In my two previous columns I made the point that the economics
of energy delivery have irrecoverably changed and neither our
government nor environmental groups concerned with global warming
or protecting fragile ecosystems are doing the right thing.
In my two previous columns I made the point that the economics of energy delivery have irrecoverably changed and neither our government nor environmental groups concerned with global warming or protecting fragile ecosystems are doing the right thing. The current Republican-controlled Congress is opting for short-range gains in energy production as a way of demonstrating they are concerned about jobs and the economy. Environmental organizations like the Sierra Club are so focused on protecting the environment at all costs that they ignore the economic realities, opting for confrontation rather than cooperation in a new economy.
The mainstream media deals with the issue almost exclusively in terms of either its weekly report on gasoline prices or the latest doomsday rant like that delivered by Al Gore to the World Environment Day meeting in San Francisco last week.
When the issue is presented in terms of these polarized positions, the public is denied the opportunity to understand the truth about what has happened and what our leaders, both governmental and environmental, should be doing.
Even the largest petroleum company in America, ExxonMobil, recognizes the facts of peak oil and what it means. They released a report entitled “The Outlook for Energy: a 2030 View.” It is available online at http://www2.exxonmobil.com/corporate/files/corporate/energyoutlook.pdf
The facts, as presented by ExxonMobil, are clear. Energy demand, fueled by growing economies and higher standards of living in Asia, will continue to rise faster than can be met by new production. New production will be increasingly costly, requiring deeper drilling in environmentally sensitive areas or high cost exploitation of oil sand and / or oil shale reserves. Even with new sources, it will be necessary to improve efficiency of petroleum use if world-wide demand is to be met. The consequences of not doing all of the above will be a stagnation of economic growth and a severe disruption of those economies most dependent on petroleum. That means the United States.
The responsibility for “doing something” is shared by all of us. There is no single solution and even the little things add up.
I would personally feel more comfortable if Richard Pombo and Carl Pope would have dinner together about once a month. It would have to be done in secret, of course. The followers of each are so polarized that even talking to the other would be viewed as sleeping with the enemy. But, if they did, they just might find some common objectives and together, take some of the energy and publicity spent fighting each other and turn that to working for all of us. If Hillary and Newt can agree on health care, surely Pombo and Pope can find agreement on energy development.
Even at the local governmental level, there are simple little things that are not getting done. For example, we all know increased use of solar energy is part of the future. PG&E tells you about it in almost every advertisement. The Associated Press circulated a story about a farmer operation in Clovis that installing enough solar capacity on top of his sheds to produce a megawatt of electricity.
In Morgan Hill, there are home owners associations that would prohibit solar panel installations. These regulations or guidelines should all be stricken.
Our city zoning or building code needs to be updated to protect those who would install photo voltaic solar panels from having a neighbor put up a building or even plant a tree that would take away the sun. Santa Cruz County has done it: Title 12, Chapter 12.28 of the Santa Cruz County Code, Solar Access Protection. The Measure P point system encourages solar energy use but it has not been supported in the zoning or building code. It is time to do that now.
There is currently an open question about increasing County Taxes to provide for BART service to San Jose. While this might be good for San Jose and Milpitas, it will definitely not do anything for South County. We have a better solution in rail service, which is not used enough to justify increased frequency of service. I have had the good fortune to have lived for five years in Tokyo and used that transportation system. It works precisely because you can use it to go almost anywhere. It works because rail service and commercial development are connected. If high capacity transportation services are ever going to be successful, they need to be more like Tokyo. That means encouraging commercial development in the neighborhood of train stations.
When it is more likely that you can get to where you want to go by public transportation than by auto, people will use it.
But most of us are going to be dependent on our cars. If the price of gasoline means anything, then it makes sense to purchase those vehicles that provide the best mileage. Even if it is not an immediate issue, continuing to use energy at the rate we consume it in the Unites States only hastens the day when it will become one.
As natural gas is increasingly required to provide heat energy, the solutions planned for electric generation will depend on the heavily polluting coal or nuclear along with a combination of wind and solar. The solutions for transportation will also be a mix of hydrogen fuel cell and biodiesel.
Neither are currently in place, and expending resources now on the high cost conversion of oil shale, tar sands and other petroleum sources into gasoline only postpones the day when we have to do the unthinkable and start scrapping our Hummers.
We will not make it through the next 10 years without at least some energy- related lifestyle changes. Technology does not have all of the solutions. How successful we are at reaching a new energy platform depends on how much we are willing to forego the immediate gratification of our advertising driven needs.
There are other paths to happiness than buy, buy, buy.
Wes Rolley is an artist and concerned citizen. The Board of Contributors is comprised of local writers whose views appear on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
