We need wind and solar power now more than ever

The carbon based energy policy is failing on an epic scale.
We're killing coal miners and the environment in coal country for cheap coal. Mountaintop removal mining is industrial rape.

We're wrecking the water supply in natural gas country with the new "fracturing" technology that pumps poison into the ground to break up rock to allow more natural gas to be extracted and it is destroying the aquifers the east coast and mountain west state residents use for drinking water.

And of course we are seeing what BP is doing in the Gulf of Mexico. BP said they had the technology to retrieve 10X times the current spill in documents asking for a waiver of environmental review. We can see they lied.


Solar and wind power need to be used everywhere there is good sun and wind.

Agreed... and the potential of these fledgling insudtries to breathe new life into the US economy and job market is staggering. Untapped potential all over the place, and it will save the planet. Why wouldnt you do it?

agreed also.

My family has a good amount of land out in Oklahoma and what I want to do is get a wind farm started. Do my share of helping keep the earth clean while making money at the same time lol

I hope your wind farm in OK works out. I worked up in the Altamont on wind generators and it was the hardest job I ever did.

I'm happy Prop 16, the PG&E Monopoly Extender ballot initiative died.

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Originally Posted by eastbaygordo

We're wrecking the water supply in natural gas country with the new "fracturing" technology that pumps poison into the ground to break up rock to allow more natural gas to be extracted and it is destroying the aquifers the east coast and mountain west state residents use for drinking water.

And of course we are seeing what BP is doing in the Gulf of Mexico. BP said they had the technology to retrieve 10X times the current spill in documents asking for a waiver of environmental review. We can see they lied.

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Fracking is horrible. It is unbelievable what these companies are doing and that it was exempted from EPA regulation. It's not hard to guess which administration allowed that to happen. There is a documentary being released this month called Gasland by Josh Fox (unfortunate last name for someone in the media business, eh?) which will air on HBO on June 21st. You can read a Terry Gross interview with him here which provides a decent primer on what fracking is and why it is so harmful.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104565793]And here is another article on fracking that is worth reading.[URL]

The BP thing is just an abomination. And remember, this thing is truly just a leak. If they screw it up we could be faced with a gusher. Something that would be far far more catastrophic. We should put that company into receivership until the oil spill has been cleaned up and paid for including significant and real compensation for the millions of people who have lost their livelihoods plus penalties. Once that's done the shareholders can have the company back. It is ridiculous to think that BP will not cut corners at every turn. If they didn't they could be sued by there shareholders! How is it that this doesn't bring people into the streets? I'm so POed by this thing. It has generated an anger in me that is some how personal. It's like an attacked on our country.

Damn the editing timeout sucks! Can't you at least make it something reasonable like 20 minutes?

Here is the link to the second fracking background story.

Here is what I was talking about leak vs. gusher. It is a very real possibility.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL): Andrea weâ??re looking into something new right now, that thereâ??s reports of oil thatâ??s seeping up from the seabedâ?¦ which would indicate, if thatâ??s true, that the well casing itself is actually piercedâ?¦ underneath the seabed. So, you know, the problems could be just enormous with what weâ??re facing.

Andrea Mitchell, MSNBC: Now let me understand better what youâ??re saying. If that is true that it is coming up form that seabed, even the relief well wonâ??t be the final solution to cap this thing. That means that weâ??ve got oil gushing up at disparate places along the ocean floor.
Sen. Nelson: That is possible, unless you get the plug down low enough, below where the pipe would be breached. Indeed, loss of integrity in the well itself may explain why BP is drilling its relief wells more than ten thousand feet beneath the leaking pipes on the seafloor (and see this).

Yesterday, recently-retired Shell Oil President John Hofmeister said that the well casing below the sea floor may have been compromised [Question] What are the chances that the well casing below the sea floor has been compromised, and that gas and oil are coming up the outside of the well casing, eroding the surrounding soft rock. Could this lead to a catastrophic geological failure, unstoppable even by the relief wells?
John Hofmeister: This is what some people fear has occurred. It is also why the "top kill" process was halted. If the casing is compromised the well is that much more difficult to shut down, including the risk that the relief wells may not be enough. If the relief wells do not result in stopping the flow, the next and drastic step is to implode the well on top of itself, which carries other risks as well.

As noted yesterday in The Engineer magazine, an official from Cameron International - the manufacturer of the blowout preventer for BP's leaking oil drilling operation - noted that one cause of the failure of the BOP could have been damage to the well bore: Steel casing or casing hanger could have been ejected from the well and blocked the operation of the rams.

Oil industry expert Rob Cavner believes that the casing might be damaged beneath the sea floor, noting: The real doomsday scenario hereâ?¦ is if that casing gives up, and it does come through the other strings of pipe. Remember, it is concentric pipe that holds this well together. If it comes into the formation, basically, youâ??ve got uncontrolled [oil] flow to the sea floor. And that is the doomsday scenario.

See the complete story here: Washington's Blog

Solar power will never be an alternative for power generation for one simple reason. Research who owns the patents. Big oil.

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Originally Posted by killerweed420

Solar power will never be an alternative for power generation for one simple reason. Research who owns the patents. Big oil.

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Exactly the reason the oil, coal and electricity cartels need to be busted up. The energy sector should be shaken to the core. Its just as bad as the mainstream media becoming under more ownership by fewer entities. Cartels used to be illegal. :thumbsup: