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| | | Enough games. It is time to get serious. | |
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< | America’s dependence on fossil fuels must end, and the federal government must end it. A 21st century economy requires a 21st century energy source, and fossil fuels do not pass muster. Like abolishing slavery or ending the Great Depression, this problem is too big for the free market to solve. The federal government must step up in a big way, and it must do so immediately. | >
> | America’s dependence on fossil fuels must end because a 21st century economy should be powered by 21st century energy sources. There is no “silver bullet” to ending the dependence, so the solution will require multiple moving parts across a variety of industries. The necessary transformations will not happen without substantial federal government involvement on the order of Reconstruction or the Great Depression. Congress must step up in a big way, and it must do so immediately. | | | A Losing Strategy | | | Unable to salvage their business model through game-changing business strategy or technological innovation, fossil fuel companies are increasingly funding exploration campaigns with retained earnings. They also rely heavily on government subsidies totaling $5.3 trillion globally. Countries possessing strong environmental movements are contemplating reducing or eliminating these subsidies, even if the United States is not. Many will impose carbon taxes or have already done so. There is a growing belief among world governments and institutions that fossil fuels are not a worthy investment for financial reasons or otherwise. | |
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< | Despite these realities, the United States government continues to back the failing fossil fuel industry, and that mistake diverts from our economic strength. In addition to the government spending billions in subsidies on the fossil fuel industry,the government has spent an estimated $8 trillion since 1977 to protect midstream oil flow in the Persian Gulf alone. Moreover, pollution from fossil fuels produces an estimated $120 billion in domestic health care costs. Over the last several decades, our dependence on the fossil fuel industry has contributed to blundering foreign policy choices, multiple recessions, rising economic inequality, and a reduced moral standing in a world increasingly captivated by environmental politics.
Time is of the essence. Fossil fuels will be surpassed by energy sources better capable of providing for the needs of modern society. The question is no longer “if” but “when.” Alternative energy sources already undercut the price of fossil fuels in many regions, and, by some estimates, they will achieve complete grid parity by 2020. A storm is coming, and nations must reassert their economic positions in a changing world. | >
> | Despite these realities, the United States government continues to back the failing fossil fuel industry, and that mistake diverts from our economic strength. In addition to spending billions in subsidies on the fossil fuel industry,the government has spent an estimated $8 trillion since 1977 to protect midstream oil flow in the Persian Gulf alone. Moreover, pollution from fossil fuels produces an estimated $120 billion in domestic health care costs. Over the last several decades, our dependence on the fossil fuel industry has contributed to blundering foreign policy choices, multiple recessions, rising inequality, and a reduced moral standing in a world increasingly captivated by environmentalism. | | | | |
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> | Time is of the essence. Fossil fuels will be surpassed by energy sources better capable of providing for the needs of modern society. The question is no longer “if” but “when.” Alternative energy sources already undercut the price of fossil fuels in many regions, and, by some estimates, they will achieve complete grid parity by 2020. Nations will reassert their economic positions in a changing world, and America must not fall behind. | | | The Case for a National Solution
Energy, and energy alone, determines economic power. | |
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< | Mainstream economic theories have repeatedly failed to identify this essential fact. Instead, at different time periods, political economists have variously emphasized the relative roles of land, labor and capital. Yet land is only as valuable as the resources produced on it directly or indirectly by solar energy. Labor is nothing more than the harnessing of human energy. And capital is simply the technical equipment capable of utilizing an energy throughput.
The underlying truth is this: when the predominant energy flow powering an economy becomes too costly, growth stagnates, civilizations become poorer, and societies collapse. Nations that lead counteract this by revolutionizing the processes by which energy is acquired, stored, and put into production. Nations that fall behind wait until it is too late.
At every recent turning point in human development, successful nations promoted more efficient energy strategy through government involvement. America is no exception. Following the Great Depression, the New Deal and WWII unleashed electrical modernization on the American home and petroleum-based automobiles on the American road. Decades before, the rapidly urbanizing North flexed its coal-fired industrial muscles, crushing the back of an antiquated Southern plantation system built around agricultural land and slave labor. Serious realignment of energy strategy has never been cheap or uncontroversial, but when history beckons, a Nation must answer the call.
We have reached another turning point, and the core infrastructure of the economy remains path dependent on obsolete energy processes. Our transportation systems, electrical networks, schools, hospitals, industries, and homes are equipped to run on fossil fuels. Our entire financial system booms and busts with the availability of petroleum, coal, and natural gas. Something fundamental must change, and the federal government must change it.The grid must be torn down and rebuilt. New vehicles must be designed and distributed. Residences, public facilities, and office buildings must be renovated from the ground up. As always, cultural forces tied to the Old Ways are resisting change, but we must continue unabated. Our Nation’s future demands basic transformation.
The time for excuses is over. We have work to do. | >
> | Mainstream economic theories have repeatedly failed to identify this essential fact. Instead, at different time periods, political economists have variously emphasized the relative roles of land, labor and capital. Yet land is only as valuable as the resources produced on it directly or indirectly by solar energy. Labor is nothing more than the harnessing of human energy. And capital is simply the technical equipment capable of utilizing an energy throughput. The underlying truth is this: when the predominant energy flow powering an economy becomes too costly, growth stagnates, civilizations become poorer, and societies collapse. Nations that lead counteract this by revolutionizing the processes by which energy is used and acquired. | | | | |
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You can't beat something with nothing, the saying is. The draft has everything except so much as an intimation of an answer to its own question. Are we missing the suggestion that we fill the world with nuclear water-boilers like Fukushima, or that we run everything on wind turbines and solar panels? If the point was the hydrogen economy, why didn't the words appear? If the United States Government is supposed to do something, what is it supposed to do?
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> | At every recent turning point in human development, successful nations promoted more efficient energy strategy through federal government involvement. America is no exception. Following the Great Depression, the New Deal and WWII unleashed electrical modernization on the American home and petroleum-based automobiles on the American road. Decades before, the rapidly urbanizing North flexed its coal-fired industrial muscles, crushing the back of an antiquated Southern plantation system built around agricultural land and slave labor. Nations exist because there are some things only nations can do. | | | | |
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Thanks for the feedback. I'm going to strengthen this essay in the next couple weeks because I'm unsatisfied with it, but I'm absolutely not making the change you suggest because I fundamentally disagree. The point here is that there are millions of people who believe - erroneously - that America can sit on its hands and still maintain any semblance of economic power. We can throw every potential solution in the book at these people but unless they recognize that there is a problem that needs solving - that the status quo is not a financially reasonable option - we don't get passed the starting point. Solutions can then be discussed in future essays. Conversion to new energy sources is the singular struggle of my generation. I will tell the addicts how to end the addiction,piece by piece, but first I must remove the bottle. | >
> | We have reached another turning point, and the core infrastructure of the economy remains path dependent on obsolete energy processes. The electrical grid is uniquely equipped to distribute fossil fuel-based power to residences, public facilities, and office buildings. It must be torn down and rebuilt around smart grid processes that enhance solar, wind, nuclear, and/or hydropower generation. The transportation sector relies on 250 million oil-powered cars and over 100 thousand gas stations located in commercial and residential areas. New refueling facilities, transmission lines, and/or public transport systems must be built to support a network running on plug-in electricity, battery power, and/or hydrogen fuel. All of these tasks require federal government investigation, investment, and administration. | | | | |
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> | The time for excuses is over. Congress must start developing findings and crafting legislation immediately. We have work to do. | | | Comments
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