Obama, Energy Policy, and Dismal Energy Science
Economics is often called the dismal science because of an article written by Thomas Carlyle more than 150 years ago. In it he proposed mockingly to reintroduce slavery to control labor markets. During modern times, this moniker proves to be a prophetic choice. Modern economics have, after all, brought us not only free markets and unimaginable monetary rewards for the few chosen ones, but have also produced the great depression of 1931, the world financial crisis of 2008, and 12 recessions in the intervening 75 years.
Just imagine a similar performance record for airplanes, skyscrapers, nuclear power plants, and bridges!
The financial damages inflicted by systemic deficiencies in our economic infrastructure are unbearable and must not be tolerated any longer. These deficiencies are manmade and are caused by regularly failing institutions. Yet, we not only continue to support these institutions, but bail them out without conditional provisions that prevent them from paying irrational bonuses to their management and using the bailout funding for starting the engineering of the next recession, depression, or financial crisis. Crises are the occasions when the chosen cash in.
Obama has committed himself to bring change to our country. He has promised to address the lingering energy crisis during his presidency. It now appears that he too is following the battle cry of the unholy alliance between industry and environmental groups and is demanding the conservation of energy to save the planet. This demand is not based on scientific facts but on belief in dismal science. It also will waste billions of dollars spent for doomed-to-fail conservation efforts.
Energy conservation and Cap and Trade concepts cannot save our planet from overheating, cannot slow sea level rise, cannot prevent climate changes, and cannot save animal and plant species from extinction. However, they will significantly increase profits of energy companies and will assure that energy costs will continue their only occasionally interrupted rise into the sky.
In 1997, a comparably small number of industrialized countries in Europe and across the world signed the Kyoto Protocol. The signatories to this agreement committed themselves to reduce their greenhouse gas discharges and especially their carbon dioxide emissions in future years. Virtually all of these emissions are produced by fossil fuel combustion.
In the years following, the USA, China, India, and many other countries refused to sign because of the glaring deficiencies of the Kyoto provisions. These dissenting countries proved to be right.
The signors of the Kyoto agreements were absolutely correct on one count; the continuation of fossil fuel based carbon dioxide emissions will destroy our Earth. Unfortunately, their understanding of energy science was flawed. They made the same mistake our economists continue to make. Continuing with deficit spending and increasing leverage of financial institutions forever cannot save national economies and prevent financial crises. Similarly, continuing the discharge of fossil fuel emissions forever cannot stop global warming and related damages.
We must face reality. Conservation can at best slow atmospheric accumulation of carbon dioxide. It cannot halt global overheating. The Obama administration will hopefully have at least one qualified, influential scientist, who can debunk the prevailing beliefs in conservation and carbon taxation. Global overheating can only be stopped by ending all fossil fuel combustion permanently!
What are the available options? Fossil fuel reserves with the exception of petroleum are still plentiful. However, petroleum is getting scarce, consumption of petroleum is accelerating, and petroleum reserves will run out during the next fifty to seventy years. As long as we burn petroleum products we add to accumulated carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Burning all our remaining petroleum reserves will double or triple past global warming.
Fortunately, we have access to two energy sources that can provide plentiful, affordable, emission-free energy for centuries. These energy resources are sun radiation and nuclear fuels. Sun energy does not produce any pollutants or wastes. Sun energy is inexhaustible. Nuclear fuels will last at least for another century, are still inexpensive, but produce radioactive waste. This waste must and can be managed. There is one unmatched advantage to these two energies; they will stabilize atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions and will end global warming.
There is one major drawback to these energy sources, too. Both energies must be converted into energy forms that world economies are accustomed to use. Nuclear fuel can be converted into electricity. Sun energy can be converted into electricity and into irreplaceable liquid fuels.
Why are we not installing facilities for converting these savior energies and stop burning fossil fuels?
The reasons are economical, political, financial, and cultural. A few explanations may be helpful.
Installing a nuclear power plant is expensive and may last ten years. Additionally, political and cultural forces in society are trying to prevent the proliferation of nuclear technologies.
Conversion of sun energy into electricity is technically not as far advanced as nuclear energy conversion. Well managed efforts for closing technology gaps can produce needed results in less than a decade. Developmental technologies like wind power conversion and direct conversion of sun energy into electricity can be installed immediately. Electricity produced with commercially available conversion equipment will at first be considerably more expensive than presently generated electricity. A reasonably large number of facilities must be subsidized initially to further advance technologies and reduce equipment costs. Continuing installation activities will also encourage development and demonstration of energy storage.
Converting sun energy into liquid fuels is still in its infancy. Only proper management and funding can develop needed technologies in ten to fifteen years. Initial evaluations indicate that liquid fuels converted from sun energy can be produced for about fifty dollars per barrel.
Why has this technology not been developed earlier? This question is difficult to answer. The question falls into the same dismal category as inquiries into the causes for the periodic recurrence of depressions and financial crises.
Answers are by definition irrational.
Klaus H Hemsath
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/obama-energy-policy-and-dismal-energy-science-686573.html
Niall Ferguson: The Global Financial Crisis
For the United States to contend with a financial crisis on this scale is fiscally possible, says Ferguson. The situation is actually much worse for Europe and for the petro-powers.
This Carnegie Council event took place on November 20, 2008. For the full video, audio, and transcript, go to http://www.cceia.org
Duration : 0:6:10
Inside Story – Assessing the global economic crisis- 6 Oct 09
One year after the global economic meltdown, the world’s political and financial leaders are gathering at the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Istanbul. Will there be a different financial order when the dust of the global financial crisis settles? What can the IMF and World Bank achieve amid cries for reform from developing nations and will a power struggle erupt between the old and new guard?
