The Power of NIMBY!

Joe Heller, Resident political cartoonist at the Green Bay Press Gazette, from March 20, 2011

Nuclear power? Radiation sickness and vacant cities.
Oil? Dead zones in the ocean and air pollution.
Coal? More air pollution and dead miners.
Wind power? Uh, maybe if you're too close. The funny part of it is that most of the people who complain have no problem cashing the checks from the power companies.

Funny how one guy with a pen and some ink can sum up the ridiculous attitudes of a whole nation. According to something I read once, the states of South Dakota or Montana have enough wind power to supply the needs of the entire country. Lots of new jobs, no eternal waste or air pollution, what's the problem? NIMBY. Not In My BackYard. Everybody wants to turn on the lights, but no one wants to generate power near their home.

Republicans and Dems Agree on Nuclear Power in the U.S. in Spite of Japan

The Obama Administration and the Republican Senate Leadership finally found something that they can agree on: both sides are not willing to pull nuclear power off the table because of events in Japan.

“The President believes that meeting our energy needs means relying on a diverse set of energy sources that includes renewables like wind and solar, natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power," White House spokesman Clark Stevens is quotes as saying at thehill.com.

Meanwhile on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, on Fox News Sunday, "This discussion reminds me, somewhat, of the conversations that were going on after the BP oil spill last year,I don’t think right after a major environmental catastrophe is a very good time to be making American domestic policy.” wsj.com

The sad thing is that this same group couldn't get it together to make any decisions on what to during the Gulf spill. At that time, the Administration suspended drilling and the Republicans wanted to poke new holes in the ground.

As far as oil goes, the Administration has authorized more drilling and the completion of several wells in the Gulf that had been started before the BP oil spill. And, while the Republicans try to gain political capital with the "Obama is to blame for high gas prices" story, neither side thinks that tapping into the Strategic Oil Reserve is a good idea.

In an earlier posting, I already talked about what is really causing the rise in gas prices. The reluctance on the part of both the Democrats and the Republicans is acknowledgment of what I said then: the fuel crisis is not being caused by a lack of oil, but by speculators.

So, where will nuclear power end up in the future after Japan? Probably, right where it was, on a slow track to reentering the American power grid, allowing us to be less dependent on oil, natural gas and coal to fuel our lights.

Letter to the Editor: Fueling Fear!

Fear fuels high gas prices  Photo: Micov

Dear Editor,

Gas prices have jumped to $3.50 a gallon. Fifteen cents per gallon increase in one week.

Why?

Is there enough oil in the world? So far.

Did all of the oil tankers break down? Not that anyone knows of.

Are all of the refineries closed? Nope.

So, why has gas prices risen so fast?

Oil speculators have forced the price up because they are afraid that changes in Libya might affect access to oil. Think about that for a minute: Because a bunch of money changers are "scared," we are paying $1.00 plus per gallon more this year than last year. They claim to be scared that access to oil might be restricted. In truth, it looks more like an excuse to raise oil prices. (Nine out of the top 20 companies with highest earnings are oil and gas companies).

The Saudi government has already said that they will make up the difference, no problem. In fact, in order to avoid problems, some of the Saudi princes are talking to their citizens to try to make the changes in the government that are toppling nearby regimes.

With this in mind, I propose that we begin paying our bills using the same logic.

When the gas credit card bill arrives, write them a letter indicating that since you are afraid that your car might break down in the near future, you can only pay 80% of the bill. After you pump gas at the station, go in and tell the attendant that because you might have a medical bill to pay when you get home, you can only pay $2.00 per gallon.

While I am not normally a "government should take it over" kind of guy, this is an area of the US economy that the government should regulate. Oil and gas prices that Americans can pay should be set by the government, either a special committee in Congress or the whole Congress. Changes of more than 10% from the original price should require a vote in Congress.

We do this with food indirectly, through subsidies and supply control. With something that can wreck the entire economy in weeks, this is something that we need to take out of the hands of speculators who are apparently emotional enough to need medication.

We need to pay our bills based on future fears and see if that is a satisfactory excuse for the companies that using that excuse with us.

Sincerely,

Robert Peryea
Green Bay, WI