I watched O’Reilly’s interview of John McCain last night and came away very disappointed. McCain says that voters will prefer him for his experience over Obama with his inexperience. At best this will just overcome the age factor. After all, McCain, as they say, is no spring chicken.
To my mind, this election will be determined by the policies put forward. A recent poll reported the following as the big issues with their relative importance noted; The economy (35), situation in Iraq/war (21), health care (8) and fuel costs (8). This rather surprised me.
McCain wants to give each American a grant of $5000 and let each select the plan that’s best for him/her. He believes that this will result in lowering the cost of health care due to the competition for business. He needs to develop his ideas on this and to sell them with most enthusiasm because Obama just wants to give the people something for nothing.
Come to think about it, health care and social security are two sides of the same problem. A total solution must be found to avoid bankruptcy due to an aging population. Where’s McCain on this?
I was very disappointed with his answers on energy independence. McCain is putting the environment first over independence. He doesn’t want to drill in ANWR province for example. O’Reilly characterized this as a preference for “green energy”. O’Reilly didn’t even mention the stupidity of bio-fuels (ethanol) which Bush has been pushing, the result of which is a huge increase in food costs and famine. Even if McCain put independence first it would take many years to make a difference and a couple decades thereafter when we will run out of oil anywhere and will have to find alternative forms of energy. So why not concentrate on the latter now. Be the first on the market.
Israel is embracing the electric car on a wide scale
1. Agassi and his investors are convinced that the cost of running such a car will be significantly less than a model using gasoline, which in Jerusalem is about $1.65 per liter, or $6.25 per gallon. “With $100 a barrel oil, we’ve crossed a historic threshold where electricity and batteries provide a cheaper alternative for consumers,”
2. Agassi’s company, Project Better Place of Palo Alto, California, will provide the lithium-ion batteries, which will be able to go about 200 kilometers, or 125 miles, per charge, and the infrastructure necessary to keep the cars going - whether plug-in posts on city streets or service stations along highways, where in a structure like a car wash, exhausted batteries will be removed and fresh ones inserted.
Hydrogen Driven Cars
1. Honda of Japan is developing a revolutionary fuel-cell engine that produces no pollution and, in effect, runs on nothing more than hydrogen produced from water.
2. Fuel cells don’t run literally on water, but on hydrogen, which is forced through membranes inside the fuel-cell stack, producing an electric current that powers the car. You can make hydrogen from water, but that also requires electricity - and it so happens Yakushima has abundant quantities of that, too.
3. The reason lies 170 metres (yards) down a steep tunnel, which takes you deep under the mountains, on a funicular railway.
4. That is where the local electricity company has built turbines to harness the enormous hydro-electric potential on Yakushima, a mountainous area with lots of rain, - and it has done that so successfully that it produces far more electricity than the island’s 15,000 inhabitants can use.
5. Surplus electricity cannot be stored, so the company has joined forces with Kagoshima University and Honda, to make hydrogen for the fuel-cell FCX.
Both solutions require electricity. While there are other mountainous areas with lots of rain where Japan’s solution can be exploited, maybe atomic energy is the way to go.
Atomic Energy
There are 173 nuclear reactors producing power in Europe (excluding Russia), with four under construction and others planned.
Nuclear Power in China
1. # Mainland China has eleven nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, six under construction, and several more about to start construction.
2. # Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world’s most advanced, to give a sixfold increase in nuclear capacity to at least 50 GWe by 2020 and then a further three to fourfold increase to 120-160 GWe by 2030.
There are currently 53 operating nuclear power plants in Japan.
US Nuclear Reactors
1. As of October 31, 2005, there are 104 commercial nuclear generating units in the United States. Of these 104 reactors, 69 are categorized a pressurized water reactors (PWRs) totaling 65,100 net megawatts (electric) and 35 units are boiling water reactors (BWR) totaling 32,300 net megawatts (electric).
2. Although the United States has the most nuclear capacity of any nation, no new commercial reactor has come on line since May 1996. The current Administration has been supportive of nuclear expansion, emphasizing its importance in maintaining a diverse energy supply. As of April 1, 2005, however, no U.S. nuclear company has yet applied for a new construction permit.
What is needed is a Manhattan project for energy independence within twenty years. It will also take twenty years to change cars to rely on electric batteries or hydrogen fuel cells.
Acheiving energy independence would address the first three items noted; the economy, the war and fuel costs.
McCain would do himself and the American people a lot of good by launching such a bold project. It would generate excitement in his camp, be a stimulus to the economy and be the talk of the town.
Now that’s change.
