I have heard so much about our need for energy in the United States. Our goal to get off of foreign oil. This seems like a excellent idea and I am sure that most with common sense would agree. However that is where the common since ends for many involved in this discussion. Common sense says that if we stop using foreign oil we need to have a good idea what our expectations are for affordable energy. Where we are going to get our alternative energy? We really don't have time to wait to develop alternative energy and at the same time dramatically reduce our need for electricity. Common sense says we should immediately begin extracting our own energy sources that we have available now. It must be able to, ounce for ounce, replace the energy needs lost for our reduction of foreign oil. We have the ability to be nearly self-sufficient in the area of electricity.
I want to say right up front I am in favor of wind energy. Lets get to our 20% goal. But lets have some common since and some intellectual honesty that wind is not going to provide any more than 20% of our electrical power. You cannot have it both ways when it come to our electrical needs. We can either give up expectation of power on demand for our toys such as the I pods, the video games, the computers, the flat panel TV, the microwave ovens, and on and on and live the way I did in the 1960's and 1970's. Common since says this isn't going to happen. But to move forward with our toys, games, TVs, computers and I pods we need to stop the games being played by the so called environmentalists and scientists driven by a religion with it's leader being mother earth. They are telling us the world is coming to and end in 10 years if we burn another pound of coal. Kansans are conservationists. We are the real environmentalists. We have been stewards of of our land and Kansans are proud of the conservation practices in agriculture. We see the beauty of our landscape and the air we breath and it clearly demonstrates that our heritage is based on conservation. We don't need the environmental movement who knows nothing of our heritage to pretend to instruct Kansans on how to be conservationists. When younger we learned by fishing it waters, and hunting the land. We witness the farmer plowing the fields, and providing the world with food and other products in ways that other nations can only dream of.
If we want to be free of oil we need to develop our own energy now. This means we continue to use coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and wind for the next 40 or 50 years while we develop other possibly cleaner energy resources. Common since clearly tells Kansans that we have all the coal and natural gas and wind right here in Kansas and in our neighboring states to provide us with all our electrical energy without firing one shot to claim it. Yes it will mean burning more coal and gas but our technology is reducing pollution dramatically as well. We are already burning 3 times as much coal in Kansas than in the mid 1970's but we have reduced the pollution caused by coal some 70% since the 1970's. Because we are not building new gas and coal electrical production plants we not going to be able to reduce the pollution further. Many of the coal and gas burning plants currently in use are a real problem with pollution. A perfect example of this is the coal power plant just outside of Lawrence. This is one of the dirtiest coal plants in the state or the nation but we will never be able to replace it without building new. But common since is lacking as Lawrence is original spokes city for not supporting coal development in Kansas yet they would never agree to closing the plant just outside of their own city limits.
There is a movement in this nation to convince Americans that if we don't stop producing energy we will be doomed by the melting glaciers, the rising tides and every other possible natural disaster. I completely agree that humans play a part in contaminating our environment. But common since also tells me that not having adequate electrical power over the next 30 years will be far more harmful to Kansas than the pollution generated by new power plants we need to build now. I am also certain that with some common sense and free market mentality, we will develop new cleaner energy that will help supplement our need for coal and gas. But if it isn't affordable for Kansans to use we again will be far from energy independent.
I want to say right up front I am in favor of wind energy. Lets get to our 20% goal. But lets have some common since and some intellectual honesty that wind is not going to provide any more than 20% of our electrical power. You cannot have it both ways when it come to our electrical needs. We can either give up expectation of power on demand for our toys such as the I pods, the video games, the computers, the flat panel TV, the microwave ovens, and on and on and live the way I did in the 1960's and 1970's. Common since says this isn't going to happen. But to move forward with our toys, games, TVs, computers and I pods we need to stop the games being played by the so called environmentalists and scientists driven by a religion with it's leader being mother earth. They are telling us the world is coming to and end in 10 years if we burn another pound of coal. Kansans are conservationists. We are the real environmentalists. We have been stewards of of our land and Kansans are proud of the conservation practices in agriculture. We see the beauty of our landscape and the air we breath and it clearly demonstrates that our heritage is based on conservation. We don't need the environmental movement who knows nothing of our heritage to pretend to instruct Kansans on how to be conservationists. When younger we learned by fishing it waters, and hunting the land. We witness the farmer plowing the fields, and providing the world with food and other products in ways that other nations can only dream of.
If we want to be free of oil we need to develop our own energy now. This means we continue to use coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and wind for the next 40 or 50 years while we develop other possibly cleaner energy resources. Common since clearly tells Kansans that we have all the coal and natural gas and wind right here in Kansas and in our neighboring states to provide us with all our electrical energy without firing one shot to claim it. Yes it will mean burning more coal and gas but our technology is reducing pollution dramatically as well. We are already burning 3 times as much coal in Kansas than in the mid 1970's but we have reduced the pollution caused by coal some 70% since the 1970's. Because we are not building new gas and coal electrical production plants we not going to be able to reduce the pollution further. Many of the coal and gas burning plants currently in use are a real problem with pollution. A perfect example of this is the coal power plant just outside of Lawrence. This is one of the dirtiest coal plants in the state or the nation but we will never be able to replace it without building new. But common since is lacking as Lawrence is original spokes city for not supporting coal development in Kansas yet they would never agree to closing the plant just outside of their own city limits.
There is a movement in this nation to convince Americans that if we don't stop producing energy we will be doomed by the melting glaciers, the rising tides and every other possible natural disaster. I completely agree that humans play a part in contaminating our environment. But common since also tells me that not having adequate electrical power over the next 30 years will be far more harmful to Kansas than the pollution generated by new power plants we need to build now. I am also certain that with some common sense and free market mentality, we will develop new cleaner energy that will help supplement our need for coal and gas. But if it isn't affordable for Kansans to use we again will be far from energy independent.
