You know, it's absolutely amazing that a leader of our government would make such a stupid and unfounded assertion. Oil makes us sick? What the heck does he expect us to use instead? And what the heck does he use?
BTW, he can offer all the tax incentives he wants but that's not going to impact what I pay at the pump. What the heck is Reid doing to lower the price of gas? Someone should ask him and hold him accountable for his inaction and his stupid comments.
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You honestly don't know about both the alternatives that have always existed, have been developed in the last few decades and are in common use now, and are in development? And I mean a lot more than ethanol.
Let's see.. what do we do instead? Well, how about the things we do now, such as Natural Gas, hydro, wind, solar and thermal, biodiesel and nuclear? How about working on other potential sources such as are going on now?
The fact is, drill everywhere we can, suck every drop of fossil out of the earth we can find, and it is going to run out, sooner or later. Indeed, given our usage, sooner rather than later. It is, and always has been, a finite resource.
What is mature or thoughtful about not preparing in advance for an inevitability? And instead, acting like nothing's happening, until it creeps up on us and its too late to prepare, because any change is going to take time and effort. Whether it was from carriages to cars, wiring for electricity, putting up the towers and studios for television and radio before anyone really HAD a television or radio (talk about taking a risk..).
What do we do instead? We 'do'. We research. We give human ingenuity a chance.
This idea that we need something that IS gas, one substance that will be used everywhere, for everything is unreasonable, because oil never was that either. We've always had a whole list of energy sources. And, as Martha Stewart would say, that's a 'good thing'.
We are reaping now the fruits of too much dependence, personally and economically on one single product, especially a finite one that even Oil companies admit won't last more than a few more decades. (60 million cars for what? 60 years. Sorry, 60 years isn't forever, even if the only thing we run on it is those 60 million cars...)
sorry, karen, i have to make a small correction to your earlier post and say that in this case, burning biodiesel doesn't help in this particular case (pollution). it does, however reduce our dependency of fossil fuels, and all of your other suggestions are great ones.
"He didn't site those studies, he said it was global warming. Maybe you should listen more to what the politician is saying and not assume that he is reading the research you are reading."
oh, come on! you were criticizing his statement that the burning of oil and coal makes us sick and you called it unfounded. maybe you should take your own advice and listen more to what the politician is saying. he's talking about the problems of burning fossil fuels, that they make us sick and that they worsen global warming. he didn't say that global warming is making us sick - and even you understand that which is obvious in your post. don't kid yourself. also, you constantly ask what alternatives there are. aren't you paying attention? did you listen to the video? do you read what karen and i post, time and time again? i have answered your question, as has karen, several times on different posts.
look, i don't understand what your love of oil is - maybe you are financially invested, maybe your dad or husband is an oil field worker. i don't care. the truth of the matter is that we will need oil and coal for years to come, so don't expect the industry that we have now to shut down anytime soon. and actually, the more that we can replace the use of oil for energy use, the longer we can extend that industry for other oil-based products (oil for plastics and lubricants and coal for black powder for example). but there's no reason why we should avoid alternate (and clean) energy sources for another 10 years while we squeeze the last gallons of oil from our land. supporting the solar and wind industries will create lots of jobs and will help our struggling economy. foreign car manufacturers are going to beat us to the market with new technologies and forever have the edge in the industry as they have done with cars that get better mpg.
there are technologies today that can cut down on the pollution particles that are known problems for chronic asthma and other illnesses and carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. the one that i suggest the most is something that you should be good at: conserve. people don't need to drive to the store today to get eggs and again tomorrow to get milk; plan better. if you have 2 cars (as most families do), drive the one that makes the most sense; i see soccer moms every day driving themselves in their minivans and SUVs to starbucks for their caffeine fix. check your car's air filter and tire pressure. carpool, telecommute, ride a bike or take mass-transit. if you're in the arid midwest, replace a/c with evaporative coolers (they're cheaper to buy, cheaper to maintain, cheaper to operate, more effective and use less electricity). cook meals at home more instead of dining out; you'll save money and gas and probably be healthier as a result. slowly replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescents. plant a small garden in your backyard; you'll save money on produce, the plants will generate oxygen while absorbing carbon, and you'll reduce pollution from delivery. these are all things that don't negatively affect your quality of life but can reduce your energy consumption by 20%. the fox news reporter said that we currently use 50% coal and 20% oil for our electricity use. i consider 20% being a significant difference that we can make today.
if you want to make a bigger impact, see if your electric utility company invests in nuclear, wind, hydro, or solar power. buy a hybrid car or at least a more fuel efficient one the next time around. insulate the walls and attic in your house. invest in passive solar heating or geothermal heating. buy solar panels (if you generate more power than you use and it goes into the power grid, the electric company will pay you for it). replace your windows with more efficient ones.
Wow. Quite moronic!
Let’s Review:
Continuous contact with motor oil causes skin cancer. Diesel Truck drivers are 50% more likely to get lung cancer, while auto mechanics are more likely to die from a wide variety of cancer-related diseases. 12,000 Coal Miners died of black lung disease between 1992 and 2002. According to the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, Vehicle exhaust emissions:
…irritate the eyes and respiratory tract, and are a risk to health by breathing in. Petrol or gas (LPG) fuelled engine fumes contain up to 10% carbon monoxide, a poisonous gas. Prolonged exposure to diesel fumes, especially blue or black smoke, could lead to coughing, chestiness and breathlessness, and there is evidence that long term exposure may increase the risk of lung cancer.
Run a car in a closed space, like a garage, and you will asphixiate very quickly. One gallon of motor oil can ruin a million gallons of freshwater if dumped into the public water system “- a year’s supply of water for 50 people.” At the Coast Guard base where I work, a small amount of jet fuel, which is kerosene-based, leaked into the ground at one site, it will take years of phytoremediation to make the field usable again.
In Ecuador cancer rates were found to be 150 percent higher in an oil-drilling area than in other parts of Ecuador. Lukemia rates in those same areas where three times the norm.
Coal Fired power plants shorten nearly 24,000 lives a year, including 2,800 from lung cancer. Fish populations across the globe are increasingly becoming contaminated with mercury, dumped into the environment by these plants. With levels rising, the American Geological Institute has issued fish advisories warning the public about the health risks posed by eating certain fish.
Michele never let something as meaningless as facts get in the way of a good rant.
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