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Three New Bold Ideas for Energy Independence and Global Climate Change, by John Kerry [2006 June 26]

"Today, in a speech at Faneuil Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, John Kerry introduced a bold new plan to achieve energy independence and combat global climate change. Kerry's plan challenges America to accept three big ideas to win energy independence and meet the ten year challenge of combating global climate change....

"A safer, more secure energy future is well within our reach. The imperative has never been greater to reshape the future of our energy supply and energy use. First, Kerry will establish an oil savings goal and implement an aggressive set of policies to reach it. Second, he believes we must immediately expand the availability of renewable fuels to run our cars. And third, he believes we need to get serious about climate change and take measures to freeze and reverse our greenhouse gas emissions."

Good start, Mr. Kerry. However,...
  1. Reverse and Stop Emissions that Cause Global Warming

    ... we will progress to ... 65 percent below 2000 emissions by the year 2050.

    If we go that slowly, Mr. Kerry, we will have reduced emissions not by design but because civilization will have ceased to exist as we know it. Consult with Mr. Gore. He gets it.
  2. Mandates for Reducing Oil Consumption

    Senator Kerry's plan will set mandatory targets for reducing US oil use by 2.5 million barrels of oil a day by 2015.

    With 4 years of reserves in the USA and little sympathy from oil producing countries, this goal will be met by Mother Nature and the course of history. (Think China, India.) Targets, mandatory or otherwise, must be much more aggressive than this.
    A. Transportation: Transitioning from Oil Dependence to Renewable Fuels ("renewable fuels to run our cars")

    Nice idea, but "renewable fuels" means choosing between fuel and food. ADM will benefit; others will starve. "Renewable" only applies as long as soil recovery is ignored. In fact, we are not using soil (or water) in a sustainable manner. Converting USA's midwest farmlands to produce ethanol means destroying USA's already depleted soil and pumping the Ogallala aquifer dry. Get a clue, Mr. Kerry.

    Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to substantially reduce our consumption of gasoline.
    ... and destroy life on earth. With no losses from conversion into ethanol, we would have to harvest one sixth of all land-based photosynthesis to maintain USA's lifestyle. China can't come up with enough trees to make chopsticks. What are you thinking, Mr. Kerry?

    Switch to electric, which, if supplied by renewables, doesn't have to exhaust the USA's water and soil as your plan does.

  3. Developing Energy Technologies for the Future
    Sounds good. But you suggest $20 Billion. Arnold Schwarzenegger came up with $3 billion just for California, and that's pathetic. If you don't grasp the magnitude of the problem, we're in trouble. If you grasp the magnitude but you're afraid to lay it out plainly, we're in trouble.

Mr. Kerry, go see An Inconvenient Truth again.


“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked and dejected with lost opportunity. The ‘tide in the affairs of men’ does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: ‘Too late……

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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