Matt - first thanks for moving the issue to a new thread, I was hoping that would happen and get the discourse moving on the topic.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this post are independent and are not representative of Gassavers.org or any other group but yours truly.
:-)
Well, let me get a few things out of the way. I didn't want to make this too Political, but I think the topic is what it is. First, I'm proud to call myself a "Liberal", but I'll also admit to having an open mind on a variety of issues. I believe strongly in the value of the Scientific process and the advancement of technology to benefit the greater good (whether it be environmental, biotechnical, medical, etc.) I also believe that the average citizen needs to be more involved in Politics to keep the process under a watchful eye. Instead of letting goverment officials run on "autopilot", I believe in consistantly communicating with them: State, Local, and Federal. Unfortunately, the right and the left are so polarized right now -- probably now more than ever. With that said...
It was hard for me to watch, but I bit the bullet and watched the SOTU address not once, but twice (when it repeated on CNN late last night). I'll limit my comments to the energy plan, because I could go on about the education plan, tax cuts for the wealthy, and the elimination of funding for the poorest, most vulnerable Americans.
Sludgy -- I admire your criticism of the plan considering your political affiliation; in fact, I agree with every point you mentioned. IMHO, Bush's agenda is to benefit big US business. Large Agribusinesses: (Ethanol, and Switchgrass or whatever???); Coal was also a focus. If cars are plugging-in to re-charge, a large draw on the electrical grid will be apparent, day or night (anyone remember Enron and how they ripped-off California in their time of crisis?). "Clean" coal burning power plants were mentioned. Who benefits: Domestic coal producers, the manufacturers of the smokestack catalyst, large sub-contractors to build this stuff (including Nuclear -- not sure where we're going to store all of that contaminated coolant once it's past it's usable life), and power brokers like the energy companies who buy and sell the juice (where was wind and hydro-electric in all of this?) Finally, since he failed at domestic oil once, W is going to try it again. Expect (using the proposed line-item veto) to drill in ANWR for more domestic oil. They've tried to push it through, but it's been caught every time. Benefit: Big U.S. Oil because we're probably offending every Middle-Eastern nation to the point of immenent embargoes, and we're probably going to tap into what's left of the U.S. oil supply. I'm not old enough to have been around for the gas crisis of the 70's, but do a little reading on it if you aren't familiar with it.
2 technologies currently have a negative energy benefit (meaning it takes more energy to create the fuel than when it is combusted). Hydrogen and Ethanol/Alcohol (which has less potential engergy per gallon than gasoline, and emits more CO2).
Let's get engines to run more efficiently, design smaller vehicles, use the momentum rolling with Hybrids, and for pete's sake, get a reliable Diesel engine that America will fall in love with. As for the batteries, that one came out of left field -- not really sure where he was going with that.
And now, your moment of Zen. In every statement, there are 3 sides to the triangle:
1) The way I say it,
2) The way you hear it,
3) and, the way it really IS.
I think he wanted us to hear what we wanted to because of his low approval rating. What really comes of an address like this? Perhaps some attempts to push a few measures through Congress, and then we forget about the speech and go back to our daily lives.
I ask each of you to perform one simple task. Write to a lawmaker and express what you believe to be the best direction for fuel economy. It's easy, just go to
www.house.gov or
www.senate.gov and e-mail your lawmaker (you can even write State agencies in a similar process, depending on where you are). It takes like 5 minutes, and in many cases you will get a response. At the very least, your one voice can join others in a common goal, and it will make an impression. It is us after all who "hire" these people. They are our "employees". Let's give them direction.
RH77
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