime neutralization plant on site, combined with releases of water from the dams timed with large seasonal flows from Shasta Dam. This site was actively mined off and on from the 1860s through 1963. At one time, the site was the largest producer of copper in California.

      Another EPA document gives a explanation of the problem, photos of the neutralization plant, and some history. Here is a quote from that document:

      When extraction of the ore was suspended from the
      various stopes above the Lawson, the ground was in
      very bad shape, and the conditions regarding heat
      and gas were so terrible that it seemed advisable to
      abandon any attempt to work from that level.
      In fact it was a case of walking away and leaving the
      job for the next generation" (William F. Kett,
      General Manager, Mountain Copper Co., August 1944)

      Mining at the site was abondoned, at least in part, because the ground became too unstable to mine it anymore. So when the mine was operated, the company was profitable. I don't know the relationship of the company that did the mining to the current owner of the site.
      But it is possbile for a company to cease to exist once the mine is worn out. So the companies that mined this site were profitable while the mine was open, mostly by avoiding paying for the environmental damage they caused.

      The EPA has successfully gone after the current owner of the site. In my mind, it is not fair to have a company that did not create the problem pay for cleaning it up. But it is also not fair to have taxpayers pay for it either. Once all the ore is gone and the mining company folds, there is no way to go back and make the owners pay for the damage they caused.

      So maybe green companies might underperform non-green companies TODAY. But that is true because often they can skip out on paying all the costs of their activites. The Sacramento River provides drinking water for a significant portion of the population of California. I was astonished when I heard of this site.

      --
      "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- Albert Einstein
    10. Re:Where do I sign up? by mattkime · · Score: 1

      >>Of course knowing how ambitious the Clintons are, once can't help but suspect this is more about Hilary's run in 2008 than it is about saving the planet.

      If only saving the planet and political ambitions overlapped more frequently...

      --
      Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
    11. Re:Where do I sign up? by DarkOx · · Score: 0, Troll

      Oil like all others is a rent seeking industry. Oil is cheap compared with alternative choices thats why its a better investment. Once upon a time it was insanely cheap now less so but still cheap compared with other things. What you say about all the money spend to stabilize the middle east or make it friendly over the years might be true. Its rent seeking basically the industry does impose upon the government to make it work, and its hard to factor that into prices. Because its hard and the market hates anything hard it simply does not factor that into prices and since the market as a whole does not you should not either or you are going to get crushed.

      "Why did big oil get a tariff on ethanol being imported into the US" you think that was big oil hahaha thats rich. Its not politically correct to call the agriculture industry evil but they are by far the worst rent seekers of all. Not everything is oils fault. Ethanol can be made much more cheaply from sugar cane then corn. Just like another certain product can refined sugar. Its the corn growers in the middle section of this country that won you your ethanol tariff not big Oil. Oil might have helped and I am sure you can produce evidence that they did. I don't deny it its good for them too, but I follow the corn business as well and I can tell you they had a hand in it.

      This fund is nice and all but its just not gonna fly. If the rent seeking nonsense came to an end and maize and oil had to compete in a free market this sorta thing might be the magic bullet that gets the problem solved but until you tell the oil companies to defend their fields with their own hired troops and to prop up friendly mideast administations with their own money and squeez unfriendly ones with their own investments, oil will remain cheap. The same is true in the agriculture world. If you won't let the big factory farms take over and make things efficent they never will be 100% as effiecent as they can be. Products like ethanol will always cost more then they should. If you don't stop protecting corn with tariffs on import products that can be produced with corn stuff that could be made more cheaply never will be.

      If our good old Uncle Sam would but out you would be right. Since he won't no matter who is in office your wrong.

      --
      Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
    12. Re:Where do I sign up? by An+Onerous+Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful
      But I believe that generally these types of socially-conscious funds inevitably wind up sacrificing returns for "principals".
      As another poster pointed out, the performance differential is in part because green funds are more likely to invest in businesses that are willing to absorb the costs that they could have simply passed on to the rest of society. If we assume that Fidelity and Green Century are run by equally capable and equally lucky groups of people, then the difference between the rates of return is entirely due to the rat-bastardy behavior of the companies that Fidelity is willing to invest in but Green century is not.

      If you're willing to sacrifice principles for a slightly higher rate of return, then you never had the former and don't deserve the latter.
      --

      You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

    13. Re:Where do I sign up? by dalutong · · Score: 1

      But I believe that generally these types of socially-conscious funds inevitably wind up sacrificing returns for "principals".

      Good! I would much rather make less money (note, still making money) investing in green or sustainable businesses than make more money supporting things that disgust me.

      --

      What comes first, finding a teacher or becoming a student?
  3. Guilt? In Capitalism? by Travoltus · · Score: 0, Troll

    Guilt? How can there be guilt if there are profits?

    Take Union Carbide, for instance... I didn't have any guilt when their chemical accident killed thousands of people... but I sure had guilt when their stock dropped!

    Guilt is for investors who lose their shirts, and for liberals. We manly men, we don't know this 'guilt' thing you talk of.

    [end republican parody]

    --
    --- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
  4. He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by macadamia_harold · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Clinton taped an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace about this today, which is scheduled to be aired Sunday. The interview is supposed to be about the energy initiative, and his charitable work; instead, Chris Wallace ambushes him out of left field with some bullshit hardball question about Osama Bin Laden.

    It's hilarious, because not only does Clinton attempt a diplomatic answer, but when Chris Wallace won't let it go and birddogs him, Clinton completely pwns Wallace, then goes back on topic.

    I'm curious to see if they actually air it.

    1. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by HoosierPeschke · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's the funniest thing I've read in awhile. I wasn't a fan of Clinton when he was the President, but am more now with all the charity he's doing. And it's always a pleasure to watch ANY media get punked.

      --
      Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
    2. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by novus+ordo · · Score: 1

      Ah the magic they work in the editing room...

      --
      "You're everywhere. You're omnivorous."
    3. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      Who is being actually "punked" (thank you MTV for the lead-in to whathisface's show/concept) here?

    4. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by will_die · · Score: 1

      The reason that Clinton is doing his show is because he came out so much agaist the ABC mini-series.

      So the chances of you actually seeing it look to really low since it looks like that "transcript" looks like it was false a href=

    5. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by macadamia_harold · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yep. Too bad, once they actually had Bin Laden cornered, Clinton decided not to do anything because he was afraid that it would look like we was trying to distract the nation from his sexual indescretions.

      Yeah, Bush's strategy of waiting around until Osama keels over from natural causes was much better.

    6. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Holy smoke! Are you the redundancy meister or what???

    7. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haha, Tom Tomorrow has a good comic strip about this:
      http://www.workingforchange.com/webgraphics/WFC/TM W09-20-06.jpg

    8. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yes indeed, as if all documentation and "histories" are factual or "reality" based. Clinton haters are a bunch of self-righteous and self-deluded hypocrites.

    9. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by EricCarr · · Score: 1

      Wow, it looks like Fox News completely spun this:

      Fox News ad for "interview"

      They make it out like the interview was supposed to be about 9/11 and Bin Laden. What sneaky fucks. And look at the comments. Does anyone else get the feeling that conservative smear groups are trying to spread propaganda through YouTube?

      Anyone remember this?

      Gah, I want my country back.

    10. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Clinton (and Bush) wanted to reduce the USA's dependence on foreign oil, they would have raised the nation's average vehicle fuel economy.

      The fuel economy of the average US vehicle is the worst it has ever been.

      Not only because vehicles are getting bigger & more powerful, but because the consumer is choosing "light trucks" instead of "cars". Light trucks (minivans, SUVs, and weird vehicles like the PT cruiser) are excepted from fuel economy & safety standards that apply to cars.

    11. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by HoosierPeschke · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I was using punked (as to today's pwned) before that MTV show so for me punked has a different meaning.

      I was referring to the reporter who thought he was slick and would hard ball Clinton and put him in a corner but Clinton reversed it and put the reporter in a corner.

      --
      Mr. Universe: "They can't stop the signal, Mal. They can never stop the signal."
    12. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by OoSync · · Score: 2, Interesting
      If Clinton (and Bush) wanted to reduce the USA's dependence on foreign oil, they would have raised the nation's average vehicle fuel economy.

      Fuel economy is one thing, but so are emmissions.



      A decision was made many years ago to forgoe many significant advances in fuel economy in favor of reducing emmissions. The last I heard, California's had a dramatic decrease in smog and increase in air quality. The Prius, though known and marketed for its fuel economy, is also marketed for its "Near Zero Emmissions" rating.



      Priorities and all that . . . .

      --

      I always get the shakes before a drop.
    13. Re:He went on Fox News to Talk about this... by pipingguy · · Score: 1

      You kids today with your redefining of words and terminology (internet communications and 500 TV channels all competing for mindspace and uniquitude make it worse). I'm so lame that I only just recently discovered what a "camel toe" is by watching a re-run of The Weatherman.

  5. Anti? by anonieuweling · · Score: 1

    Isn't this initiative very anti-American? I mean: it's on the verge of communism! (joking of course) I think the idea and initiative are very good. Let's see what follows from this.

    1. Re:Anti? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Hello??

      Investment fund. Capitalist through and through.

  6. One part doesn't make sense! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Since when is charity NOT an investment? I think that helping people live longer than 20 years is a great investment, more minds to think shit up! But that's just me.
    I do like this idea though, Mr. Clinton!

    1. Re:One part doesn't make sense! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Since when is charity NOT an investment?
      Don't be obtuse. It's the difference between, say, food drops (charity) and building agricultural infrastructure (investment). For long term impact, the latter is far more effective.
    2. Re:One part doesn't make sense! by dreamlax · · Score: 1

      The difference is that you expect a monetary return from an investment, whereas you get a "moral" return from a charity.

