Posts Tagged by patriotism
Americans Are Patriotic, But Sadly Misled Regarding Energy
| November 29, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
A reader from the U.K., Derek Deighton, writes:
I’m sorry, am I missing something? Does it matter what America thinks and does? Assuming no doomsday, America is not going to be more than at best an equal partner in a world centered on Asia.
Speaking from the UK, you seem to have an inflated sense of your importance as a society, as we did with the Empire, and are still wont to do on occasion.
I reply:
Touche! Read More
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What the Great Patriots of History Would Say About Our Energy Policy
| November 6, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
It’s the birthday of John Philip Sousa, the “March King,” born in 1854. Best known for his patriotic music, the U.S. Marine Corps Hymn “Semper Fidelis,” and of course “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Sousa loved a rousing live performance, and generally reviled the phonograph, as he believed that it would result in people’s singing less. In fact, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, Sousa performed at Willowgrove Park, a wonderful old amusement park that meant a great deal to me as a boy growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs. (Now, of course, it’s a shopping mall.)
I often wonder what the great patriots of history would say about what and whom we’ve become. Of course, I tend to look at the question through the lens of energy. Thus I ponder what Sousa might think about our de facto energy policy, blithely borrowing an incremental billion dollars a day and sending it offshore to buy another ten million or so barrels of oil, empowering our sworn enemies, and ruining our environment.
If Sousa had trouble with the phonograph, I can’t imagine he’d look on this self-destructive energy policy too kindly.
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Feeling Patriotic? Why Not Let Your Voice Be Heard?
| July 1, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
A friend of mine has a T-shirt that defines the word “patriotism” as “not letting our leaders ruin our country by ignoring the principles on which it was founded.” Food for thought as we go into the 4th of July weekend.
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter told a packed house at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum a few weeks ago the following story, illustrative of the issues at hand. The University of Colorado at Boulder recently completed a survey of many thousands of residents from around the state, in which participants provided their viewpoints on a myraid of energy-related issues. Among other things, the study showed that an overwhelming majority favored a bill on the floor on Congress that would place a tax on carbon and create financial incentive for businesses and households to reduce their carbon footprints. To Ritter’s astonishment, one of the senators from his state, under pressure from special interests, went back to Congress and voted against the bill that his constituents had so clearly favored.
Our democracy is teetering on the edge of complete collapse under the weight of powerful corporate lobbies, and it has only one hope for success: you. To the degree to which our leaders can perform sordid garbage (like the example above) without dealing with the outrage of voters, we’re doomed. So this 4th of July, I hope you’ll take a moment, write your elected representatives, and express your concerns about our great country and where it’s headed.
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Electric Vehicle Adoption Curve — Taking Everything into Consideration
| April 6, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Electric Vehicles |
A reader who predicts a slow EV adoption curve writes:
Americans are addicted to not only to oil but also to driving. Most Americans see automobiles as freedom to do whatever, whenever they like. They do not like to be restricted by anything, including their vehicles. Early adopters are slightly different and are probably wealthy enough to have a bunch of cars to drive on any given day. So it is more a fashion statement or “I am green” statement.
At $26,220 for a Leaf and $21065 for 5 dr Focus with automatic trans; the cost penalty is $5,155. Assume 12,000 miles driving per year. Focus get 31 mpg composite = 387 gallons gas at $4 per gallon = $1,548 for gas and the Leaf gets 100 miles on 23 kWh which takes $2.53 per charge ($0.11 per kWh) x 120 charges = $303 for electricity. Net savings per year is $1,244 and divide that into $5,155 = 4.14 year payback. Marginal but add into that the fact that you can’t drive it if you have to go more than 100 miles. Logical answer for today’s mainstream customer is no thank you.
To which I reply:
This is very good stuff, but here are a couple of points:
Total cost of ownership over years of oil changes, tune-ups, valve jobs, radiator leaks, exhaust systems, smog checks, etc. on ICEs is replaced by a car with almost no moving parts, no explosions going on in it, almost no maintenance expense and better peace of mind.
Until we have a good, ubiquitous fast-charging solution (decades), most EVs will be sold into multi-car families who can always take the ICE if they want to go on a road trip. How many such families like that are there? Tens of millions.
Costs will be coming down as technology improves and scale is achieved.
In addition to making the statement that “I am green,” the driver is making the statement “I am patriotic” (by not driving my country into debt to foreign enemies, not to mention wars that are costly in terms of both dollars and lives). As a marketing guy, I only hope I get the chance to tell this story; I promise you, I’ll have a FIELD DAY with it.
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Patriotism and Clean Energy
| July 4, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
In a blog post offering my “Tough Realities for Renewable Businesses” report to readers at Renewable Energy World, Bill Fitch writes a comment befitting of the 4th of July and the patriotic spirit that normally accompanies it.
I’m reminded of a friend’s T-shirt that defines the word patriotism as “not letting our leaders ruin our country by ignoring the principles on which it was founded.”
