Old King Coal

The United States’ electricity supplied by solar power has increased 10-fold in the five years since Obama has become president … from 0.02% of national usage … to 0.2% (that’s 2 parts per thousand) … see: CNS News Story .  Wow!  I guess [tongue in cheek] that our President was prescient in pushing this sector of energy production as a way of eliminating carbon emissions?  Is this because we taxpayers “invested” over a half a billion dollars in Solyndra? … and billions more in other dead or dying solar companies? (See: Arizona Central Story, FoxNnews Story, and Green Energy.)

Meanwhile electricity produced from coal has declined in the U.S. during this same period from 48.2% to 37.4% of total usage.  So Obama’s vow to kill Old King Coal is producing results … but very little because of green energy.  (Solar energy would have to have increased by 500-fold to make up this gap). The decline has mostly been offset by increased natural gas production (from fracking) … and an overall decline in our electricity usage.  Unfortunately nuclear energy production has not contributed one additional kilowatt … and is still the ugly step-child of the Obama administration’s energy policy.

It’s funny how our President’s 2009 inaugural rhetoric (“We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.”) can create unachievable expectations and, when the real numbers arrive, they are still touted as though they are meaningful and a big f…ing deal.

Pinoccio

I was thinking of exposing here the lies about the United States' energy situation that Obama told yesterday in his press conference, but John Hinderacker of the Powerline blog did the task for me ... and a far better job than I ever could have done (please, you must read: Obama's Long Nose ... and the first comment at least.)

Suffice it to say that the environmentalists amongst us seem hell-bent on turning our country into an pristine Eden bereft of heat in the winter, fuel for our transportation, and electricity to comfort our lives.  And I can't for the life of me figure out why?

Afterthought: be prepared for another onslaught of media hysteria about the nuclear accident in Japan (as a result of the earthquake).  It may well be quite serious, but we surely can learn from it.  (What if we never built another plane after the first airliner crash?)  If we ever construct another nuclear power plant in my lifetime, I will be surprised.  Even though, by not doing so, we will help seal our fate as a failed nation.

After afterthought: The only ray of sunshine in all this insanity is that ... long after all the oil has been pumped out of the Middle East ... and we are speaking Mandarin ... we'll still have most of ours underground ... to power the high speed rail lines in China.