  7. Here's a thought by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someone else doing more good for the country (and world) than the Bush Admin? NO WAY. /sarcasm

    Seriously, topping this admin is as easy as making pancakes. But then again... You'd be surpised by how many people I've seen fail terribly at making pancakes.

    Kudos to Clinton, though!

  8. Wasn't this $ from Virgin Air's n-Years' profits? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The UK owner of Virgin (whose planes - like all the rest - have helped bring on Global Warming)
    was on Aussie TV a day or so ago stating that he's allocating "ALL" of Virgin (Air)'s profits
    over the next years (4 or 5? I didn't note it down), ie, about a billion $'s or so
    to fund RESEARCH into creating jet fuels that won't impact the environment as much (or similar).

    Clinton was in pictured the same story, but wasn't given any air-time to speak over here...

    It it's the same fund, why is it called "Clinton's" Fund here...? :-/

  9. Never thought I would say this... by EmagGeek · · Score: 1

    but I have a new found respect for WJC. Not only is investment (rather than socialism) the correct way to stimulate change, but he handled the ambush quite well. Even though I don't really think he's being completely honest about his motivations, he did handle himself with dignity.

    1. Re:Never thought I would say this... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      I don't think it is being characterized as 'handling it well' in many circles. Maybe in a few 'spin zones.'

      The guy is finally coming to acknowledge that he fucked up and will always be known as a third or fourth rate president. Kind of like hollow old Carter, who rattles around the international stage trying to stir up some interest in himself.

    2. Re:Never thought I would say this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then Bush must be a thousandth rate President.

    3. Re:Never thought I would say this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try first rate. For the high level of adversity, and low attacks he faced during the entire term of his presidency, Clinton did very well and brought great benefit to the American people and raised the esteem of the world. What has Bush accomplished? Every good thing that Clinton had accomplished during his 2 terms, have been flushed down the toilet by the snide little idiot who currently sits in office now. The shame isn't on Clinton, it is on the people who allowed the distractions to his presidency continue. The shame is on everyone who didn't daily voice the outrage at that "vast right wing conspiracy" that rather deal with the problems at hand, chose to waste time on relentless attacks at every opportunity and in every low way against Clinton.

    4. Re:Never thought I would say this... by abigor · · Score: 1

      Actually, internationally Clinton is regarded as possibly the finest American president of modern times. Of course, this means nothing to the American right, for whom Europeans/Canadians/etc. are only a step up from al Qaeda.

    5. Re:Never thought I would say this... by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Every good thing that Clinton had accomplished during his 2 terms, have been flushed down the toilet by the snide little idiot who currently sits in office now.

      Your metaphor fits, since everything that Clinton 'accomplished' was essentially just a turd.

      It's really weird, how the people who hover over their keyboard on DailyKos or the DemocraticUnderground ready to slam anything related to the DLC are so quick to defend the DLC's star Candidate.

      Why do you counter with 'What has Bush accomplished?' You expect me to defend ANY of the bullshit that people do once they've attained the reins of state power that nobody should wield in the first place?

    6. Re:Never thought I would say this... by be-fan · · Score: 1

      What planet are you on? Under Clinton, planes didn't get diverted because a flight attendent found an empty water bottle in a seat.

      Clinton was good. He was a politician, sure, but he was competent.

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    7. Re:Never thought I would say this... by be-fan · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I think part of the reason was that Europeans understood Clinton. Clinton thought like a Westerner. He was interested in the economy, trade, diplomacy, and understood that all of these things involved compromises between various entities. This sort of pragmatic mindset has been a hallmark of European thinking for literally hundreds of years. American politics, on the other hand, is intensely ideological. Whereas European politicians argue about things like farm subsidies, American politicians argue about highly abstract (and mostly irrelevent) things like the sanctity of this or that. Europeans are interested in what's "good" or "useful", while Americans are interested in what's "right".

      --
      A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
    8. Re:Never thought I would say this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Actually, internationally Clinton is regarded as possibly the finest American president of modern times.


      No argument there.

      Of course, this means nothing to the American right, for whom Europeans/Canadians/etc. are only a step up from al Qaeda.


      But you know, the Euro/Canadian vs US rift was festering before 9/11. As a center-left Democrat I really don't think the EU has been our so-called friend since the fall of the Berlin wall.

      Kyoto had zero chance of getting ratified because it's not in our economic interest and doesn't make a substantial change to what's actually happening to the environment. We're the bad guys.

      ICC? What do people expect? The US was founded by a bunch of rebels and anything that even gives a remote appearance of ceding sovereignty is going to go down in flames.

      The ABM treaty: who cares? You (the EU) keep telling us it's not going to work, so why does it matter? The Russians and Chinese could punch through it if they had to. I'm against it as it's a huge waste of money.

      The Europeans stand around with their thumb up their asses with respect to Bosnia. We finally throw some troops into the mix and later want to pull out and they throw a fit. It was in their own backyard. The stupid motherfuckers let WW II happen and then refuse to put out a bush fire like that.

      The French around 1998-99 started bleating about growing US isolationism, disengaging from world affairs, and the decoupling of the US with the EU. Who cares? The Cold War was over. Get on with it. Our future is with China and the EU's future is with whoever they get play well with.

      The Canadians do have some valid beefs with respect to lumber, agriculture, and trade, but then they always sound like little pussies in their media. Take a more UK-like stoic approach and maybe you'll get somewhere. They seem to get indignant when we play economic hardball with them (face it guys, we're 12 times your population). Go join the EU. Take your oil, water, and lumber with you. We'll get it somewhere else or as a last resort do without. The US is in for some severe pain over the next twenty years and I'd rather get it over with quickly. And the next time Bush makes a shitty speech (I hate the guy too), don't slash the tires of US tourists in your country. Start that up again and have it hit our media and it won't be safe for a Canadian to travel down here with Canuckistanian plates.

      Israel: is a democracy with a powerful US lobby. Deal with it.

      The only countries the US should hold near and dear are Australia and the UK, simply for cultural ties if nothing else. And yes, if you've never lived with them the pragmatic Aussies are closer to Yanks than Canadians ever will be.. for better or worse. I guess there's more camaraderie between felons and terror... err rebels. ;) As an anti-Bush kinda guy I'm so sorry that you folks got dragged into the whole "war on terrr" thing. We'll work on voting the repubs out of the presidency in '08, and hopefully by then you guys will be rid of Howard and Blair.
  10. Ground rule number one for "green" ventures by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    1. Do not fund supposedly "green" fuel ventures based on growing more palm-oil trees in endemically corrupt third-world regimes like Indonesia and Malaysia which scandalously accelerates the rate of cutting down of the last remaining rainforests in places of such extraordinary landscape and wildlife beauty as Borneo.

  11. Re:Why? by hdw · · Score: 5, Funny

    How typical of a socialist to start pumping money into airy fairy 'long term solutions' instead of letting market forces sort it out.

    This is actually a good way forward, but only if the cost distribution is handled correctly.

    For instance that the cost of using fossile fuels also bear the cost of an equal amount of CO2 reduction.
    So that each link in the production, consumption and disposal link carries it's own costs to bring the enviromental impact to neutral.

    That's a working market model.

    // hdw

    --
    Executive Pope (small) Kallisti Engineering
  12. Clinton had sex with Argonne Labs IFR by cdn-programmer · · Score: 2, Informative

    Clinton seems to have had sex with Argonne Labs Integral Fast Reactor... and next we'll be hearing he didn't have sex with the energy fund. He just created the problem.

    It was the Clinton Administration that shut down the Argonne Lab's IFR development program in 1994. This reactor design will do more to solve the coming world energy crisis than anything else...and Clinton did have sex with it!

    Read the congressional report: Nov. 6, 1997 (Senate) Page S11890-S11891 here: http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/Argonne_News/news9 7/crtill.html

    Quote:

    Unfortunately, this program was canceled just 2 short years before the proof of concept. I assure my colleagues someday our Nation will regret and reverse this shortsighted decision.


    If anyone wants to read the PBS interview with Dr. Charles Till - look here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reac tion/interviews/till.html

    Quote from the PBS interview:

    The Clinton administration, I think, firmed up quite an anti-nuclear power position....

    Q: What will be our energy source, then?

    A:
    I think that many engineers would agree that there is limited, additional gain to be had from conservation. After all, what does one mean by "conservation?" One simply means using less and using less more efficiently. And there have been considerable gains wrung out of the energy supply and energy usage over the past couple of decades. We can probably go somewhat further. But you're talking, you know, 10% or 20%. Whereas over the next 50 years, it can be confidently predicted that with the energy growth in this country alone, and much more so around the world, it would be 100%, 200%, or some very large number.

    And so what energy source steps in? There is only one. It's fossil fuel. It's coal. It's oil. It's natural gas. Some limited additional use of the more exotic forms of things, like solar and wind. But they are, after all, very limited in what they can do. So it will be fossil.

    Now the question, of course, immediately becomes, well, how long can that last? And everyone has a different opinion on that. One thing that is certain, and that is that the increase in the use of fossil fuels will sharply increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Another thing is certain. You will put a lot more pollutants into the atmosphere as well, in addition to carbon dioxide, which one could argue the greenhouse effect exists or doesn't exist. ...


    So it is very clear that the consequences of short sighted anti-nuclear policies of the Clinton Adminitration were well understood in the early 90's. The lack of solutions to the problems we face now are a direct result of Clinton's administration.

