Reply #11: Safe waste sites exist [View All]

Unfortunately, the three best ones are in Vermont (granite mountains), West Texas, and California. New England, Texas, and California have a lot of political pull, so those sites are out, and Yucca Mountain -- a disaster waiting to happen -- is in.

Speaking of the sun... Orbital solar panels capable of generating virtually all of man's energy needs is projected to cost one trillion. That's a lot of money, but so's 545 billion.

Another problem with nuclear (which I'm not totally opposed to, btw, just mostly) is that there's a finite supply of uranium. Minable uranium's actually pretty rare in the crust. Most of it's in the core. Some estimates claim that while we have maybe a 30 year supply of oil, we only have a 60 year supply of uranium.

The first step in our quest for an energy solution, however, should be efficiency. That will require government mandates, though, and therefore taking on the almost-unimaginably greedy plutacracy that tries so hard to maintain their own wealth and damn the consequences. Skylights, "smart" thermostats, and trees should be the norm.

We should be requiring all new construction to have extra-thick walls, extra-insulation, triple-paned windows, energy efficient doors. Energy efficient appliances should not be optional.

All new buildings should be required to have solar panels. All new telephone poles should be required to have solar panels on them (they're already on the grid!).

All government buildings -- and any building owned or operated by an entity that receives government funds -- should be retrofitted for solar panels. Government offices and schools should have their parking lots retrofitted for covered parking, which should then be covered in solar panels.

Excess energy generated should be pumped back into the ground as steam, and released at night to generate more electricity.

Large-scale loar plants should be constructed in New Mexico, Old Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, and Eastern Oregon, and the energy transmitted via DC lines to most of North America.

Every billboard on every Intersate should have a windmill or two on it.

Nuclear might still be necessary, but certainly not very much.

Anyway, sorry to rant, Haven't been out of the house all weekend. :)