Our Energy Policy Should Be Rooted in Logic
I just started a fine historic novel that my brother gave me for Christmas, The Hangman’s Daughter; the first 100 pages are really good. In addition to the story itself, a murder mystery set in mid-17th Century Bavaria, the author reminds us of the horrors and brutalities of living at that time, e.g., the persecution of witches and the outrageously illogical ways in which this took place. “If she has a birthmark, she’s probably a witch. Stick it with a needle; if she bleeds, then she’s definitely a witch.” How would you like to have been born female with a birthmark in 1650?
To me, the remarkable aspect of this isn’t that people were at one point so stupid to think like this. The truly amazing thing is that this was fairly recent. Almost exactly 2000 years earlier we had Ancient Greece with its fantastic developments in mathematics, science, education, philosophy, theater, focus on virtue, jurisprudence, democracy and the like – not to mention logic. Aristotle did such a good job in codifying the rules of logic that very few advancements have been made in the 2300 years since his day. I challenge you to think of another intellectual discipline that was nailed down so completely in 300 BCE.
Doesn’t this make us wonder what happened to mankind that could have taken us down so badly? I have my own theory, but I’d be interested in yours.
So, what does this have to do with renewable energy? I believe that clear thinking and some level of dedication to and respect for science is essential if we’re going to overcome the huge challenges we face here in the 21st Century, of which energy policy is most certainly one. As long as we can look at our scientists who tell us that we’re ruining our planet (the only planet we have, btw) and dismiss them as pawns of the Marxists who are trying to destroy our economy, or as frauds who have conspired to perpetrate a hoax so as to bilk our civilization out of a few bucks for unnecessary atmospheric research, we’re really living in a throwback to the 17th Century in terms of the application of logic.
The Crusades led us into the dark ages ,knowledge that was not fit for the church was burned I was told. The mass Media today tells us propaganda that is very similar or at least relatively so. “Ode to Oil” is todays mantra and ROI is its foundation…not truth. Fear holds people in check, it is a scary world the News tells us. They do not press all the good stuff, it is not what sells? or is the truth is good news is not what is paid! to sell…
Greg Chick,
When times are poor, the more conservative and fearful people tend to become. It is an unfortunate time for ideas less than 50 years old or so, like sustainability.
Humans tend to instinctively believe in ponzi schemes, i.e. there is always more than what we have now just over that next hill. Problem is that the people over on that side of the hill think the same thing. As best as I can tell, we will only get out of these mindsets with multi-generational evolution.
We lost the heliocentric view of the solar system for almost 2000 years after it was popularly written about. I might go further here, but then it would sound like Bill Maher.
Arisrarchus of Samos (ca. 310-230 BC) was first known to assert that the earth orbits the sun (some 2300 years ago). Moreover, Eratosthenes of Cyrene (ca. 270-194 BC)calculated the earth’s diameter within 1%. (These and other interesting historical facts can be found in astronomer Bob Berman’s Excellent book “The Sun’s Heartbeat”.) There are many setbacks on the road to knowledge.
Greg and Arlene are right of course, but there are some good news publications out there, although not widespread (yet). Check out http://www.positivenewsus.org/ and the Huffington Post has a tab for “Good News”. It’s a start…
In my Humble Opinion the most scarry money manipulating scheme is one profiting on human (And to some extent on animal) sickness and despair is the (So called) Practice of Modern Medicine. What is the fancyist building and one of the largest in any city? The Hospital. What vehicles do Doctors drive ? Big expensive ones. What sort of home do Doctors live in? Big Expen$ive ones. How many DEATHS of patients does it take to train a Doctor? Too many. What does someone or their insurance pay to lay in a hospital bed for one night? Average $5,000 per day not including medications or doctor visit. Cancer is actually any one of several virus diseases. Doctors will treat it but not cure it for years until you are pennyless then let hospice make you comfortable while you die. (All doctors will deny that statement, it in their training.) Nobody listend all they want is a piece of the Action, Holeistic, Accupuncture. heck! If I drive these ten steel screws into your tire tread they will protect you from road hazzards makes as much sense. Go to the hospital in a new town for aproval to buy four medications for high blood presure speak to a doctor for 10 minutes he says that he wants me to got a friend of his next month for a physical (Medical Advice?) and writes the prescription for a one month supply of mads I have using for over two years. Go to Pharmacy get drugs for about $20 Total. Next week bill comes for $600 from Doctor for Medical visit. Am I bitter? DARN RIGHT ! Next month buy meds from Mexico with no presctiption for $80 but no doctor bill!
Its not much different today, if an energy project is announced be it wind solar or hydro, naysayers come out of the walls from both sides. If its slated to be built on unused ground it must be affecting the environment somehow; if its in my back yard I don’t want it. People can find a witch in almost anything these days.