    ----------

    Note the Integral Fast Reactor burns nuclear wastes and will extend the existing uranium fuel stockpile (called Depleated Uranium, spent fuel, and nuclear waste) to over 60,000 years for the existing fleet of over 100 reactors in the Gigawatt range.... and this without mining any more uranium.

    The IFR burns all actinides and hense there are no long term wastes... only light isotopes with 1/2 lives of a few decades at most, and which are used industrially for things like pipe line xrays.

    See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_Fast_Reactor

    When we are in the throws of the worst energy crisis mankind has ever seen, then I want everyone to look and Clinton's contribution to the problem. I think the quote from the congressional report (above) sums it up nicely.

    The short of it is that its prefectly clear we need alternatives to fossil fuels and the issue is that we needed to start developing these alternatives 15 and 20 years ago. It

    1. Re:Clinton had sex with Argonne Labs IFR by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      Yeah the reactor was great idea, so now where to build it.........

      And therin lies the problem. NIMBY.

      You could come up with the best power source ever, but if people don't want it around then it just isn't going to be built. Notice how no one is exactly clamoring for a nuke plant in their state.

      At the time, Clinton was stating the obvious. Nukes were a no go, and alternatives would not keep pace with demand. At the time, fossil fuels would be the only source to "economically" keep up with energy demand.

      You know damn well if Clinton started allocating billions for alternative research the Republicans would have been all over his ass. Not that he would have gotten it anyway as the Republicans controlled congress.

      This wasn't just a Clinton problem, it was an EVERYONE problem.

      Soon, we'll have no choice but to build nuke reactors and do more research into alternatives. If we don't though, you can rest assured that there won't be any energy wars as none of the war machines work all that well without fuel.

      No matter what, eventually the expensive alternatives will become economical in comparison to sticking with the traditional fossil fuels. At that point, people will switch.

      Until then, we'll continue to burn the fossils, pollute the atmosphere, etc. History has shown that humans usually don't do anything until they absolutely have to. This is no exception, unfortunately

      --
      ~X~
    2. Re:Clinton had sex with Argonne Labs IFR by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

      Where to build it? Why here in Alberta!

      World oil production is currently about 85 million barrels of oil per day. OPEC production declined about 2% last month - we don't really know why. The top four (4) feilds produce about 15% of world production and all seem to now be in decline with Kuwait announcing Bergan slipped into decline in Nov 2005 and a Saudi Aramco spoksman admiting Ghawar slipped into decline in April 2006. A 5% decline rate will result in a world wide loss of about 1/2 million barrels of oil production per year from just these top four (4) feilds. Between now and 2015 this will accumulate to a loss of about 3.5 million barrels of production from these four (4) feilds alone.

      The thing is the rest of the world is in decline as well and country by country production has been slipping in spite of the best efforts of the industry. Just last year Britian became an oil importer and the year before Indonesia became an importer. Since Indoneasia use to supply Australia this means three (3) more countries line up at the straits of Hormez for oil imports from the Middle East.

      If we project a 5% decline on the 85 million barrel world production we end up short about 30 million barrels of production... ie - production falls from 85 million to about 55 million barrles per day to be made up from something and somewhere and this by 2015.

      The Alberta Tar Sands is receiving investments of over $10 billion per year. All of these projects require massive amounts of energy which in the past was supplied by Natural Gas. In fact Canada produces about 6.3 TCF of gas per year of which over 1/2 is exported to the USA.

      Were we to try to use this gas for energy and chemical feedstocks (hydrogen) which is needed to change the hydrogen:carbon ratio of bitumin (about 10 hydrogen to 7 carbon) into the hydrogen:carbon ratio of syncrude (about 1:1 actually - part of the alkane series: C(n)H(2n+2)), then we would need more than 1/2 of Canada's production by 2015 and in fact the proposed McKensie Valley pipeline can just stop at Ft. McMurray. In this senerio there IS NO EXPORT GAS FOR THE USA. The USA is already short of gas supplies and this is illustrated by spot prices in the $17 bux range a couple years back. The present price drop will be very temporary.

      My point is that with these massive investments, Alberta Tar Sands output is expected to climb to only about 3.3 million barrels per day. This will not offset the decline from even the top four (4) oil feilds much less the expected declines from all other producing countries.

      We need to install about 75 GIGAWATTS of nuclear energy for Tar Sands operations... this to bring production up to about 5 million barrels of syncrude per day.

      NIMBY in part is ok for now for most of the USA. However NIMBY makes no sense here in Alberta.

      Without a source of energy to obtain hydrogen from water, we need to chemically obtain it via reactions such as fischer-tropsh. In order to use F-T, anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the carbon found in the bitumin is either relegated to coke piles or sent up the smoke stacks in the form of CO2.

      So what I'm advocating and saying is: really the only thing that makes sense is to build big nukes - about 75 of them, and I'd like to see the IFR in that fleet - and I'm advocating building them IN MY BACK YARD.

      I would much rather see nukes in my back yard than kids off fighting futile middle eastern wars.

      -----------------

      The point of IFR technology is that it won't come in overnight. There is a LOT of work to be done. Eventually it will be done - but we are all likely to suffer big time in the mean time.

      The gas line ups and fuel shortages of the 1970's are nothing compared to where we are going. Yet if we look at the energy we have available via IFR and other advanced reactor designs...

      60,000 years supply of uranium on hand for the existing fleet of about 113 reactors in the gigawatt range.... most of this uranium is ca

    3. Re:Clinton had sex with Argonne Labs IFR by Xyrus · · Score: 1

      I was not disagreeing with your statements. I was merely pointing out what the thinking was at the time.

      If Clinton had backed it, it would have never gotten out of comitee. Not only that, but the republicans would have used it for fodder putting the worst possible spin on it.

      Even if he had backed it and somehow it did make it through commitee and through the house and senate, you know damn well the Bush administration would have shut it down the first day they were in office.

      My point was simply that you can't pin this all on Clinton.

      As far as energy crisis go, we'll either sink or swim. We're not going to wake up one morning and say OMG!!!1!! The oil is gone!!! It's going to happen gradually. During that time, we'll see oil go to $100 to $200 to $ 300 etc. At some point, oil coal, etc. will no longer be viable for energy as they would be too expensive. Countries will switch. Smart countries would start now.

      No one can predict the future, but I don't think it's all doom and gloom quite yet. When oil is at $300 a barrel then suddenly solar will start looking mighty attractive. When the drilling bucks get changed over to research bucks, we'll see some great strides in the technology.

      Of course, your scenario and my scenario make an assumption about the world that seems less likely every year: that we won't wipe ourselves out before that point. On some days, a giant asteroid seems almost like a comforting thought. :P

      ~X~

      --
      ~X~
    4. Re:Clinton had sex with Argonne Labs IFR by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

      I think Clinton and his administration has to shoulder a great deal of the blame. IMHO they sold the future of the country for short term political gain. That's a deal with the devil. The kids carrying the guns in the middle east are the price the devil asked.

      Matt Simmons says that oil will hit $350 per barrel when the declines come. I don't know if I will go this far out on the limb. The demand for energy is very inelastic however, so Simmons may well be correct.

      I do agree with you that we will not run out of fossil fuels overnight. We have HUGE coal reserves. If we want, we can put in place coal-> liquids via fischer-tropch. However this requires infrastructure and we have not started building it. Meanwhile OPEC and especially Saudi Arabia have been promising production increases. The Saudis still say - hey - no issue - we can boost production over 10 million barrels per day... we can hit 13 and even 20.

      The problem is do we beleive them? These promises have been made for two years now. Saudi has not increased production. Simmons says they won't be able to. The water cut in Ghawar is over 60% and they are injecting over 10 million barrels of sea water to keep the reservoir pressures up. The original estimates of oil in place have already been produced. Could the geologists of the 60's and 70's be that worng? I don't think so. It is normal to under-estimate what a feild can do. Thus I think the Saudis are producing from the comfort zone. A map of Ghawar showing injection wells and producing wells tells volumes. The Saudis consider technical data to be a state secret.

      So... you are correct, we will not run out of oil overnight. However in a year we can see a 5% reduction in available fuel. The last industry to see this was the Fertilizer industry when North American Gas production peaked in 2001. The fertilizer industry took it on the chin. Over 30% of the plants have been permenantly shut down.

      So the question to ask is if supplies of Gasoline and Deisel for example decline by say 5% over the next year - who is going on a diet? Many people will remark that the cost of fuel is not so great... they can give up a meal at a restaurant once a month and that will cover the increased costs. Unfortunately - they are correct.

      But what of industry? Can a fertilizer plant give up a meal? Or do they shut down? What of a cement plant or a glass factory?

      Industry does not have the slop built in. When they become uncompetative they go out of business. This is called demand distruction. When this happens the economy shrinks and the employees let go have to find other alternatives. The short of it is that the economy is fueled by energy and when energy costs go up, the economy goes into a recession which eventually results in large numbers of people without jobs.

      When this happens, the glib remarks that people can just skip a meal at a restaurant to cover the increased costs of energy become a joke... the same joke attributed to Marie Antoinette: "Let them eat cake".

      If you really think that solar and wind can supply the energy we need - then consider this. A wind mill produces about 1 megawatt. It does not do this all the time... this is its maximum rating. In operation the duty cycle is closer to 20-35%.

      To produce 75 gigawatts from windmills at 100% duty cycle, we would need 75,000 windmills. At 33% duty cycle we would need 225,000 wind mills. If we take the square root of 225,000 we get an array that is about 475 by 475. If we space the windmills 1/2 mile apart that is an area of 250 x 250 miles. Southern Alberta is a large place. We would need to cover all of Southern Alberta to host this many wind mills. We do not have suitable wind conditions over areas this large. Large parts of the Pairies for instance have calm days over 75% of the time. This would drop the duty cycle to under 10% and that would increase the arial extent and number of windmills by a factor of 3x.

