Hold on to your shorts-it is going to get worse

[alcpa1]

Wasn't it just last year that we were threatened with unsafe skies because so many Air Traffic Controllers were facing retirement without trained replacements?

Fewer planes and fewer airports with commercial service gives the government another excuse for not doing it's job.

I guess that news was so YESTERDAY.

This is just another side of the cutbacks.

[jaspercat]

JasperCat, did you see the latest list of route suspensions and outright cancellations for Air Canada! No more Ottawa-Orlando direct flight; no Toronto to Rome during the winter, etc., etc.

Kathy:(

 

Yes I did -- as well as cancelling regular routes (Vancouver-Japan) with probably more to come.:(

[greatam]

Green and growth don't need to be mutually exclusive. High oil prices will drive a new solution that just happens to be cleaner.

 

As the Chinese get richer they will likely switch as well to cleaner energy sources. They, like the French, are investing in Nukes big time. Regardless of progress, I expect to see China as the world's #1 polluter and emitter of green house gases in a decade. India will probably be #2 if their economy continues to perform well.

 

The good news is that these problems are creating incredible economic opportunities for entrepreneurs to solve!

 

While I agree that green and growth don't need to be mutually exclusive, why is it that the environmentalists that adamantly hate oil, SUV's, etc., etc. do their upmost to dismantle CLEAN energy and prevent newer, cleaner technologies to be used? I am specifically referring to the idiots on the Altamont trying to shut down the wind farm, American Rivers.org (and others) trying to dismantle hydro plants and the general environmental movement not allowing any nukes to be built.

 

The unintended consequences of massive use of solar are HUGE. Price is only one ($30,000 for a solar installation for an average 2400 sq ft home, if you want TV's, DVD, computers, AC and all the goodies we normally use). The waste (all the batteries needed for solar generation) produces more environmentally destructive product than a coal plant. Solar doesn't work when the sun don't shine. Few realize that a solar plant NOT connected to large battery banks can only be used as a day time "peaking" generator. And in Arizona, batteries need to be changed out every year to 18 months. That's a lot of highly toxic waste.

 

China has jumped on to the pebble bed nuke technology big time. Consulting engineering done by Bechtel and Westinghouse (US companies no less-Shaw still owns 20% of Westinghouse) in conjunction with a South Africa consortium to build the first commercially viable pebble bed reactor but we can't build pebble in the USA. NRC expects up to 22 new license applications in the next year or so. But they will be old style, steam reactors. I am astounded that Calvert Cliffs actually got a permit approved. But much like Palo Verde, they had the permits from years ago but what must be built is old style technology. No one dares try to get a permit for new, updated technology due to environmental protests. It's a real shame.

 

You are correct that there are some fantastic entrepreneurial opportunities out there. But can they ever be built??? Not in today's environment. Too many Nimby's, too many environmentalist wack-o's.

 

PS: I waiting for the GM Equinox. I'm not carrying my extension cord.

[happy cruzer]

If I remember correctly, the trucking industry was heavily subsidized at the expense of rail in the US. As well as large trucks/SUV owner given business tax breaks. I think all those regs are still there.

 

The technology for electric cars has been around quite awhile. Also PBS had a great show that mentioned that all the advance made in the design of gasoline powered engines for car/trucks have been used to increase power performance and not mileage.

 

Airplanes seem to be one of the few things that oil is really best for. Who knows we may find alternatives for them too.

[greatam]

If I remember correctly, the trucking industry was heavily subsidized at the expense of rail in the US. As well as large trucks/SUV owner given business tax breaks. I think all those regs are still there.

 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me how I can get government subsidies. I own 37 over the road semis. With diesel fuel at $5.00 a gallon, I could use a little help.

 

You have it TOTALLY backwards. The RR have been subsidized for YEARS. Trucking has had to MAKE DO with their own resources. While I get a write off for each new semi I purchase, when I sell or trade in the trucks, I have what is known as "depreciation recapture" and recapture of "investment tax credit". IF I don't buy new, I pay taxes on the "tax break" I got previously. And unless you are buying SUV's for business use, you get no tax breaks.

 

The technology for electric cars has been around quite awhile. Also PBS had a great show that mentioned that all the advance made in the design of gasoline powered engines for car/trucks have been used to increase power performance and not mileage.

 

Airplanes seem to be one of the few things that oil is really best for. Who knows we may find alternatives for them too.

 

Then why don't we have all these electric cars. Better tell Ford in china about all the "advances". They have forgotten in an effort to make CHEAP cars.

[SelectSys]

... why is it that the environmentalists that adamantly hate oil, SUV's, etc., etc. do their upmost to dismantle CLEAN energy and prevent newer, cleaner technologies to be used? I am specifically referring to the idiots on the Altamont trying to shut down the wind farm, American Rivers.org (and others) trying to dismantle hydro plants and the general environmental movement not allowing any nukes to be built.

 

Because they are stupid? The "black helicopter" crowd might think they are agents of the Chinese trying to destroy our economy. In any event, some of the more thoughtful environmentalists are shifting their position with respect to nuclear energy.

 

The unintended consequences of massive use of solar are HUGE. Price is only one ($30,000 for a solar installation for an average 2400 sq ft home, if you want TV's, DVD, computers, AC and all the goodies we normally use).

 

You are correct, the traditional cost of solar installation has been huge. Look at the new thin-film providers such as nanosolar. They are quoting $1/kwh for cost. These will drive costs down considerably.

 

The waste (all the batteries needed for solar generation) produces more environmentally destructive product than a coal plant. Solar doesn't work when the sun don't shine.

 

Yes, solar by itself is not considered a "dispatchable" source of power. However work is going on regarding storage in many forms including traditional pump storage hydo, compressed air (mostly associated with wind farms), heated salts, etc. Batteries are not the only answer although much research is being conducted in this area as well.

 

The good news about solar is that it provides maximum power that tends to track peak energy demands. Just using solar to shave the peak rather than building other forms of "peaker" power plants is probably worth it.

 

China has jumped on to the pebble bed nuke technology big time ... NRC expects up to 22 new license applications in the next year or so. But they will be old style, steam reactors. ... but what must be built is old style technology. No one dares try to get a permit for new, updated technology due to environmental protests. It's a real shame.

 

Yes, our lack of political will is amazing at times. We should learn from the French about deploying nuclear power.

 

You are correct that there are some fantastic entrepreneurial opportunities out there. But can they ever be built??? Not in today's environment. Too many Nimby's, too many environmentalist wack-o's.

 

PS: I waiting for the GM Equinox. I'm not carrying my extension cord.

 

They will be created. The real question is when and where this next generation of power technology and fuels will be created. Perhaps not in the US, but it will happen.