Sustainability and Survival

Sunday the Chronicle devoted page two of the Outlook section to an editorial listing “Ten things the nation must do to avert an energy crunch (and protect the planet)”
This editorial reminded me of Dr. James_Hansen telling a Houston audience that it’s a mistake to think that there is some magic solution that will save us, because there are many problems that threaten us. The Chronicle list briefly:

1) The mileage (CAFÉ) standard must continue to rise.

2) U.S. energy needs demand that government and industry engage in a program to develop alternative energy sources — wind, solar and hydrogen, to name a few.

3) Industry should not be hobbled by a windfall profits tax that would only discourage exploration and production, limit supply and drive up consumer prices. Also, industry needs greater access to domestic oil reserves in the Arctic and off the East and West coasts.

4) Americans need to voluntarily adopt conservation measures — both as a personal virtue, as Vice President Dick Cheney put it, and as a strategy to curb energy prices.

5) Full exploitation of nuclear power plants demands that the government quickly provide a safe site for the disposal of radioactive waste.

6) A carbon tax or cap-and-trade system is the best means to decrease emissions without putting industry in a straitjacket.

7) The United States gets most of its electricity from burning coal. The U.S. government must revive its research into carbon sequestration so the country can safely continue to utilize this abundant resource.

8) States need to invest in adequate transmission capacity to get clean, green electricity from the wind farms to the cities.

9) Congress must stop mandating use of ethanol made from corn as a motor fuel.

10) The Green Building Rating System should be incorporated into local building codes where ever reasonable.