      I do not at all agree that

  13. you aren't helping matters much by misanthrope101 · · Score: 1

    I actually can't tell your political bias from the selection of legistlation you've cited. Could you please be more one-sided in the future, so I can know whether or not to give credence to what you've written without having to actually think about it? There's a lot to read out there, and I don't have time to waffle over actual nuance. Thanks in advance for your help.

    1. Re:you aren't helping matters much by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I vote slack. Please become an ordained minister in the Church of the Subgenius and run for office now!

  14. Still in pursuit of a 'Legacy,' huh? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Well, let's see how Clinton can twist and turn 'renewable energy' into a malevolent disaster. It'll be an interesting challange for him.

    1. Re:Still in pursuit of a 'Legacy,' huh? by geniusj · · Score: 1

      I hope he is. That is called motivation and unfortunately good things rarely happen without someone being motivated.

  15. We could do so much better by bhmit1 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The United States uses 360 million US liquid gallons (1.36 gigalitres) of gasoline each day.
    If the above wikipedia entry is accurate, that would mean raising the gas tax by 3 pennies would raise the same amount of funds per day. It would also make alternatives more competitive and ensure that as long as we are dependent on fossil fuels, the renewable energy has a source of funding. As an added bonus, people that adopt new technologies aren't taxed and the tax will eventually disappear.

    I'm saying this as a libertarian, someone that hates taxes and big government. But this is exactly where government regulations and taxes should be used, when the free market doesn't value the environment and causes long term damage without intervention.
    1. Re:We could do so much better by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

      One thing we should push for is far more usage of wind power.

      The Great Plains of the USA is one of the best areas on Earth for large-scale wind farms. Imagine thousands of 2 MW wind turbines, located in areas where few people will complain about being an eyesore; we could generate as much as 20,000 MW of power from these turbines.

      Also, thanks to nanotechnology, we could drastically reduce the cost of solar panels to generate electricity; imagine whole neighborhoods where every home has a solar panel with a nanotube supercapacitor bank storing the energy for use at night, with all the power connected together in a distributed power generating fashion.

      In short, the next big company won't be the oil companies, it will be General Electric.

    2. Re:We could do so much better by kfg · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I love windmills. I hate windfarms. Windmills are a viable energy independence technology. Stop thinking that energy necessarily has to come from some massively centralized third party.

      Make . . . your . . .own.

      KFG

    3. Re:We could do so much better by Infonaut · · Score: 1

      Stop thinking that energy necessarily has to come from some massively centralized third party.

      I agree that massively centralized power is a bad idea, but given that most Americans live in urban areas, how can we avoid centralized power collection? I can't put a windmill on my apartment building. I'm sure the definition of "massively centralized" varies, but are you suggesting that individuals are the solution, or do you think community-owned power collection could work? Even there, I'm a bit skeptical. So many incorporated areas butt up against neighboring cities that it seems it would be very difficult to manage wind collection at even a regional level.

      Does localized wind collection seem viable to you in any area but rural land?

      --
      Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
    4. Re:We could do so much better by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

      Imagine thousands of 2 MW wind turbines, located in areas where few people will complain about being an eyesore; we could generate as much as 20,000 MW of power from these turbines.

      Yes - just imagine.

      There are currently 113 nuclear plants in the GIGAWATT range operating in the USA. Your 20,000 windmills are equivalent to about 20 of these plants - and only when the wind is blowing. If the duty cycle of your windmills is 33% then you are proposing equivalent to about 7 nukes.

      The USA produces about 10% of its energy from nuclear. So this is about 10% of 7/113 which is less than 1% of the USA energy needs.

      The short of it is that you'll need more than 10,000 windmills and you need to find a place to put them.

    5. Re:We could do so much better by BubbaJonBoy · · Score: 1

      Big assumption that the same bastards who are raping and pillaging the Social Security System would act responsibly with funds intended for alternative energy. Halliburton would decide to get in that business for sure with even more no-bid contractual awards...
      regards,
      Jon

  16. Jimmy Carter by Stalyn · · Score: 5, Informative
    Actually the only President who tried to do anything about our dependence on foreign oil was Jimmy Carter. But of course everyone hates Jimmy Carter.

    What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.

    Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977 -- never. From now on, every new addition to our demand for energy will be met from our own production and our own conservation. The generation-long growth in our dependence on foreign oil will be stopped dead in its tracks right now and then reversed as we move through the 1980s, for I am tonight setting the further goal of cutting our dependence on foreign oil by one-half by the end of the next decade -- a saving of over 4-1/2 million barrels of imported oil per day.

    Point two: To ensure that we meet these targets, I will use my presidential authority to set import quotas. I'm announcing tonight that for 1979 and 1980, I will forbid the entry into this country of one drop of foreign oil more than these goals allow. These quotas will ensure a reduction in imports even below the ambitious levels we set at the recent Tokyo summit.

    Point three: To give us energy security, I am asking for the most massive peacetime commitment of funds and resources in our nation's history to develop America's own alternative sources of fuel -- from coal, from oil shale, from plant products for gasohol, from unconventional gas, from the sun. ...

    Point four: I'm asking Congress to mandate, to require as a matter of law, that our nation's utility companies cut their massive use of oil by 50 percent within the next decade and switch to other fuels, especially coal, our most abundant energy source.

    Point five: To make absolutely certain that nothing stands in the way of achieving these goals, I will urge Congress to create an energy mobilization board which, like the War Production Board in World War II, will have the responsibility and authority to cut through the red tape, the delays, and the endless roadblocks to completing key energy projects.

    We will protect our environment. But when this nation critically needs a refinery or a pipeline, we will build it.

    Point six: I'm proposing a bold conservation program to involve every state, county, and city and every average American in our energy battle. This effort will permit you to build conservation into your homes and your lives at a cost you can afford.

                --- Jimmy Carter, from his televised speech on July 15, 1979.

    --
    The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
    1. Re:Jimmy Carter by Dun+Malg · · Score: 0
      Actually the only President who tried to do anything about our dependence on foreign oil was Jimmy Carter. But of course everyone hates Jimmy Carter.
      What I have to say to you now about energy is simple and vitally important.

      Point one: I am tonight setting a clear goal for the energy policy of the United States. Beginning this moment, this nation will never use more foreign oil than we did in 1977
      Yeah, that's the solution. We'll just stop using so much oil. Growth will happen magically through the application of fairy dust and perpetual motion machines to power industry!

      Carter was long on principles but short on meaningful plans. The classic example is his executive order banning breeder reactors, the reasoning offered being that breeders produce plutonium, and plutonium is used in bombs. Of course, the plutonium in breeder reactors is an inseparable mix of isotopes which cannot be made to work in a nuclear warhead. Subsequently, we are left with only two possibilities: a) Carter didn't know the difference between weapons grade and non-weapons grade plutonium, which seems unlikely as the man is a freakin' degreed nuclear engineer; or b) he knew the stated reasoning was wrong, but asserted it anyway, as it bolstered his stance against nuclear weapons proliferation. Neither answer, unfortunately, does the man's image any credit.
      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    2. Re:Jimmy Carter by davros-too · · Score: 1
      Of course, the plutonium in breeder reactors is an inseparable mix of isotopes which cannot be made to work in a nuclear warhead.

      I wish that were right, unfortunately it isn't.

      The US Dept of Energy has reported that fuel-grade plutonium could be made into a viable nuclear weapon
      a potential proliferating state or subnational group using designs and technologies no more sophisticated than those used in first-generation nuclear weapons could build a nuclear weapon from reactor-grade plutonium that would have an assured, reliable yield of one or a few kilotons (and a probable yield significantly higher than that).
      See for example http://www.nti.org/e_research/cnwm/overview/techni cal2.asp

      The main problem with 'reactor grade' or 'fuel grade' Pu is the high neutron flux causes a premature beginning to the chain reaction. As stated above, this and other problems (heat, radiation) can be solved relatively easily. Even if not solved, a 'fizzle' explosion is the likely result. Even such a fizzle would be incredibly destructive, 100-1000 tonnes TNT equivalent and I don't even mention the lethal neutron flux.
      --
      In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice; in practice there is.
  17. Jobs by WindBourne · · Score: 1

    the only way for America (and the west in general) will be to obtain cheap (and clean) energy and automate further. Without that, we can not compete.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:Jobs by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

      In short, invest in General Electric. GE is heavily into wind power, and their 2 MW wind turbines are going up everywhere in the world. There is talk of putting up thousands of 2 MW wind turbines in the Great Plains far away from where people will complain about being an eyesore, and you know GE will jump at a chance to supply these turbines on large scale.

    2. Re:Jobs by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      2 MW is nothing. On a trip back from Germany, I was talking to a guy whose company builds 5 MWs and is about to come out with a 15 MW.

      But I would look at GE for their nukes and hope that GWB will pass tax breaks for them in the same way that he did a give away to his oil companies. I doubt that he will push it, but thank god, the dems will when they take over congress.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    3. Re:Jobs by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

      However, once you go above 2 MW power generation the size of the windmill gets ridiculously large and unwieldy. People are skeptical of the gigantic 400 foot diameter wind turbines now under construction.

      Expect many 2 MW wind turbines to go up in North and South Dakota over the next 15 years.

  18. Re:Wasn't this $ from Virgin Air's n-Years' profit by bfree · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As soon as I saw the headline I thought "stupid USlAshdot again". I have to trawl down to your comment to find a mention of Branson's $3 billion pledge . So not only does the story not ascribe the cash to it's source, it doesn't even get the figure right.

