H 23°, L 4° | Tomorrow: 
H 22°, L 6°In most election cycles, the issue of energy policy is about as cool as other hot-button issues such as farm subsidies and mass transit funding. However, with gas prices hitting levels that require some families to sell their second-born child just to get to work every day, the issue of energy policy in the 2008 presidential campaign has taken up an ever-larger share of the policy arena.
Both candidates have assembled crack teams of very adult energy experts who are without a doubt the best money can buy, err, the best in their fields. After listening to John McCain’s “drill here, drill now” schtick and Barack Obama ceaselessly declare his affections for clean coal, I’m pretty convinced that maybe America would be better off if these so-called adults took a play break in the sandbox, and we turned our future energy policy over to someone a little more qualified.
You know, someone like little Timmy, age 8.
Now surely, the pundits would ask questions about Timmy’s experience and the influence of “Big Wheel” bikes on his energy policy, but unlike the “adults” creating energy policy for McCain and Obama, we can rest assured that little Timmy actually paid attention in when the class was learning about renewable and non-renewable resources.
And since he knows that no dinosaurs are dying any time soon to produce more non-renewable oil, Timmy knows that to achieve true energy independence — and a functional society in the future — we need to get serious about conserving the non-renewable energy we still have, while heavily funding renewable energy research and production.
Somehow the concept of non-renewable resources has managed to completely pass McCain and the other “adults” who support him. One only needs to hearken back to the “Drill Baby Drill” chants the Republicans sent ringing through the rafters at their recent convention to realize they either enjoy playing ignorant or they never passed the second grade. Those finger paintings can be a challenge — you never know.
And I’m sure even little Timmy could appreciate the irony of the “adults” who whine about schools — telling every child that he is “special” — being the same “adults” who want to pillage the
Lest one start to think that Timmy is a budding Democrat, a look at some of the policy proposals of Obama shows that though he may be McCain’s junior by a generation, he is not anywhere near junior enough. An energy man tied to the whims of the Radio Flyer lobby would be far superior to Obama’s Illinois-bred ties to the corn ethanol and “clean coal” interests endemic to his home state.
The idea of growing our nation’s way to energy independence via corn ethanol sounds great in theory. However, corn takes a tremendous amount of oil, water and land to produce, meaning that non-renewable resources are required to produce the supposedly renewable biofuels. As little Timmy has learned by stocking his quarters away in his piggy bank, when you take more allowance out than you put in, you eventually run out of money. The same can be said for investing non-renewable energy in biofuels.
In addition, as a mere lad who’s only 8, Timmy is still a bit of an idealist who would like to see
Another of Obama’s proposals calls for the investment of more money into clean coal technology. Fortunately for
As little Timmy has learned as he suffers through his bowl of lima beans to earn ice cream for dessert, the task of shifting our society to renewable energy will not be without its sacrifices.
Quick fixes and sloganeering work great for modern American political campaigns, but with our nation and the world reaching a critical juncture for investing in renewable energy sources for the future, perhaps it’s time to stop pretending that Santa Claus is going to bring us renewable energy for Christmas.
Sadly, it’s the “adults” who are waiting for the big gift under the tree, while our friend little Timmy understands that the path to renewable energy begins with some of the lessons he has gleaned from his second-grade education.
Zachary Schuster ([email protected]) is a graduate student in water resources engineering.
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George Bush solved the energy crisis by not properly regulating the Wall Street, thus sending us on our way back to the VERY “green” dark ages.
Money is the root of all evil.
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It sounds like little 8-year-old Timmy was the one doing research for Zachary’s article here. Production of corn ethanol is not an attribute of Obama’s plan yet this article portrays it as his only main policy.
Obama’s plan focuses on fuel economy standards, production of natural gas, and a large scale cap-and-trade program. In fact, corn ethanol production is not even mentioned by the Obama campaign. In fact, ethanol is introduced only ONCE in Obama’s “New Energy for America” policy proposal and its referring to funding programs that search for NEW ways to produce, among others, cellulosic ethanol. Your assumption that he plans for corn ethanol so he could draw subsidies to his home state is completely unfounded. Acknowleding that corn ethanol is a bad way in which to produce renewable energy, he proposes finding different ways to produce ethanol (such as what the Brazilians do with their capitalization of sugar cane).
Whether or not you agree with THOSE policy positions is up to you, but this article is completely childish and rife with blatant factual errors.
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I’ve seen very little of Obama’s campaign stating that they have much interest in the long term use of corn-based ethanol. What Obama’s campaign is interested in, as is much of the entrepreneurial community across the world, is second generation biofuels. Completely different issue that would be much more energy friendly than corn ethanol.
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Zach,
You assert that ‘clean’ and ‘coal’ are mutually exclusive. Are you an expert in coal combustion thermodynamics and chemistry? Do you have advanced degrees applicable to industrial flue stack scrubber technology, allowing capture of sulphur and mercury compounds needed for farm fertilizer and making energy efficient compact fluorescent bulbs, respectively? Have you intimate knowledge of fluidized bed catalysis of coal-to-liquid-fuels? Are you even aware that the US has sufficient coal reserves to fuel ALL of our energy needs for the next 250 years, at 2006 energy consumption rates?
Perhaps you already know EVERY aspect of CURRENT and FUTURE technology that will be applicable to energy production from ‘clean coal’. If not, then your thesis that ‘clean’ and ‘coal’ are indeed mutually exclusive terms is just unadulterated BS.
It must be wonderful to be both prescient and omnipotent, Zach! I didn’t know that ‘water resource students’ had such god-like qualities…. Or perhaps you’re just blowing smoke and polluting the energy environment, like a spoiled 8 year old having another overheated but empty tantrum.
C’mon Zach, admit it. You’re “Little Timmy”, right? Well, dry your alligator tears little fella! Drink a little warm milk, curl up on your blankie, and have a much needed Zach nap… And leave the sober resolution of energy production to adult engineers!
Invictus Maneo
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To be fair, Obama still supports the corn subsidies that are currently offered. In fact, if we were to discontinue such subsidies but keep the quotas for biofuels we would save money by buying sugar based biofuels from Brazil or elsewhere. So even if Obama doesn’t have biofuels listed as one of his future energy policy solutions, he still actively supports the current usage.
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I enjoyed your article, Zach. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to sit down and pick apart every little piece of your article like some people here.
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Wow…Invictus Maneo, that was SERIOUSLY MEAN. Don’t be so harsh, the guy could be wrong in a couple of ways- but there was no need to be so rude. We’re a democracy, remember? Everyone’s view is respected. Imagine how Zach must be feeling?!