No one was wringing their hands over a diminishing supply of whale blubber back in the 1800's

"Proponents of green energy argue that if the government can put a man on the moon, it can certainly make green energy economically attractive. Well, notice that government was not trying to get a man to the moon profitably..."  (Green Energy Economy Reconsidered)


The ever erudite George Will wrote an article awhile back about the history of peak oil. The timeline from 1914 to now is dotted with gloomy predictions of oil's imminent demise. Back in the 70's, failure-face president Jimmy Carter publicly worried that we would run out of energy by the 90's. Will brings us up to date...

Since then, the world has consumed three times more oil than was in the proven reserves. Today, shale rock formations in Texas and Louisiana; Montana and North Dakota; and New York, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern states may contain 2,000 trillion cubic feet of clean-burning natural gas. (George Will – Peak oil)

Fellow blogger Jersey McJones recently chided me for calling wind power an "immature technology."  OK Jersey, I take it back.  Wind is very mature.  It's so mature it's over the hill.  Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren say it better than I ever could:

Have we ever seen such a "green economy"? Yes we have; in the 13th century.

Renewable energy is quite literally the energy of yesterday. Few seem to realize that we abandoned "green" energy centuries ago for five very good reasons. (Green Energy Economy Reconsidered)  

It Takes a lot of Land, it's not Reliable, it Starves People...
The same authors explain that you would have to turn the entire state of Connecticut into a wind farm just to power New York City.  And Lord help the NYPD and all those appliance stores if the wind stopped at night.  Solar has the same limitations.

Biofuels is no better.  It starves people to feed cars.  Farm land is finite, and government subsidizing ethanol skews the market and has caused food shortages and higher prices.  Your tax dollars at work.

I am not a Luddite. I cheer technological advances. Unlike many on the left, I only cheer actual advances, not wishful thinking ones. Take LED’s for example. I love them, and I am confident the price eventually come down. It already has for flashlights. Anyone who has ever gone camping with kids who are scared of the dark cannot help but appreciate these little energy saving marvels. They last forever!

Meanwhile, the case for fossil fuels is compelling:

Fossil fuels are everything that green energy is not. Approximately 1,000 cubic feet of natural gas (which cost approximately $4.00) can generate the same amount of electricity as running an average rooftop solar system for 131 days.  (George Will – Peak oil)

XarJ - End of the World