    --

    Never underestimate the dark side of the Source

  19. Americathon by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1, Troll

    I guess if George Bush can privatize our government into (worse than) uselessness, then Bill Clinton can make a private charity do the public works we need the government to do.

    At what point does America need the charity to bail it out? And can we skip all the nasty bits until then?

    --

    --
    make install -not war

    1. Re:Americathon by electrosoccertux · · Score: 1

      You're saying that like its a bad thing. IMO, given a libertarian view, this is how it should have worked from the start. Get the government out of the picture, let the people do the work. Gov't only needs to be there if the people can't/won't do it. In this case, the people are doing what is needed.

    2. Re:Americathon by j-pimp · · Score: 2, Insightful


      At what point does America need the charity to bail it out? And can we skip all the nasty bits until then?


      I hope a private charity bails the gorernment out. Government is getting bigger and bigger. Nothing seems to be shrinking it. Maybe if Clinton's charity is successful, government will deregulate energy and shrink itself in embarassment.

      Here is what a government should do:
      1) wage war
      2) pave roads
      3) keep a police force
      4) fire and emergency response

      Here is what government should not do:
      1) Healthcare
      2) tax unless absolutly neccessary.

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    3. Re:Americathon by loshwomp · · Score: 1

      Here is what a government should do:
      1) wage war
      2) pave roads

      If you want road subsidies, why not rail subsidies?

    4. Re:Americathon by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      How long have you been a libertarian? Have you noticed that people stop being libertarians after several years actually working with capitalists, unless they're writers, academics, politicians, or others who never have a real job?

      Do you really think that $6B is enough? Do you think it would have any effect without the government, including the ex/presidents working on it? Don't you think that most of the problems this private system is addressing are problems with the target countries' governments serving private corporate interests instead of their people?

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    5. Re:Americathon by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      Government is a monopoly created by the people (even if they don't realize it). So it should maintain the natural monopolies like you mentioned, and police the market to prohibit or control private monopolies. Health insurance (distinct from health "care") is a natural monopoly, too, like the rest of the economic systems that suffer in competition from waste and service of financial goals in conflict with human rights. And of course government is responsible for fixing problems the market isn't fixing, even if it can.

      After you deal with corporations which service only the "low hanging fruit" and ignore the rest of the market because its profitability is too low to prioritize, you realize that government is necessary to kick business in the ass all the time, or only the richest have opportunities and security.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

    6. Re:Americathon by j-pimp · · Score: 1

      And of course government is responsible for fixing problems the market isn't fixing, even if it can.

      I assume you mean, "even if it can't." The government should figure out who can solve the problems that the market and the government can't. This mean private charities in many cases. There are plenty of rich people that want to go to the moon, or be known as the one that financed the cure of cancer. Government should create a system that encourages this private charity.

      After you deal with corporations which service only the "low hanging fruit" and ignore the rest of the market because its profitability is too low to prioritize, you realize that government is necessary to kick business in the ass all the time, or only the richest have opportunities and security.
      The thing is, after you grab the low hanging fruit, the second low hanging fruit becomes becomes the loweest hanging. Also, someone will reailze if they buy a ladder, they can corner the high hanginf fruit market. Sure theres the "really hard to get fruit market" That no one will touch, but government should encourage people to invent the "really hard to get fruit picker"

      --
      --- Justin Dearing http://www.justaprogrammer.net/ We're just programmers.
    7. Re:Americathon by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 1

      No, I mean the government must fix problems that the market can fix, but that the market doesn't fix.

      Even the moon isn't being done yet, though the government proved how two generations ago. Cancer is a good example of how the market harvest only the "low hanging fruit", like painkillers and symptom treatments, unless the government organized research for "the greater good" of longterm health at the expense of (neverending) shortterm profits.

      The thing about cultivating the low hanging fruit is that most industries can keep less generally beneficial, but higher profit at lowest risk commerce filling the pipeline. The risk is the main controlling factor. Basic science, for example, is a risky investment that rarely pays off in actual profits until after many years, and many failures. Educating poor children is another risk, compared to educating rich children, in paying dividends. Even broadband deployment into poorer or less residential neighborhoods is a risk that telcos/cablecos are refusing to take until forced. Sometimes it's competition that forces them, which is why municipal broadband/wireless efforts are now such a hot issue, over 10 years into America's Internet boom. Economics of competition is simple - in theory. In practice, there's lots of kinks in the pipes that make lots of money working against "progress". But that progress is required by people, especially when there are foreign countries whose governments are forcing investment in that progress, in competition with us.

      --

      --
      make install -not war

  20. As a side note... by NeuroManson · · Score: 2, Informative

    Virgin's Richard Branson has pledged $3 billion towards this initiative:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5368194.stm

    --
    Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
  21. I'm really curious. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    ... what you were going to say there; it looks like your comment got mangled. Care to complete it?

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  22. Clinton interviewed on Fox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Think Progress: FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News
    http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/22/clinton-fox/

  23. He did? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 3, Informative
    Of course, you're a real fool when the independent commission already came out and had documentation of opportunity after opportunity where bin Laden was offered up to the US Government, but Clinton just wanted it to go away.
    He did? Is this about that guy from the Sudan who offered bin Laden to the US in 1996, which turned out not to be credible?

    'Cause that 9/11 commission report states "[F]ormer Sudanese officials claim that Sudan offered to expel Bin Ladin to the United States." Which looks pretty definite. Except it continues, "Clinton administration officials deny ever receiving such an offer. We have not found any reliable evidence to support the Sudanese claim."

    But you refer to "opportunity after opportunity", so you must be talking about something else, right? It's just that the Sudan claim is the one that I see over and over again. Perhaps you could help me wade through all this "extensive documentation".
    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  24. Baby Steps by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

    Day 1 of this new fund looks like its going in a direction that will NOT abuse this planet more, and IS profitable. My definition of planet abuse is were I am not the victim.

    There are 2 areas of investment that hold the greatest reward, but have the the greatest risk; Entertainment, and Energy. The backers of this new Fund have been lucky, and skillful at both. Before you blindly put your money down to invest in such a venture, find out the facts. Do analysis, compare this fund with others that are saying the same thing. Look at the companies that will be invested on and determine if these companies are ACTUALLY doing what they say they are doing.

    I hope this is all not a get rich quick scam by a bunch Adam-Henry's who have seen the movie "Boiler Room," and have thought they know how to dodge the bullets.

  25. That makes me want to cry. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's like... foreign oil is an abusive boyfriend. And we're its bitch. So back in the 1970s, there was that oil crisis, a big fight. And we went over to our sister's place, and she was all, "honey, you don't need him", and we cried on her shoulder a lot and said we didn't need him; were going to start a new life without him.

    But the foreign oil bought us flowers, and said it was sorry, and it was morning in America. And now we're back in the same boat we were thirty years ago, and we're acting like no one could have possibly seen this coming.

    You know, Brazil is energy-independent. They followed through on what Carter promised but was voted out before he could deliver on, and the program was plagued by various problems for decades on end... but as of a few years ago, it works. We could have had that. But we didn't.

    And I still don't see what was horrible about that speech. Could someone point out to me why that speech cost him the Presidency?

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And I still don't see what was horrible about that speech. Could someone point out to me why that speech cost him the Presidency?

      There was nothing wrong with the speech; the problem is with our electorate. The US has been overrun by asshats. Haven't you witnessed the last few elections? People in the US think it's their God given right to drive monster trucks with a big flag flapping in the back. Intellectuals are frowned upon. Creationism is on the ascent. We violate the Geneva conventions. Every day, millions of people pay tribute to bigots like Bill O'Reilly. Greedy self-interested Republicans vs. snivelling cowardly Democrats. Yuck.

    2. Re:That makes me want to cry. by JonBuck · · Score: 1

      Brazil has the advantage of being a tropical nation where they can easily grow sugarcane, which is far, far easier to ferment into ethanol than corn is. They burn the stalks (bagasse) to run the fermentation plants and generate electricity, upping the total energy return to about 10:1. Corn ethanol is a horrible 1.2:1.

      In Carter's time cellulosic technology wasn't even on the radar.

      And in this country, the environmentalists will scream bloody murder if we try to actually use the coal resources we have (global warming and all) to acheive more energy independence.

    3. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      And I still don't see what was horrible about that speech. Could someone point out to me why that speech cost him the Presidency?

      Nothing. That speech actually boosted his approval rating briefly. The reasons for the end of his presidency were a lot more complex, but the kind of pundits who love to say "good news for the Republicans" at every new development prefer to think it was this speech and it's I-Know-What's-Best tone that drove his presidency under, because it fits into the narrative they have built up about "the left."

        He was beaten in the election largely as a result of Saint Reagan's skills at demagoguery and fearmongering. Oh, and the fact that Carter's negotiations for the return of American hostages in Iran suddenly broke down in late '79 and came to an abrupt halt. The hostages were later released at the precise moment of Reagan's inauguration.
        Though congressional investigations hit a wall, sources in both the Carter and Reagan camps were convinced that someone in the Reagan camp had made a deal with the kidnappers to hold the hostages until after the election, so that they could use it as a political hammer against Carter, and to prevent Carter from getting the hostages released near the elections, as it initially appeared he would.

    4. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone mod parent up! Unless you are afraid of the truth.

    5. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      And in this country, the environmentalists will scream bloody murder if we try to actually use the coal resources we have (global warming and all) to acheive more energy independence.


      They can scream all they want, but when the price of transportation, heating and cooling your house, and using your appliances shoot up they'll be smacked down. And no, I don't think this is a good thing, but mark my words, they'll take an ass kicking in the media and they'll be vilified as "anti-American". The coal industry will prance "clean coal technologies" commercials across CNN with no hard numbers to back up the claims, and coal will reign for a time.
    6. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you hate America?

