Energy Independence: Security

Because cold fusion research commands about as much respect in the scientific community as SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, my original hope for a solution to the world’s impending energy crisis and feared global climate change is quashed. Sometimes the stuff of science fiction becomes reality…rockets to the moon, for example. But nothing happens if there are no people left in the scientific community who see the possibilities. With regards to cold fusion, very few see the possibilities.

I had so hoped Hollywood had gotten this one right…To tell Chavez and Putin and the Saudis what they can do with their oil, was a message I’ve hoped would be delivered in my lifetime.

Fission reactors work, the problem is the waste. We don’t know what to do with it and it’s very poisonous stuff.

Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the cosmos, fuels our world, presently. Whether we’re burning fossil fuels, renewable bio-fuels, or charged hydrogen fuel cells, the power element is hydrogen. Hydrogen burns clean. The problem is producing clean-burning hydrogen requires energy. Today, that usually means using carbon fuels.

Extracting the hydrogen from fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas—powers our world but releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a green house gas. That’s not good. Whether or not we’ve done any real or permanent damage to the planet yet is not the issue. The fact of the matter is that the greenhouse effect is real…it can happen. Planet Venus is evidence of this fact. If we continue to pollute our atmosphere with carbon dioxide, Al Gore and the rest of the fear mongering [Medieval, anti-capitalist] environmentalist movement will get their wish. It might take a thousand years or more, but eventually, their truth will out.

My reason for supporting the development of alternatives to carbon-based fuels has little to do with melting ice caps and everything to do with security. America and the rest of the free world cannot remain dependant upon irrational, authoritarian regimes for our energy needs. To do so means two things: constant war somewhere in the world and a deterioration of the standard of living for all Americans.

The fact that there are so many clean alternatives to fossil fuels, and all, including wind, solar, and geothermal are currently in use, means that the barriers to energy independence are not a fact of nature. It is not science that has failed to present feasible solutions. The barrier to energy independence and security is man made. It is our lack of will to make the necessary investments in infrastructure to bring these alternatives on line. Apparently, our concerns about energy security will not be addressed seriously until another 9/11 whacks us into action.

So what’s the biggest obstacle in the way of developing this and other cheap and clean energy? Government, of course. Politicians will claim free markets “aren’t working,” that entrepreneurs can’t find ways to harvest energy profitably, that we need government to create uniformity and safety. Politicians on both sides of the isle [Nancy Pelosi, Newt Gingrich] will offer their “leadership.” Politicians will fail to deregulate the energy industry in the name of what’s good for the community and effectively stifle private creativity, productivity, and investment. Energy entrepreneurs will be denied the opportunity to be the 21st Century’s J.D. Rockefeller, while politicians grant lucrative contracts to their buddies, the political entrepreneurs, who specialize not in energy production, but rather, in collecting government contracts. This is how the transcontinental railroad was built in the second half of the 19th Century: This is why the railroad industry has not been profitable since World War I.

Political entrepreneurs make their money up front. They have no incentive to work efficiently or build well. They’ve risked nothing. The politicians have given them other people’s money with which to build. Market entrepreneurs risk their own money, and they make money only if they build an energy production facility that works. They have the incentive to operate efficiently and build well. They’ve risked everything.

If the private sector is allowed to work this problem, I see every major metropolitan area in the United States as an opportunity for an energy entrepreneur to set up shop, provide clean, cheap energy, and reap just profits.