At the risk of being labeled a conspiracy theorist, allow me to point out (as was firmly recognized by Teddy Roosevelt and a great many others across the history of our species) that “capital organizes”.
The wealthy interests at the “top” of our society – and who exert massive and undue influence in all areas of human endeavor – have no interest in a critically thinking and imaginative population over which to rule. Instead they encourage ignorance and demand obedience and conformity.
This is why the regular consumers of Fox News are shown not only to be more ignorant and misled on a whole range of issues, but actually grow more ignorant and misled over time with increased exposure. This puts me in mind of a quote by Samuel Foote, a British actor and dramatist of the mid 1700’s, “He is not only dull himself, but the cause of dullness in others.”
Rupert Murdoch and others like him are not interested in providing a public service to circulate crucial and valuable truths. They are instead intent on luring humanity into a snare of illusion and deceit for their own personal financial gain and the preservation and expansion of their own political power.
American society, in particular, labors under many severe misapprehensions. Chief among these in practical terms are that we are and have always been a democratic republic, and that capitalism and democracy are compatible (or even one and the same). Another important delusion is that self-interest and competition are the instrumental forces behind human progress.
Our founders created a system that appealed to the myth that all men are created equal, while at the same time enshrining slavery and granting suffrage only to white male landowners.
Capitalism has by design always favored those with great wealth, and it operates according to predatory principles by which cooperation for mutual benefit applies only to trusts and cartels as convenience dictates.
Humankind emerged from the savagery of an animal existence by sharing and cooperating, not through greed and conflict.
How does this apply to renewables? The controlling interests in our society have not yet decided it is to their private advantage to shift from filthy ancient sunlight to the clean moderns stuff. The immensely profitable fossil energy industry is subsidized – according to a recent presidential speech – to the tune of $4 billion annually… that’s pretty rich music.
However beneficial renewables will be to our United States and health and well-being for ourselves and our progeny, there is a substantial transition cost for all those firms that continue to regard these resources as competition. Their formidable lobbying power ensures that the feeble attempts to subsidize renewables will continue to be sporadic, unpredictable and anemic. We may also expect the campaign of misinformation, concealment, and discredit to endure long past the tipping point.
If we want to escape indentured servitude and act with true liberty, we will find instruction in the words of a man who accomplished that feat in great measure, Frederick Douglass:
“Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to, and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
Exxon-Mobil and its ilk are quite well organized, and not for altruistic public benefit. If we logical, critically thinking and imaginative humans want to see our national security and political sovereignty preserved, and if we want to defend ourselves and our posterity against the lethal ravages that fossil fuels inflict upon the biosphere and the economy, we had best get organized.
Truth – Non-violence – Cooperation – Direct Action – Perseverance
Bumpersticker Idea:
“STOP FOSSIL THINKING – RENEW YOUR MIND!”
Well said Mr. Cameron Atwood!
Mr Atwood, what you wrote was quite good except this line:This is why the regular consumers of Fox News are shown not only to be more ignorant and misled on a whole range of issues, but actually grow more ignorant and misled over time with increased exposure.
It reduced my respect for your comment considerably and showed a snap shot of your personal ideology; sorry you did that.
Garth,
That line is fact, not ideology – I’m well aware that the two are often conflated.
However, from that fact, you may assume nothing of my political leanings; I am a staunch independent who voted for every GOP candidate to achieve the Oval Office since I attained voting age, with the proud exception of GW Bush. I am a strong supporter of the individual’s right to bear arms for the purpose of self-defense, as well as all the other rights that are due every human as enumerated in the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Regarding Fox News viewership…Examine the study referenced here: http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/
Further, A study by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs, as published in the Winter 03-04 issue of the Political Science Quarterly, reported that poll-based findings indicated that viewers of Fox News, the Fox Broadcasting Company and local Fox affiliates were more likely than viewers of other news networks to hold three purported misperceptions:
67% of Fox viewers believed that the “U.S. has found clear evidence in Iraq that Saddam Hussein was working closely with the al Qaeda terrorist organization” (Compared with 56% for CBS, 49% for NBC, 48% for CNN, 45% for ABC, 16% for NPR/PBS).
The belief that “The U.S. has found Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq” was held by 33% of Fox viewers and only 23% of CBS viewers, 19% for ABC, 20% for NBC, 20% for CNN and 11% for NPR/PBS
35% of Fox viewers believed that “the majority of people [in the world] favor the U.S. having gone to war” with Iraq. (Compared with 28% for CBS, 27% for ABC, 24% for CNN, 20% for NBC, 5% for NPR/PBS)
Additionally, PIPA conducted a statistical study on purported misinformation evidenced by registered voters prior to the 2010 election. According to the results of the study, “…false or misleading information is widespread in the general information environment…” but viewers of Fox News were more likely to be misinformed on specific issues when compared to viewers of comparable media, that this likelihood also increased proportionally to the frequency of viewing Fox News and that these findings showed statistical significance.
Moreover, Fox News broadcast personalities have narrated inaccurate video footage aired by the network which served to amplify the audiences perception of public support for favored political figures, and the network has also broadcast doctored images of the news staff of news outlets that Fox staff viewed unfavorably.
I trust that you will feel inclined do your own research in this matter, and I suggest that you do so across an array of sources. The influence of bias in popular media is quite real and pervasive, and is more reflective of a corporatist agenda than one of ideological origin (though there is significant overlap between the two).
Your fellow American,
Cameron
So much of the US public is clueless and an informed public facilitates good policy development. The good news is that it is probably less clueless now that it was 50 years ago and a public that gets its wishes does not create revolutions. The bad news is that institutions responsible for educating the public on energy issues have failed. The list is too long to recite.
Regardless of what others say or do, each of us has the ability to make the difference in the world we experience. I am not saying that I can change the world you experience, but I do believe that I can change the world I experience. So what it is that each of us can do to begin to create that world? Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute believes that energy that you don’t use is more cost effective than energy you produce.
I don’t know about you, but I have what I think is a logical plan to create the world a little differently in my back yard. I live in Ontario, Canada which has a Feed In Tariff program to purchase green energy. I put 4.9Kw of solar voltaic panels on my roof last year, at a cost of $33,000.00. I was fortunate to have had that in cash, but since the Ontario Power Authority will pay me $0.80 per KWhr, and charges me about $0.13 per KWhr that I take from the system with all transmission and taxes included. That means with my particular site, I will pay back this investment in 5 to 6 years. Now the contract with OPA is for 20 years, so just from the economic point of view, that is a great return on investment, not to mention that this is relatively green energy that I am producing.
With the money I generate from my solar panels sold to the grid, I will buy a plug in hybrid or plug in electric car in about five years. By that time the technology for batteries and light weight carbon fibre bodies will likely make this an attractive second vehicle for local driving.
I have been reducing my energy costs through: sealing my house; using a set-back thermostat on my high efficiency natural gas forced air heating system; using fans to cool in the summer rather than central air, except on very hot days; reducing phantom loads; cooking on my outdoor natural gas barbeque, and sun oven in the summer to reduce interior cooling needs; using major electrical appliances on off peak rate times and, am looking at the advantages of utilizing solar hot water heating and air heating additions to my house.
There certainly are other things that I can do to reduce my energy footprint, and at the same time save a considerable amount of money that I would have paid to buy that energy. I am looking at them now.
Is this logical? I would suggest it is. But I don’t need to look to others to create this for me. I just need to be focused on what I want and find all those things that are available to help me create that reality.
Will this make others be more energy efficient and self reliant? I don’t think so, but certainly, if someone asks me what I am doing and why, I will share with them how it is working for me. After all, they get to choose which reality they create for themselves.
Yes, Ontario has an extremely aggressive position vis-a-vis renewables; I’m happy to see that.
Btw, you have quite an enlightened viewpoint. But I’m not sure I agree that you can’t change the world that other people experience. Individually we can’t change the world, but we sure can change a little piece of it. It sounds like you’re doing more than your share. Keep up the good work.
As we assume we cannot, we cannot.. Yoda says so. I make as many differences every day I can. Making a difference has almost become an obsession. I learn on line at these comments and news letters just what many think. I seek understanding in order to spread greater thinking skills. Differences are needed division is not.
Greg Chick
Policy development in a democratic society, including energy policy, is a political process that is based entirely on opinion which is often absent clear thinking. The environmental community and the National Academy of Science have both lost credibility with the American public, largely because of their arrogance and taking the position, “we are smart, you are not, listen to us”. There is still respect for science, but not for the institutions that claim to represent it. Institutions that lose public respect have usually earned that disrespect.
Dear Craig today Indian Railways budget announced in that some progressive thinking got adopted here the will of Railway minister shown while sceptics have their say its common to any country.
Now GREEN STATIONS and many are in the pipe line .
Some one lakh crores expected and this is a good news as far my innovation goes.
I seek you joining me Late Syeve jobs never wrote books about his Apple products nor he seeked approval from the eager consumers today every experts try to write about APPLE’s $500BN CORPORATE.
While he seen the future how Apple will emerge but after with meeting bill Gates he died peacefully because no one prasied Steve jobs but Bill Gate what your answer write me
thanks CK