    7. Re:That makes me want to cry. by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      Brazil has the advantage of being a tropical nation where they can easily grow sugarcane, which is far, far easier to ferment into ethanol than corn is.


      True... on the other hand, the USA has the advantage of being the dominant nation on Earth, with the largest economy and most advanced technological capabilities ever. So you'll have to pardon me if my sympathy seems limited where our unwillingness to kick the oil habit is concerned.


      And in this country, the environmentalists will scream bloody murder if we try to actually use the coal resources we have (global warming and all) to acheive more energy independence


      Well they should, shouldn't they? Simply trading one major problem for another wouldn't help us much at all -- we need to solve both problems. Coal is a valuable resource, but we need to find a way to use it that doesn't cause massive global warming. We put a man on the moon, didn't we? Surely we can stop snivelling for a while and do this. For all our talk about ingenuity and sacrifice and "the Greatest Generation" and "A Shining City on a Hill" and all that, we sure come across like a bunch of wankers sometimes.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
    8. Re:That makes me want to cry. by lavaface · · Score: 1
      But the foreign oil bought us flowers

      more like advanced weaponry and Federal Reserve notes ;P I am continually amazed by how much people love to badmouth Jimmy Carter. Yes, yes, rampant inflation. It's a old canard. The OPEC embargo was largely out of his control and Reagan reaped much of the gain from Carter's policies (much of the improvement in the early 80s economy was a result of executive changes begun in the Carter administration; it takes time to turn an economy around) Of course, I was born in 1978 so didn't really experience the horror of his presidency first hand.

      Politically, he was ahead of his time. I suppose a better policy would have been to launch a full-scale invasion of the Middle East to secure our right to cheap oil. Hmmmm, why does that sound familiar?

      Carter is a true humanitarian. History will give him the respect he deserves. BTW, if you're ever in Atlanta, check out the Carter Center-one of the best kept secrets in the city.

    9. Re:That makes me want to cry. by drsquare · · Score: 1
      You know, Brazil is energy-independent. They followed through on what Carter promised but was voted out before he could deliver on, and the program was plagued by various problems for decades on end... but as of a few years ago, it works.


      In Brazil, over a third of the population live in slums with no electricity, running water, education or law enforcement. If this is what happens when you're energy independent then maybe it's not all it's cracked up to be.
    10. Re:That makes me want to cry. by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

      Sugar is not much easier to ferment than starch. Its about the same. You just need to mash it. Mashing is pretty easy.

      All plants have about the same chemistry. They are sugar polymers with the general chemistry of (CH2O)n. Ethanol and all alcohols are slightly oxydized alkanes. An alkane has the general chemistry of C(n)H(2n+2). An alcohol (single alcohols) are C(n)H(2n+1)OH. Set n=2 and you get ethanol: C2H5OH. Methanol (n=1) is also suitable for a fuel but it is poisonous and will blind too many people and thus is too dangerous to use. Methanol also has a lot less energy than ethanol. The reason is that ethanol has one (1) broken C:H bond of 6, methanol has 1 of 4.

      I'll not do the chemistry for you, you can do it, its easy enough.

      A tonne of dry organic matter is equivalent to about 2 barrels of oil.

      Your suggestion that the energy returns on sugarcane are 10:1 verses corn at 1.2:1 are nutz. From the plant's ability to capture sunlight and produce sugar polymers, they are largely the same... although there are significant differences between various species of plants with Hemp being one of the most efficient.

      This is unless you are looking at all energy inputs - which the DOE estimates results in about a 30% energy gain as I recall. I suspect these numbers are inaccurate and reflect machinery lifetimes which are far short of reality. The thing is that over 1/2 of the ethanol available from corn is not converted because one would need to use a cellulose conversion process which is possible using enzimes from fungi such as Trichoderma reshii. One can also use pyrolic decomposition.

      You are still not going to get 10:1.2 unless the agricultural efficiencies of sugar cane are more than 800% better than corn - which I doubt.

      The issue, however, with the fermentation process is that in order to produce ethanol at a price approaching gasoline, one needs to be able to ferment at a price that would produce beer for $2.50 bux per keg. This is easy to see. A keg holds 60 liters. 60*0.05 = 3. 3 liters of ethanol have the energy equivalent of about 2 liters of gasoline. At $1.25 per liter you get a budget of $2.50.

      If oil sells for about $75 bux per barrel then with ethanol you have a budget of about $150 bux for the tonne of dry plant matter no matter what form it is in. This is if it is 100% starchs, cellulose, pentosans and lignins. Usually there is about 12% or more proteins and other stuff (ash) but I'm ignoring that for now. In a fermentation process the yeild is about 80%. The other stuff can be sold for cattle fodder.

      Here is how we get the 80% number: Sugar yeild is quoted as brewers lbs per quarter which is typically 102 for corn and a brewers quarter weights 336 lbs. (Lord, everyone should know this!) This refers to the excess weight of the wort compared to water and is typically quoted in barrels and dates back into the 1700's.

      Imperial measure yeilds 36 gallons * 10 pounds per gallon or 360 pounds for a barrel of water.

      360 + 102 = 462.

      Now a pound of sugar displaces about 10 ounces of water. The "excess" is 6 ounces (16-10) so we get 16/6 as the true amount of sugar. 102*16/6 = 272. IE. Out of a quarter of grain we can expect to get 272 pounds of sugar. 272/336 = 80%

      Grain delivered to a plant is typically worth close to $100 per ton... usually a bit more. Corn for instance at $4 bux per bushel is about $133 per ton (short ton = 2000 lbs). After mashing a ton of corn will yeild about 80% or 1600 lbs of glucose which will convert to ethanol at about 51% by weight. 1600*51% = 816 pounds ethanol. There is not going to be much of a profit margin here! Of course the "brewers grains" can be sold for livestock feed because they are high in proteins.

      For the chemically impared - here is the calculation.

      glucose: C6H12O6 = (CH2O)6 12*6 + 1*12 + 16*6 = 180
      ethanol: C2H5OH 12*2 + 1*5 + 16 + 1 = 46
      carbon dioxide: CO2 12 + 16*2 = 44

      The reactio

  26. I love it by popsicle67 · · Score: 1

    A publicity whore and a guy who could find his financial ass with both hands and a map are going to take charge of a billion dollar trust. Hmm, Where are the whore houses going up? Can I apply for one?

    1. Re:I love it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Apparently you've forgotten about Hillary's ability to turn a profit in cattle futures!

    2. Re:I love it by An+Onerous+Coward · · Score: 1

      /me searches vainly for the point to your post.
      /me scratches his head.
      /me wanders off confused.

      --

      You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

    3. Re:I love it by popsicle67 · · Score: 1

      The point was that putting these two in charge of any amount of money is assinine. Whatever the goals are for it will soon be subsumed in a morass of shady dealing and outright thievery cloaked as incompetence( the reason they hired the Ex World Bank president)

  27. That's good stuff. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I doubt it'll actually convince anyone, but it's nice to see someone actually thinking on his feet.

    'Course, they'll probably cut it down to:

    WALLACE: Blah blah blah bin Laden.

    CLINTON: I failed to get bin Laden
    And that'll be all.
    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  28. Perjury by p51d007 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    It wasn't the "bj" that got him in trouble. It was LYING to a GRAND JURY. It's called Perjury That is why he was "hounded"......The fact he was and is a LIAR had nothing to do with the CRIMINAL nature of the case. It was the FACT that he LIED under OATH. From Wikipedia: Perjury is the act of lying or making verifiably false statements on a material matter under oath or affirmation in a court of law or in any of various sworn statements in writing. Perjury is a crime because the witness has sworn to tell the truth and, for the credibility of the court, witness testimony must be relied on as being truthful. Perjury is considered a very serious crime as it could be used to usurp the power of the courts, resulting in miscarriages of justice. In the United States, for example, the general perjury statute under Federal law provides for a prison sentence of up to five years, and is found at 18 U.S.C. 1621. See also 28 U.S.C. 1746.

    1. Re:Perjury by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wish I had points to mod parent up, or grandparent down. Both are equally offtopic, and both are equally not really flamebait. Only the one that is negative towards Clinton gets modded down (while an AC, easy to mod down, stays untouched).

      Your left is showing, Slashdot.

    2. Re:Perjury by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but in today's society any time a person who is involved with the review process of an employee has sex with them, it can be legally construed as sexual harrasment, as that person could be given a bad review based on not performing sexual actions or even some reason dug up which, according to policies and procedures, technically warrants a firing (almost everybody could be fired for something they have or have not done, it's just that the boss generally has no reason to do so.)

  29. complete bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If Clinton (and Bush) wanted to reduce the USA's dependence on foreign oil, they would have raised the nation's average vehicle fuel economy.

    The fuel economy of the average US vehicle is the worst ever.

    Not only because vehicles are getting bigger & more powerful, but because the consumer is choosing "light trucks" instead of "cars". Light trucks (minivans, SUVs, and weird vehicles like the PT cruiser) are excepted from fuel economy & safety standards that apply to cars.

  30. The Sudan offer wasn't credible. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 4, Informative

    The 9/11 commission reported that the Sudan offer wasn't credible. And as for what he could do without a Gitmo, perhaps put him on trial? I know it's old school, but it sometimes actually works.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  31. MOD Parent up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, there is an anti-Clinton bias, but you cannot argue with the facts he presents (See J.S. Mill and the Marketplace of Ideas). The IFR is a great design. We complain about environmentalists for not wanting to build nuclear reactors, but we praise Clinton even when he shutdown one of the most revolutionary reactor designs.

