So, after six weeks, it's getting clearer that this really is not a crisis that is going to go away anytime soon. We should have been investing sooner in wild and crazy energy ideas, but maybe it's still not too late. So, while you're thinking about how to cope today, take some time to think about how to help down the road...

Our duly elected House of Representatives has prepared a bill to establish an organization to research means to reduce our dependence on oil. That bill, H.R. 364, is called, "Establishing the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) Act." It:

establishes an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy within the U.S. Department of Energy. Modeled after the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, ARPA-E is a new program charged with the mission of reducing US dependence on oil through the rapid development and commercialization of transformational clean energy technologies. This bill follows on the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences’ report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future.”

So here's the mission. Three steps.

Step 1: Read the proposed bill; here's the text: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h4435ih.txt.pdf

Step 2: Write to your representative and tell him or her what you think of it. Good or bad. Even if you don't think the bill is good, you can tell your representative that you think it IS important to reduce our dependence on oil and that the Congress should keep trying. Here's where you can get the contact information to learn where to send your comments on the legislation: http://www.house.gov/writerep/

Step 3: Add a comment to this entry to report in that you read the bill, formed an opinion (the unstated step!) and add the name of the representative with whom you shared your opinion to the tags for this entry.

For extra credit, round 1, find the references in the National Academy of Sciences report on which this legislation is based. Here's the link: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11463#toc

For extra credit, round 2, forward the information to others you know who are concerned about our energy crisis and encourage them to communicate to THEIR representatives.

Ok, enough political action for one day. I'm going to go take a nap!

Tags: alternative, energy, house of representatives, legislation, mission, research
Current Mood: determined

Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. $4 a gallon? Renegotiated contracts? That sort of thing happens all the time. Look at what's going on in Venezuela! 

I must admit, though, I did tank up yesterday. I am lucky - my car gets about 25 mpg, it's about 10 miles from the house to work, no stop-and-go traffic - I use about 4 gallons per week.  Yesterday when I tanked up, the cost of gas was $3.05. At $4.15 per gallon, it'll cost me another $4 per week, conservatively. Although, I'm pretty sure I drive more than that! When I look at the whole year, according to Quicken, last year I spent almost exactly $1500 on gas for the past year. With a $1 increase in cost per gallon, if I drive the same, I can expect to pay about $500 more. If I drive the same. If gas prices go up even more, I may have to get serious about alternatives!

The government announced today they're thinking of starting a gee-whiz research agency, like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, for research into energy. Check it out: 

http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199202149 

And here's the proposed legislation: H.R. 364 Maybe this is something we should all get more familiar with, so we can tell our Representatives if we think it's a good idea!

Well, I am optimistic things will get back to normal soon!

Tags: cost, energy, gasoline, world without oil, wwo
Current Mood: relieved
Current Music: On the Road Again...

We're pretty lucky in the Pacific Northwest - lots of hydroelectric dams, growing wind farms, and where we live (not ! Seattle) lots of solar gain, at least from spring until fall. We also have nuclear energy and a high concentration of the few nuclear scientists and engineers left in the country. But these other energy sources have issues too. The hydroelectric dams may interfere with the salmon spawning runs - possibly leading to the extinction of species of salmon. As for nuclear, there's no question that the handling and storage of the spent  fuel that stays radioactive for thousands of years requires a lot of work. But there are other issues with nuclear power. Most of the existing reactors are approaching -- or beyond -- their designed operating life expectancy. They are getting old. And without other sources of power to take their place, when the old reactors need to be shut down, that will put even more strain on available energy supplies. We could build new ones but that brings up the other issue. Since we haven't built any new nuclear reactors in so long, there aren't very many nuclear scientists and engineers graduating from our colleges and universities. And the scientists and engineers who built the ones operating now, well, we don't want some of them driving anymore, much less building nuclear reactors! We don't have the body of expertise needed to sustain greater dependence on nuclear energy. And if there was a major disruption in the global oil supply on April 30 or any day soon, it would take a long time to train and educate the people we would need to build and safely operate any new nuclear reactors.

It is funny, though, how people's priorities change. Last year salmon, this year ...

Tags: arg, education, energy, nuclear, solar, wind, world without oil, wwo
Current Mood: pensive