Don’t worry, though, he slammed some people. Just not the ones he thought
Over the past twenty months, we’ve been fighting not just to create more jobs today, but to rebuild our economy on a stronger foundation. Our future as a nation depends on making sure that the jobs and industries of the 21st century take root here in America. And there is perhaps no industry with more potential to create jobs now – and growth in the coming years – than clean energy.
Well, now, I wouldn’t go that far, Barry. Not particularly clean
Maybe we should banish the term “clean energy.†Growing corn for ethanol requires fertilizers and pesticides. Producing and shipping small-scale wind turbines for urban areas generates more CO2 than they save. Production of polysilicon for solar panels leaves a trail of toxic waste in China, as The Washington Post reported back in 2008.
And let’s not forget about all the trees that have to be clearcut for some solar projects. Back to Barry’s address
For decades, we’ve talked about the importance of ending our dependence on foreign oil and pursuing new kinds of energy, like wind and solar power. But for just as long, progress had been prevented at every turn by the special interests and their allies in Washington.
I wonder who those special interests are? Oh, hey, look, a bunch of Native Americans (not meant to be PC, just more understandable than writing Indians, in this context) are upset and have been protesting, and will continue to protest, a planned solar plant in the Mojave Desert, which will clear all the brush from what they consider to be a sacred place. And drive off desert turtles. I thought liberals loved an animals. And then there’s Diane Feinstein, who has fought to make the Mojave Desert off limits. And Ted Kennedy and other enviros who fought for a decade against the Cape Wind Project.
So, year after year, our dependence on foreign oil grew. Families have been held hostage to spikes in gas prices. Good manufacturing jobs have gone overseas. And we’ve seen companies produce new energy technologies and high-skilled jobs not in America, but in countries like China, India and Germany.
Funny how he doesn’t mention France, which gets 80% of its power from nuclear energy, with a good chunk of the plants being Generation 4. Anyhow, it’s doubly funny how Democrat legislation has driven industry out of the USA, and to China, like with compact fluorescent lighbulbs.
Blah blah blah, create new green (union) jobs, kill 2 jobs for every 1 “green” job. Oh, sorry, he didn’t mention that last part.
For example, I want share with you one new development, made possible by the clean energy incentives we have launched. This month, in the Mojave Desert, a company called BrightSource plans to break ground on a revolutionary new type of solar power plant. It’s going to put about a thousand people to work building a state-of-the-art facility. And when it’s complete, it will turn sunlight into the energy that will power up to 140,000 homes – the largest such plant in the world. Not in China. Not in India. But in California.
Except at night, because we don’t have the batteries to hold the energy. This is the plant the Indians and Feinstein are protesting against. Oh, and environmentalists, too, like the Wildlands Conservatory. Don’t forget, enviro’s have previously protested running transmission lines over the desert from a different solar plant into Los Angeles.
Now there are some in Washington who want to shut them down. In fact, in the Pledge they recently released, the Republican leadership is promising to scrap all the incentives for clean energy projects, including those currently underway – even with all the jobs and potential that they hold.
Really? I must have missed that one. Nor can I find any Republicans calling to scrap projects. Mostly, we just want to drill for oil on American soil while building alternatives, including nuclear. The ones protesting seem to be left side. Chump.
The rest is a typical campaign speech, in which he is also trying to turn China into an enemy. Not a bright idea when they hold so much of the US debt, debt mostly created by…..Obama and the Democrats.
Crossed at Right Wing News and Stop The ACLU. Re-Change 2010!
so now both YOU and the enviormental wackos are on the same side when it comes to solar electric ? Congratulations !!
And teach during the daytime is when we need/use most electricity that is peak usage. Also Duke University says that solar electric now costs LESS than nukes Nobody believe that nukes will give us +power so cheap we will not need meters” anymore
Actually, I like solar, as I have said time and time again. I’m not on the side of Feinstein or the Indians on this, mostly, though, I despise clear cutting land. As I’ve also said, I would prefer that the research goes towards personal solar usage, for which storage capability is much more robust, and would actually free our chains from power companies.
As to your second comment, people still need power at night. They often do laundry and dishes, they are at home watching TV, playing on the computer. People often do not use that much electricity at HOME during the day, most usage is from 5pm to 11pm.
And comparing nuclear to solar, once you take away all the subsidies for solar, nuclear is less expensive and supplies a constant stream, while solar is during daylight hours. Nuclear doesn’t have to worry about clearing massive square miles of brush and trees, either. Let’s do both. Let’s use wind in areas that would support it. Screw the people out yachting, they can get over it.
john,
I think your comments are a good reflection of why we are having so much difficulty in a meaningful dialog with liberals. Almost all conservatives that I know feel that solar or any form of energy should be used. They are not against the concept. The problem that conservatives have is that the issue of AGW is being used to redistribute wealth and to cripple our economy and way of life. They find problems with solar energy just as they do with carbon based fuels. Several issues come to mind, solar panels are basically produced with oil products (plastic, etc.), so you are still dependent on petroleum production. I have never seen a solar arrangement that did not require a significant number of batteries. Do you understand that batteries are a significant source of polution?
Now, the big O is using oil as a demon. Why? We need it in our economy. Certainly we would like to be less dependent on the substance. But that is not the way of the world at the present time. But O can either not understand this or fully understands and wishes to destroy us. Witness the restriction on drill in Louisiana. Why? He clearly meant to destroy the ability to drill and create uncertainty. When oil men put out several million to drill a well, they don’t want uncertainty. In fact, everthing the O does is meant to create an unstable environment in the US. Counter this with Ragan who positively improved the economy by simply creating an atmosphere of good will to business.
In short, the Dems are using the environment as a tool to do harm, not to improve the earth.