ThePoliticalCat

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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Oil, oy! No, no ... there's hope ...


Folks, if you want a hit of hope in your rundown weary system, please get acquainted with Amory Lovins.

"What we thought of as isolated pathologies, scarcities of work or hope or security or satisfaction, are not isolated at all, in fact they're intimately related, they're all caused by the same thing, namely the interlocking waste of resources, of money, and of people." -- Amory Lovins

Fascinating interview with Lovins and Charlie Rose.

And, of course, you can read about him at Wikipedia.

Amory Lovins is the founder and CEO of The Rocky Mountain Institute abundance by design. And there’s lots of great info at their website.

Some excerpts from the website ...

Renewable energy is attracting Wall Street but nuclear power isn't. Why? Simple economics, writes RMI cofounder and chief scientist Amory Lovins in Newsweek.

***

"The unreliability of renewable energy is a myth, while the unreliability of nuclear energy is real. Of all U.S. nuclear plants built, 21 percent were abandoned as lemons; 27 percent have failed at least once for a year or more. Even successful reactors must close for refueling every 17 months for 39 days. And when shut by grid failure, they can't quickly restart. Wind farms don't do that," writes Lovins.

***

Once regarded as being too expensive to construct, a study has found sustainable "green"-rated buildings can actually deliver property developers and investors a higher financial return than more traditional non-green alternatives.

***

Amory Lovins also has a book you can read: Winning the Oil Endgame. The Rocky Mountain Institute describes the book as a detailed roadmap for getting the United States completely off oil by the 2040s, without needing new taxes, subsidies, mandates, or federal laws.



Disclaimer: Ms Manitoba has never even met the guy. Just heard him tonight on the radio during the drive home from work ... and was fascinated.

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