Duration : 0:24:40
What can we do to help solve the current global economic crisis?
This week, while we citizens continue to lose our jobs, our savings, and our patience; the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (aka the G-20) will convene in London to try to figure out some solutions to our global economic crisis.
Since this is truly an international problem, we’re asking this question on all of our international Answers sites, too. The Best Answers will be featured in a coming blog post. So, let’s give our economic leaders something to think about! We look forward to all of your opinions and ideas.
Back to Swadeshi
Up to now the world politicians and the capitalist believed that capitalism would not fail under any circumstances but the current economic crisis world over is a clear reflection of failure of capitalism (America) and its consequent effect all over the world. As the overall impact of the recession around the world is due to the crash of the American Economy, I have occasionally mentioned America in this answer, my due apologies to my American friends if their sentiments are hurt.
Failure of commodity market!
The beginning of 80’s saw a new trend infact a new term initiated by America, OUTSOURCING. Over the last decade America has been gradually making redundant employees, closing industrial units and outsourcing cheaper goods from around the world, specifically China and creating employment elsewhere. America was once proud of its strong consumer base and Capitalism, as the list of outsourced goods grew, local employment opportunities started shrinking and also gradually shrinking was the buying power of average Americans. The same American consumer which was once its strength? Approx two million Americans have lost their jobs just in one calendar year 2008 itself. All the countries that followed suit had the same impact.
Failure of Financial Market!
While financial market did not had much impact due to outsourcing of labor force but the reason for the failure has been same as that mentioned above its reason has been same as above failure of commodity market. While funding of loans has been quite liberal in America, from where an unemployed consumer is suppose to pay for his loans. Economist may say that crash of stock market may be the reason for the loses but it is the other way round the stock market collapsed due to the mounting irrecoverable bad debts of individual institutions.
Surprising!
The same industrial houses who over decades have made thousand’s of billions in profit by shifting manufacturing basis outside America in the name of cost advantages have never passed any of these benefits to the consumer and America has seen higher inflation year to year and never tried to delve into the causes until they were making profit and the treasury was receiving the taxes. Surprisingly, the same corporations are queuing for government aid for their survival.
Every day few billion dollars are added to the original aid and have lost count of overall aid whether it is US $ 2000, US $ 3000, US $ 4000 billion …….. Will this help to revive the economy the American Economy is still not ready even to crawl. Some of the leading American industrial and financial houses, banks, and insurance and pension funds are almost bankrupt and asking for more financial aids from the US Government for its survival.
Who runs the economy?
It is neither the so called great industrial houses or banks or economist or politicians but it is the simple CONSUMER he is the true power that runs any economy. The needs of an average consumer are simple – a steady job to sustain him and in turn he sustains the economy. The repercussions in economies that have outsourced cheaper goods from offshore for more profits at the cost of local industry and JOBS are today evident.
Infact I feel that President Obama should had done the other way round splurged the billions on the American consumer instead of institutions and banks, these would had helped them repay their loans and revived the banks and similarly the money would had help to revive the commodity market and in turn created demand and the ball would had set rolling.
How to revive the economies?
If we have to revive the economy in all fronts entrepreneurial, industrial and financial it is necessary to return back to the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and ‘SWADESHI’. SWADESHI – to manufacture ourselves from our own resources everything and anything that is possible for us. Instead of outsourcing from abroad which only creates employment opportunities elsewhere and helps other economies? Reopening closed units and setting up our own manufacturing facilities that will create more local employment opportunities increase the buying power of the consumer (put the money back into his pocket) who in turn will help to build a strong healthy economy and all of us can thrive and prosper collectively.
The above contents are edited version of my blog listed in the source below
Crisis – GRV Music
“Crisis”, by GRV Music, from the album “Bellum”.
For more information read the description of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEOVGoTIIVY
Here I mixed these tracks:
“Prologue”,
“Global Crisis #1″ and
“Global Crisis #1 NC”
all by Immediate Music, from the album “Themes for Orchestra & Choir 3″.
Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0UM8QGLQ
Images:
“The Sea of Ruin” and
“Smog”
both from DeviantArt.
This is a GRV production.
Duration : 0:4:46
Will history repeat itself with this global financial crisis?
An expert, who studies global financial crisis says that the world if doomed to repeat the same financial mistakes that were made, that lead to World War 1 and 2. He says, that is our global leaders continue to make the same idiotic mistakes, and the people continue to panic, then we open ourselves up to the possibility of World War 3. He says, that if you study the history surrounding the two World Wars, you’ll see that the financial disasters prior to those wars, are happening now!
The post-crisis world will be radically new. Nevertheless, the United States has accumulated such great scientific and technological potential, and such an exceptional industrial base, that it will remain the world leader – the largest economy in the world. Even though it will fall more than any other country, when it comes to the numbers, people will still have enough to live (compared to others).
Everything will crash, with the exception of the American high-tech industry. The United States will begin real production; it will return to it from abroad, from China. This will cause foreign countries and China to “fall.”
All of the previous crises were different – understandable and not general. However, this one is global; it is happening all over the world and it is unlike any previous crisis. There are no known remedies to eliminate it. People are trying to do the same thing they did in previous crises – to help the banks, but nothing will help.
The situation will force them to reveal the true cause of the crisis: that the egoistic attitudes of the involved parts of a closed system, bring about the system’s destruction. (just like cancer in a body)
