[Graeme]

Winning Our Energy Independence

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')hat's right make it illegal to build any more dirty, polluting, radioactive "factories", as S. David Freeman calls them. And then set in motion a fixed time table to dismantle all existing such power plants, replacing them with comparable renewable energy systems including massive solar and wind installations.

Sound impossible?

Freeman, who has headed the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Sacramento Metropolitan Utility District or SMUD, as well as served as an energy advisor to President Jimmy Carter, doesn't think so. In fact, it's his view that this is the only sane, logical, economic and environmentally-viable course we -- and the rest of the nations on the planet -- can take.

He spells out how we accomplish this goal in his soon-to-be-released (Oct. 2007) book, Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How" .

Some of his prescriptions include the following:

Existing coal and nuclear plants should be retired in harmony with renewable replacement, with older plants shutting down first.
No new fossil fuel or nuclear plants should be built.
The nation should adopt a portfolio standard that requires every publicly and privately owned utility to meet the following standards:
20 percent renewable by 2017
40 percent renewable by 2027
60 percent renewable by 2037
In addition, he would require all utilities to submit to their Public Utility Commissions a 30-year plan to retire their coal and nuclear power plants. Natural gas plants -- which are the lowest emitters of carbon dioxide and most efficient fossil fuel plants -- can continue to operate largely as back-up power for wind and solar.

Importantly from the perspective of EV World, the nation would encourage the development and deployment of plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars who acquisition is encouraged by offering owners low-cost use off-peak power rates, along with tax credits.

[coyote]

I truly hope this happens someday. But given our current population, and our culture's expectation of material benefits from cheap energy, I don't see how it's possible for now. Something's gotta give first.

[Fishman]

Given the Europeans experience with wind, we had better build a lot of natural gas gen sites (course where will the gas come from). The variability, surge problems, and general lack of production from the sites they have on line is giving them hell.

[KingM]

Right, so the solution to our energy woes is to shut down our nuclear plants? Nuclear is one of the few solutions we have.

[mos6507]

There are no shortage of experts (armchair or otherwise) listing their solution manifestos. But it all just falls on deaf ears.

Even Al Gore with his books and megaconcerts is largely impotent.

I have a hard time figuring out how you completely rejigger the energy and transportation sector without nationalizing it because these companies don't do what's right or sustainable. They do what is profitable in the short-term. They will only do what they are compelled under the law to do.

[Graeme]

S. David Freeman, Author of "Winning Our Energy Independence" (Renewable Resources) Receives Prestigious CalStart 2007 Blue Sky Award™

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S'). David Freeman, President of the Commission that oversees the Port of Los Angeles, was the honored recipient on September 6th in Pasadena, CA, of the prestigious CalStart 2007 Blue Sky Award™. Freeman received the award for innovative leadership in clean transportation policy and technology that impacts and expands the clean transportation market on a global scale. Freeman is a champion of renewable energy resources.

Known as the "Green Cowboy," Freeman has written the first must-read book that tells the American people the truth about this country's dependence on foreign oil, dirty coal and dangerous nuclear power - what he calls the "Three Poisons." His new book, "Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How," delivers a wealth of facts and candid opinions on renewable energy resources with blunt straight talk. His message: We have all the renewable energy we need to wean ourselves from the Three Poisons and create a sustainable future for our planet.