  32. Side Effects by ARWolff · · Score: 1

    Moving away from horses and buggies had side effects, too. The truly marvelous thing about humans and humanity is our ability to adapt. In The World is Flat Tom Friedman suggests that getting serious about sustainable energy will improve the U.S. economy and lead to better employment, in much the same way as the space program did in the '60s.

  33. Meanwhile, back at the ranch... by norite · · Score: 2, Informative
    Those of us in the know are quietly getting on with things....

    http://www.smartveg.com/

    --
    -- Fuck Beta
  34. MOD parent up!!! The IFR is the perfect solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The IFR is basically the perfect (and only) solution for clean, cheap, and virtually inexhaustible energy. As an added benefit, it can consume the "waste" from conventional nuclear plants. Furthermore, fuel cell powered vehicles are worse than useless if they derive their energy from coal to begin with!

    Canceling the IFR project may well turn out to be the worst and most costly decision ever made.

    Really, I never have mod points when they are useful.

  35. Creating Jobs by iPodUser · · Score: 2, Funny

    His plan to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and create jobs is this: Generate electicity by hiring a bunch of overweight people to sit on exercise bikes hooked to generators all day. America is overweight in general, so he will also take care of the obesity problem, while generating clean power and reducing unemployment!

    --
    This space intentionally left blank.
    1. Re:Creating Jobs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It may sound like a joke but I've been half-seriously suggesting linking up those exercise bikes to the systems in gyms for ages. Often gyms have big screens for the entertainment of the customers. Why not use all that free energy from those customers to power them. It's hardly rocket science.

  36. I remember the debate. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    I saw, it must have been a few years ago, a debate about fuel economy in the Senate, on C-SPAN. I came in about halfway through, seeing a statement being given by Dick Durbin. He spoke eloquently and forcefully about the need to raise fuel economy standards, and the fact that we can do so. He talked about how CAFE standards were raised at the last oil crisis, and American ingenuity was up to the task---and how we can do it again, if only we had the will. Then the Republican senator from I-don't-know-where came up and mumbled some weasel words which said "But it's too haaard!" without actually saying it, looking at his shoes like a cheap Ayn Rand villain. And Durbin's amendment was voted down, and I turned off the television, feeling dirty about myself.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:I remember the debate. by Jeremi · · Score: 1
      Then the Republican senator from I-don't-know-where came up and mumbled some weasel words which said "But it's too haaard!" without actually saying it, looking at his shoes like a cheap Ayn Rand villain.


      Now flash forward to 2006, and Toyota is wiping the floor with American auto companies, because Toyota was willing to do the work to improve fuel efficiency while GM and Ford invested all their money into lawsuits and bribes^H^H^H^H^Hcampaign donations to ensure that they could continue to produce the same old oversized gas guzzlers year after year. Those short-sighted gits have nobody to blame but themselves.

      --


      I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
  37. Might be because your parent was wrong. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    Maybe the post that got modded down was modded down because it was wrong. Clinton was never convicted of perjury. He was held in contempt of court, which is a civil charge, not criminal. So fantasies of chucking Clinton in Leavenworth for five years will have to stay fantasies, alas.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:Might be because your parent was wrong. by Dun+Malg · · Score: 1
      Maybe the post that got modded down was modded down because it was wrong. Clinton was never convicted of perjury. He was held in contempt of court, which is a civil charge, not criminal.
      Incorrect. Both civil and criminal contempt are punishable by jail time and/or fines. The classification has to do with the nature of the contempt, whether it's merely disobeying the orders of the court vs. direct disruption of court proceedings. Do not confuse civil and criminal contempt with civil and criminal law.
      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  38. Mentioned on The Daily Show the other day by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Clinton was on The Daily Show the other day, chatting with John Stewart about how powerful the internet was for charity (and how much was donated over the Internet for those affected by Hurricane Katrina).

    He noted that if every family in America donated $10-20 to a fund/concern devoted to alternative enegery, we'd be rid of using oil in short order. Good to see he actually moved forward with the idea.

    1. Re:Mentioned on The Daily Show the other day by loshwomp · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately, although their hearts are in the right place, and I generally respect them, Clinton (and, frustratingly, Gore) both are pushing "biofuels" as the solution, when the facts speak otherwise. Check out the tesla motors blog for some smackdown on biofuels.

    2. Re:Mentioned on The Daily Show the other day by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 1
      I've done some reading on biofuels, and while I agree ethanol isn't going to be there for quite a while (until cellulose processing methods are perfected), biofuels are an integral piece of the renewable energy puzzle.

      Tesla Motors has the right idea, but I doubt within the next decade they'll have an electrical energy storage device capable of delivering more then 400 miles per charge (they're only at 250 miles/per charge right now). Biofuels (the diesel sort more specifically) have the energy density to deliver. Not how I prefer things to work out myself, but frankly whatever reduces carbon emissions quickly and effectively works as a stop-gap measure.

      -b

    3. Re:Mentioned on The Daily Show the other day by cr0sh · · Score: 1
      I guess it depends on what you mean by "biofuels"?


      Corn-based ethanol production? Thanks, but no thanks - that is a loser from the get-go, and the worst use of a valuable grain product to boot...


      However, maybe if we used sugarcane or sugarbeets, that could work out. Or, we could use hemp - this would actually be a perfect solution for both ethanol (for the stalks and other cellulose) and biodiesel (from seed oils). Hemp can grown anywhere in just about any soil conditions, and it also acts as a nitrogen fixating crop. Planted in rotation with other crops (perhaps corn and soybean), fertilizer needs (and possibly other chemicals - herbicides, pesticides, etc) would be cut, possibly quite dramatically.


      But hemp (and other crops) are only a small portion of a biofuel solution. It is possible to get both oils and hydrogen from ordinary pond scum (ever wonder why pond algae is so gross feeling - now you know). Hydrogen is the tougher of the two (you have to grow it in vats and submit the mess to some simple but funky moves, and it doesn't yield much output) - but the oil harvesting is simple: skim it off then grind/press it and collect the oil. This oil can then be easily processed into biodiesel.


      There is also the idea and implementation of TDPs (thermal depolymerization plants) - so far, the only one I know about is the Tyson turkey offal TDP system, but in theory you can tune the plant to any feedstock. I suggest we build ones to use grass clippings and other yard/construction wastes. Rather than bury all of this useful mass in landfills, we should convert it to fuel. Every time I hear about what they did with the uprooted trees and demolished houses from Katrina cleanup (basically, most of it went into landfills), I just shake my head at the stupidity of the waste. Even if they had just dried everything out, ground it up, then made composite lumber from it, it would have been better. But no, let's just bury it instead (I see a possible future in buying up what will be "old" housing developments sitting on landfills, and tearing them up to stripmine the landfill for materials - in metals alone it might be worth doing it today if it weren't for the property value).


      Maybe if we made our water and sewage treatment systems more effective by capturing the methane from such works and using that for fuel (maybe industrial uses only?), that is another example of biofuel most people don't think of. Methane digesters are fairly simple to build, if you don't mind the smell and maintenance involved. Right now, some landfills have sunk pipes into them to tap off methane being produced by the biodegradables in the landfill itself - no, it isn't as good as a landfill TDP plant, but at least it is something.


      All of these solutions (and a bunch of others - wind, water, nuclear, and what is left of easy to reach fossil fuels) will be needed to create an alternative to our current "mostly fossil fuels only" system we have. I don't expect any one of them to be the solution, but rather all of them together can be.

      --
      Reason is the Path to God - Anon
  39. Re:Pwned? Put down that crack pipe, buddy by OoSync · · Score: 4, Informative
    And if you don't think Clinton ignored bin Laden, why don't you tell us all what Clinton's response to the attack on the USS Cole was?

    As Clinton says in both the interview in question and his autobiography, it took time for the US intelligence community to decide it was Bin Laden that was behind the Cole. Of course, the Cole was attacked a mere 2 months before Bush took office. They didn't know it was Bin Laden til just before the inauguration or afterwards.



    The better question, and the one Clinton asks the interviewer, is what did Bush do after being briefed?



    Here's a hint: it won't take you any time at all to tell us. Literally. No time at all.

    --

    I always get the shakes before a drop.
  40. We need nuclear now! by Upaut · · Score: 0, Redundant

    What we need to spend money on is developing a proper nuclear infrastructure. We need reactors, and a lot of them, otherwise we are going to be screwed in a few years. Renewable energy is great and all, but will not be able to sate our unquenchable thirst for energy. We need infrastructure now.

    So write to your congressman about building some breeders today. Remember, call then Breeder Reactors, not mentioning the "nuclear" aspect. That makes people much more comferatable. Same way they renamed NMRI's to MRI's.... It makes the common man feel safer...

    --
    3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
  41. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why does every "Me too!" comment from/about Australia get modded up? Are Aussies so desperate for attention that they favorably mod any post which mentions their homeland? Yeesh.

  42. Clarity in Titles by Shadyman · · Score: 1

    Is it a Renewable $1 Billion Energy Fund? Or a $1 Billion Fund for Renewable Energy?

  43. Tax bads not goods. by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1
    --
    Deleted
  44. Re:Pwned? Put down that crack pipe, buddy by be-fan · · Score: 1

    What could Clinton have done about the Cole bombing? As history shows, trying to root out Al Queda and hunt down bin Laden is a non-trivial military operation. The USS Cole bombing happend in mid October, and it wasn't until well after the elections that it was clear that Al Queda was responsible. That places the earliest possible military operation sometime in late November.

    For multiple reasons, a military action in that time frame was impossible. Even under normal circumstances, a President starting a major military operation in the last month of this term is unthinkable. In 2000, the situation was even trickier. Not only was Clinton a lame duck President, but his party had lost a very heated, very bitter, and very controversial election. Any military action at that point would've been viewed by the Republicans, who remember at this time are still isolationist and care nothing about terrorism, as a cheap trick to throw a wrench into Bush's presidency early-on. It would've been viewed by everybody as petty retaliation for the results of the election. Moreover, it would've been terribly ineffective anyway. Transitions are complicated, and switching administrations right in the middle would've been a massive handicap to any potential operation.

    Clinton did exactly what he should've done in his position, that was to give his successor the information he had and let him deal with the problem.

    --
    A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
  45. Actually no. by skids · · Score: 2, Insightful

    GE is mainly expanding its foreign labor wind turbine manufacturing. What you thought they'd go and hire all those steel and line workers the big 3 are laying off? Naw. Everyone knows American labor is overpriced and underskilled.

    Everyone except, say, Gamesa, Suzlon, and Clipper Wind and all the other foreign-owned companies from other industries who seem to have no problem at all opening plants in the U.S. like say Toyota. They seem to be able to turn a profit off American employees. Go figure. Maybe it's U.S. corporate management that is overpriced and underskilled.

    1. Re:Actually no. by antifoidulus · · Score: 1

      That has to be one of the most insightful post ever on slashdot.

  46. Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to make a Lewinsky-joke about this, but it's damn hard.

  47. The treacherous french continue their IFR dev by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    We'll have to license the patents from them. Damn Clinton and her bitch of a husband.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  48. zero emissions? by loshwomp · · Score: 1

    The Prius, though known and marketed for its fuel economy, is also marketed for its "Near Zero Emmissions" rating.

    It's only "zero emissions" as long as you're not counting CO2, in which case it's no better than any other vehicle that gets ~50 miles per gallon of gasoline.

  49. Clinton plans to make biofuel out of fat chicks. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After he porks them of course.

  50. Socially Responsibe Investing by Resident+Netizen · · Score: 1

    Thank you, Bill Clinton.

    For the rest of you-
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_ investing

    and some brief googling led to...
    http://seas.stanford.edu/fund/funds.html

    but this also jogged my memory of an investment firm called "Working Assets" many years ago. The name now graces a wireless company with a credit card (purportedly socially responsible).
    http://www.workingassets.com/

    and the folks behind the original investment company I recalled started this:
    http://www.visioncapitalinvestment.com/who.htm
    while the stanford link (above) mentions the original firm now goes by 'Citizen' here:
    http://www.efund.com/

    Seems to me that any investment company worth it's marketing department would have 'socially responisble' investment options.

    Google is our friend!

    --
    My other sig is a Porsche!
  51. Re: Futher off topic by Galactic+Dominator · · Score: 0

    Since you've now learned the meaning of camel toe, perhaps you're interest in this http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/b/bobandtom17966/cam eltoe498813.html I don't know the title or the artist but I think of it as "Ode to the Camel Toe". Set the Beach Boys Kokomo music.

    --
    brandelf -t FreeBSD /brain
  52. typo (should be 2:1) by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

    Damn. Sorry... Hydrogen:Carbon ratio of liquid fuels is about 2:1. This is important. This is why we have a huge shortage of hydrogen for tar sands operations. Fischer-trophe grabs the hydrogen from water and marries carbon to the oxygen in place of the hydrogen. The result is CO2 going up the smoke stack where the O2 part of the CO2 comes from two of the H2O's.

    The thing is if we want to use Fischer-Trophe to produce the hydrogen we need then when we get to 5 million barrels of liquid synthetic crude per day, we will also produce as a by product a stream of liquid CO2 measured in the millions of barrels per day as well. This CO2 has value and can be used for miscable floods of old oil fields. It can be transported via old gas pipelines because it is liquid at room temperature at a pressue of about 800 PSI.

  53. Re:Jimmy Carter MOD PARENT UP by cdn-programmer · · Score: 1

    You are 100% correct on these points. But it happened a long time ago. During the last 35 years the nuclear industry almost ground to a standstill. No alternatives were put into place to phase out fossil fuels as a source of energy.

    Now look what we have:

    COAL. The dirty beast. Nobody wants a coal fired plant. The power utilities have decided to go with the flow.... coal is not politically correct. NIMBY Rotating blackouts are becomming common.

    Natural Gas... The darling. We get about 2x as much energy from natural gas per carbon atom as we do from anything else. We had a natural gas bubble for decades. Companies like Calpine (NYSE:CPN) decided to put the coal fired electricty sector out of business. By 2000 they had more co-gen's on order than Germany, Japan and the USA could supply. Gas Turbines were the ANSWER. CPN shares were trading at $45 bux and I for one was asking where they were planning on getting their gas from (and telling them I was going to short them into the toilet). They were planning on burning most of the North American natural gas supply. Roll the film forward to 2006. Calpine is trading on the pinks: (CPNLQ.PK). Their share price is about 35 cents. North American natural gas supplies peaked January 2001. There is a mini-gas-relief for now. There is breathing space for companies like Calpine. Personally, I bought some shares at 30 cents on the pinks because I think I'll make a little loose change.

    Oil... Prices climbed from the 1998 low of about $10 bux per barrel to over $70 bux. Supplies are sufficient for now. We hear production will be increased. We don't see production increase significantly.

    Solar, Wind and alternative green solutions... This will save our bacon we are told.

    ------------

    In 1970 when Carter was killing the nuclear program, what would Texas oil have been worth had a viable and cheap nuclear power industry develop? I think it is ironic that it was a Democrate that killed nuclear. Nuclear would have made Texas oil dirt cheap. Now it seems it is Texas Oil money funding the Republican President. One might laugh and conclude that both Carter's and Clinton's policies were short sighted in ways they didn't anticipate.

    -------------

    2006 rolls in. We see the second gulf war with talk of expansion into Iran. We have a war on terror. One of the principle objectives of Bin Ladin is to get oil prices over $100 bux per barrel. Oil hovers in the $70 bux range. Saudi Arabia says no problem... they'll boost production. OPEC production is flat or in decline (for now).

    -------------

    In 1970, there were arguably 35 years of grace. We had quite a nice cushion here in North America. Fossil fuels were abundant and we had our choice of Coal, Oil, Natural Gas. Nobody was thinking about turning corn into ethanol other than to make wiskey.

    In 2006 what cushion do we have? Does anyone thing the Natural Gas supply can be grown for the next 35 years? What of the oil supply? Does anyone think that Saudi Arabia for instance can double production to 20 million barrels of oil per day? ... that they can increase production for the next 35 years?

    In 1970, the USA was just passing peak production. Does anyone think that the USA can grow their oil production past the 1970 levels? (Well, a few pollies do - when they are asking for votes).

    We do have coal. We can replace our oil and natural gas production with coal and we can use it and heavy oils and bitumin to produce liguid and gaseous fuels and we can do it for the next 35 years. However, we can only do this if we are willing to create a river of liquid CO2 measured in the millions of barrels per day (Via Fischer-Trophe) and we can only do it if we install massive infrastructure that will cost trillions and take decades to build... and we don't have decades.

    Sitting in the background is the nuclear industry... with solutions... the public is still being lied to. The public is still being told

  54. MOD PARENT UP Re:We need nuclear now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anti nuclear moderator. Ah well. Shit happens.

  55. Non-sequitur! Red flag! by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    FWEEET! Red flag, non sequitur. Twenty yard penalty, still first down!

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
    1. Re:Non-sequitur! Red flag! by drsquare · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry are you retarded?

  56. I dunno, are you? by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    Well, I can tell the difference between "Brazil isn't Saudi Arabia's bitch because they planned ahead" and "Brazil is a model nation in all possible ways which we should try to be like in all respects", and you, apparently, can't.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  57. Shit, they did it last time too. by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1

    Remember the Japanese automakers kicking our asses in the 1980s? None of this is new. And we're acting all surprised again. I saw this coming, and I wasn't even walking upright back then.

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  58. We get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You hate Clinton. We get it. Next topic please.

  59. Yes! by alienmole · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up, it mentions Australia!

  60. wrong on all counts by Scudsucker · · Score: 1

    First of all: Clinton did not lie. Starr wanted to use a definition of "sexual relations" that was so broad that merely brushing past someone in a bus or airplane aisle could be considered "sex". Clinton rightfully complained that this was crazy, and the judge agreed, basically defining "sexual relations" to mean sexual intercourse, as in penis in vagina. In fact, if he would have said "yes I had sexual relations with that woman" at that point it would have been a lie.

    Secondly, lying under oath != perjury. For it to be perjury, it not only has to be a lie, it has to be relevant to the case at hand. If Clinton's attorney had asked Paula Jones how much she weighed that particular day, and she answered 140 lbs when she knew she was 155, that would not have been perjury because it was batshit irrelevant to the case at hand. Similarily, wether or not Clinton had consensual sex with Monica is completely irrelevant to wether or not he harrased Paula. So, not perjury. Deal with it.

    I wonder if you get as bent out of shape about Bush saying that no one could have predicted terrorists flying planes into buildings or that the levees would fail in New Orleans. You know, bald-face lies about things that actually matter. I bet not. No, the impeachment of Clinton was nothing more than a partisan Inquisition, and if there were any justice a good number of Republicans would have been sent to jail for malicious prosecution.

  61. Re:Why? by Spunk · · Score: 1

    Why is this marked Funny?

    Pro-environmental policies and market systems can indeed be compatible, and we'll all be better off by realizing that. A good source for this sort of thinking is the Environmental Economics blog.