Solar rooftops are good because they produce energy right were it is used. Roofs are generally wasted space anyway. However it is very expensive and will require subsidies for many years. The US should make a long term investment in photovoltaic rooftops especially in the Southwest.
Wind is economical in many places right now. Some projects were postponed/canceled because of lack of infrastructure. The US needs to dramatically upgrade its energy distribution grid starting now.
If we invest in Solar and Wind and develop them as fast as possible it will still take decades to produce a significant amount of energy. Currently they produce less than 1% of US needs. We need to start now and commit to long term, stable subsidies.
Hydro, Biomass and Geothermal are great but are limited by geography and environmental concerns. They should all be developed everywhere it makes sense.
Nuclear power plants are safe. New designs are even safer. They produce large amounts of base-load power and generate no carbon. We must build as many units as we can as quickly as we can. Only nuclear has the scale required to wean the US off fossil fuels. These plants take a long time to build so should be started now.
Clean coal is expensive and unproven. Carbon should be taxed with some of the proceeds going into clean coal research. We need to cut back on regular coal plants.
Natural gas is plentiful in the US. It produces less carbon dioxide per unit of energy than does oil or coal. It burns very clean so engines last longer and need fewer oil changes. Natural Gas is easily transported and can burn in existing internal combustion engines. The US should make a dramatic, rapid transition of our long haul truck fleet from diesel to US produced natural gas.
We must do all of the above. If we do so millions of jobs will be created in both the short term and long run. This would help our economy. Our budget deficit would improve in the medium term and we could actually pay off our debt long term. We would import a lot less oil greatly improving our trade deficit. That would keep trillions of dollars in the US and out of the hands of oil exporting nations. It would improve the trade deficit w/o trade barriers. These changes would put the US at the forefront of the battle against global warming staking out the moral high ground.
Please write President Obama showing your support for US Energy Independence.
If you are interested I develop these arguments more fully
here.
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