Electric cars are awesome, you know how you power them in a black out? Gasoline Einstein. They have a gallon or so capacity that runs the cars generator and can supply the car a minimum of a 50 mile trip, in which you can either get gas or get to a place to charge it. Way to research before saying anything. Windmills are used around the world effectively as well as solar. They aren't alternatives, they are supplements. My friend owns a windfarm, powers his entire town, and gets so much money from it you wouldn't believe. I am a big proponent of Nuclear power, as long as it is breeder reactors and not straight uranium reactors. Those are really wasteful. France (I suppose you would consider them a homo country as you are so well versed) is powered by 78.8% nuclear energy, and a LOT of breeder reactors at that.
Too bad no one thinks nuclear is safe here. It is impossible to have a meltdown with the grade uranium used in the fission process in the US. The radiation released in 3 mile island was the same amount as living in denver, co for 1 year. There have been exactly ZERO nuclear energy related deaths in the US. How many people die just mining coal? Let along the environmental impact that coal has.
I come from around the Adirondacks/Catskills in NY before moving out here, I saw the mountain lakes turn so acidic that they are dead lakes now, the Ohio river valley's soot and ash falls all along that corridor into VT. Is it terrible. I don't believe in clean coal either, that is a sham. The whole idea is to NOT burn things to make energy. Nuclear. hydro, tidal, solar and wind are the only viable options at this point.
It is mentally lazy to just say, burn our coal, burn our oil, hate solar, hate wind, hate electric vehicles. Thats a bunch of populist nonsense from sources with an agenda much less pure than "America should power itself". America should invent the power of the future, not double down on antiquated power of the past. Soon coal will be scarce, especially when China finishes its run on its coal plants, prices will rise when that happens too, coal is a commodity after all. Its no cheaper cuz its produced in the US. Coal companies would just as soon sell it to the next highest bidder (china) like we are seeing with Oil prices right now.
Next you will rant about how much wind and solar is subsidized, I implore you to check out the taxes breaks given to coal and oil companies that make most states GDP look small, and tell me that solar is over subsidized. It's an emerging market, needing much R & D. Seeing as how China has the chips when it comes to solar R/D and production, something had to kick start the development here.
Using the argument of a "free market" to develop and further support a third world energy grid is a poor stance to take to actually solve societal problems. I suppose this free market has the ability to grapple with any problem. Like the lack of drinking water soon to be seen in the southwest? Or the absence of clean fresh water supply across the US? Companies are chomping at the bit to fix those problems aren't they?
Oh wait they are not. Not even close. They are actually adding to the problem. Where do we turn? Ahh the government. Albeit flawed, and corrupt, it is no more flawed and corrupt than the free market itself. And yes, solutions and initiatives cost money. And an even bigger revelation is the the money comes from tax revenue. So you an I pay for it. Live with it, being a professional internet complainer unfortunately is even worse than subsidizing solar industries so work on solving that problem first before wiping your shit of opinions (which dont weigh more than facts, even though one would think they did in this day and time) on the net. If you are that angry, do some leg work, it will force you to learn and see the problem for what it is and not what you think it is. Write your congressman or woman, write your states energy administrator, write your power company. Heres a good one, use less electricity. You will find that all of these solutions cost money and take time. If your solution was so effective at attacking the problem at hand it would have been done a long time ago, so clearly there is something that you are missing from the picture.
