The Energy Learning Curve
The first Energy Learning Curve ™ report, released in association with Planet Forward, finds the American people reaching common ground on at least 10 major energy proposals, particularly on alternative energy. But the public may not yet be prepared for the tradeoffs and challenges needed to make these proposals a reality.
Despite consensus on certain solutions, misconceptions and lack of knowledge hinder informed judgment. For example, half of all Americans could not identify a renewable energy source, such as solar energy or wind power, and nearly 4 in 10 could not name a fossil fuel.
We also identified four broad clusters of public opinion based on their attitudes, values and knowledge; the Anxious (40 percent), the Greens (24 percent), the Disengaged (19 percent) and the Climate Change Doubters (17 percent). The steep learning curve required for all four groups poses challenges for policymakers.
This is the first of a series of reports designed to measure the public's "learning curve" as Americans grapple with the energy challenge. The report is also available at Planet Forward, an innovative web-to-television-to-web initiative produced by the Public Affairs Project of The George Washington University, designed to advance the discussion on energy and climate change with both citizens and leaders submitting their ideas. Additional findings from the survey will be released on the Planet Forward television premiere, scheduled for 8 p.m. on April 15th on PBS (check local listings for exact show times in your area).
Id do a bit of everything (never happen in DC though unfortunately).
Drill on the coasts and in Alaska (a stopgap at best but realistically it would be temporary and eventually the land would return to normal after the oil is harvested), Mine Uranium and Coal (stopgap as well), use natural gas from us (another stopgap), build wind power / solar (Id make it all tax deductable big time), and build nuclear power plants (a stopgap as well but longer term than oil since Canada US and Australia have most of the uranium), and look into oil shale (us has huge reserve) as a last ditch item. Id make Nuclear Power tax free as well (or subsidized by government). Anything to improve overall balance of trade and keep our cashflow here in the U.S.
I would Invest in electric cars (like the Tesla company) but Id lean towards make buying them tax free with a hefty tax credit to boot. I feel the answer with alternative is tax credits and tax freedom/incentives, not government splurging and taxing. If you go with the method i propose the market will decide which alternative energy company succeeds. I feel cap and trade is just a way for the congress to find another source of revenue without calling it a tax.
A more pie in the sky approach would be to continue to Fund fusion research (National Ignition facility etc and the European one). The problem there is materials science to find materials that can contain the heat of the fusion reaction in the reaction chamber. Id work on that first before building the fusion reactor.
On the crazy side, Id move toward for zero population growth (yeah that will be popular LOL) since fundamentally people are the environmental problem when you get down to it. If you really buy into global warming thats the ultimate solution. Nobody will touch that with a 10 foot pole though as it would be political suicide. But I feel methods like cap and trade are just smoke and mirrors for the true environmental issue - we have too many people on the earth.
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