Yeah, right. Gore’s insane.

Please concentrate on the true nature of Gore’s stupidity. He said, “…all of the nation’s electricity from “renewable energy and truly clean, carbon-free sources”- within ten years.

Meanwhile, “gasoline”, “diesel” and/or “nat gas vehicles” are not mentioned at all!

Of couse, you’ll still need to quickly replace all of the 30+ “coal-fired” utility plants here in Ohio that provide for 80% of the current demand for electric power- call it a minimum of $3 trillion for “Ohio” to be “carbon-free” in 2020… while total currently projected state spending over the same 12 year period is $2.5 trillion-(+/- $500,000,000,000)…
I’m sure it will be “affordable” if we can just raise the cigarette tax again.

I didn’t read the whole speech, so I might be wrong, but I think Gore was advocating 100% renewable electricity generation, not power consumption.

Unfortunately, Vice President Gore muddles his own message by both complaining about dependence on imported oil and complaining about using fossil fuels to generate energy, proposing a program to end only the latter in ten years.

What’s missing from his plan is that, with the exception of nuclear power, his other carbon-free approaches (solar, wind, etc.) suffer from the defect of either requiring scientific breakthroughs and enormous capital investment or mass migration to move the energy to where the people are or vice versa.

I found this feasibility analysis pretty thorough and convincing:
http://www.eurotrib.com/story/2008/7/17/142724/157

Remember his ‘bold’ challenge to inspire the scientific world to send a manned space mission to Mars in the near future? I was puzzled why that was such an important goal to a president who didn’t strike me as much of a visionary – as somebody once said, the vision thing!

Now I agree that rushing into this energy conversion thing isn’t gonna get it done correctly, just throwing billions down a wishing well won’t get it done. Just makes me wonder what a different world it might have been if Gore’s vision thing would’ve began 8 years sooner!

But if there’s one thing I’d like to see LESS of from Obama, its unrealistic stuff. Optimism is fine. Hope is fine. But on the bottom line, it’s ambitious but realistic assessments and plans by knowledgeable hard-working folks that really get things done.

I look at it like shooting a cannon. Projectile motion is governed by the idea that you fire at a 45 degree angle for maximum distance. Aim too high or too low and you don’t get as far. It’s a question of finding the balance of mechanics governed by multiple variables.

So to me it doesn’t matter who the politician in question is…if you are trying to set yourself up as a pie-in-the-sky jesus, like Gore, you are showing me your ignorance. At some point, you need to show me you understand ALL the intricacies and the challenges.

One of the most favorite of all politicians’ pastimes is to see a bunch of folks heading one way,. and you grab a pole. run to the front, and yell “parade!” So on the environment, with gas at 4 bucks per gallon, we’re certain to be treated to a battle between the remaining candidates as they each attempt to prove that they are more strongly in favor of protecting the environment than the other guy.

Not to mention that unlike the other guy, they can make all these things happen without doubling the price of fuel again or taxing us all into oblivion. Caveat emptor, folks.