I've Got An Idea

Obama calls for new era of energy exploration in America

How about lifting the ban on drilling where we know we can get oil RIGHT NOW?

"The nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy."

Agreed. Somehow the US managed to lead the world in creating new sources of cleaner energy from the 19th into the 20th century without a lot of government interference.

But Obama's promise of preserving natural resources and jump-starting the economy ran smack into the reality of this economically struggling town about 30 miles east of Des Moines. The wind energy plant where he spoke, and received a tour beforehand, is a shadow of what it replaced — a Maytag Corp. appliances plant that built washers, dryers and refrigerators.

It employed some 4,000 in a town of 16,000 residents in jobs that paid about $30,000 to $40,000 a year.

Trinity Structural Towers has roughly 90 people working at the old Maytag site, a number that is expected to grow to about 140. Mark Stiles, a senior vice president at Trinity, which builds the towers that support wind turbines, said workers at his factory make about $17 an hour, plus benefits.

"This is a piece of the recovery, but we think it's a nice piece," Stiles said.

My wife planted some flowers on our deck. They look nice too.

Newton Mayor Chaz Allen said many are still trying to recover after the loss of Maytag in 2007.

"You know, 115 years with one company was a great thing, but it's a different world now," Allen said. "Our economy has to be diverse and we can't put all of our eggs in one basket."

Right. Let's keep replacing plants that make products that people want to buy and employ folks at good wages with stuff that serves little useful purpose. Maybe that can be your next campaign slogan, chief.

Obama was at the plant to highlight his energy proposal that has slowed on Capitol Hill. Skeptical Republicans and some Democrats from coal-producing states complain that it will increase costs for consumers, send jobs overseas and hurt businesses.

Probably because it will increase costs for consumers, send jobs overseas and hurt businesses.

He pushed personal responsibility, calling on every American to replace one incandescent light bulb with one compact fluorescent. The president also said the leaders of the world's major economies will meet next week to discuss the energy crisis.

Because empty symbolic gestures will save us all from the imagined "crisis."

For his remarks, Obama chose Iowa, second only to Texas in installed wind capacity.

And, for a day, Iowa was in first place in windiness, thanks to the president.

He announced his administration is creating the nation's first program to authorize offshore projects to generate electricity from wind turbines and ocean currents. The Interior Department on Wednesday issued the long-awaited regulations governing how leases will be issued for the development of such energy sources and how revenue will be shared with coastal states.

So drilling for oil on the coasts would be an economic catastrophe, but building a sea of wind turbines would not. Gotcha.

Obama said that wind could generate as much as 20 percent of the U.S. electricity demand by 2030 if its full potential is pursued on land and offshore. It would also create as many as 250,000 jobs, he said.

"As with so many clean energy investments, it's win-win: good for environment and great for our economy," the president said.

Horsehockey. Go read for yourself.

The rest just makes me tired. It's the same old nonsense about reducing greenhouse emissions predicated solely on Obama's feelings of self-aggrandizement. Honestly, if we could harvest that, our energy CRISIS would be over.