Something Better than Snake Oil

Filed in archive Current News on November 30, 2006

I normally look for renewable energy news and developments but this one has got to top my list for this month. What can the Democrats promise after the Republicans have failed to deliver the US from oil dependency? This article gives a quick and short answer, Snake Oil.

According to the article, although the US spends more than $3 billion a year, there is not really any big development as far as fuel and energy independence is concerned. I quote the following facts from the article.

• The federal government has since 1975 required automakers to meet corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards; as a result, cars on the road today are 52 percent more fuel efficient than they were 30 years ago.
• But that hasn't cut gasoline consumption; average per-person spending on gasoline is up 4 percent since 1975 after adjusting for inflation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis; one key reason is that people are driving more, offsetting the gains in efficiency.
• Today, solar, wind, geothermal and bio- mass energy contribute 2 percent of U.S. electricity generation, despite decades of federal and state government support; since 1978, the federal government alone has kicked in more than $11 billion to support renewable fuels.
• By 2020, these sources will supply only 2.8 percent of the nation's electricity needs, according to the Energy Department; that share could be increased, but only at a substantial cost to taxpayers, since these sources of energy are so much more expensive than coal, natural gas or nuclear power plants.

And this is where the serious and committed part comes in. If the Democrats want to do something, they better offer something as effective as Snake Oil.